Hugh was my business partner at Sendo, and the company CEO. He’s been a close friend for over 30 years. He drove the Sendo team hard; we were constantly challenged to go better, cheaper, faster, smaller to meet customer demands and our own determination to be the best. And he had so many ideas, always having, “What if?” conversations with people, which might run long into the night. He told me he never stopped thinking about the business, every waking moment, even in his sleep – what could be improved, what needed to be invented and what he needed to do.
He was extremely demanding with our team, and with me, but at the same time fair and objective. He was careful to explain why something wasn’t right because, he said, if people understand why we’re doing something, not just what we’re doing then we won’t need to discuss it again when the same decision needs to be made next time. They will know what decisions to make.
He called it, "Knowing the principles of the business."
Hugh also recognised performance and celebrated achievement. He’d take over the Comedy Club in Birmingham for an evening, call out the team's superstars and be the first on stage making a fool of himself when it was time to dance and start downing shots. It was extraordinary working for him; he could be brutal, but he’d hug you afterwards! You knew you’d been savaged, but somehow felt better, even grateful, for it.
He explained that people could go through their entire working lives and not have the opportunities we had. He understood how infrequently these opportunities came along. We had to push ourselves creatively and intellectually, be smarter and more ingenious and we would beat the big guys, who were too slow and unwieldy. They were the super tankers that couldn’t turn quickly enough; we were the motorboat with speed and flexibility. We had the advantage. Our time was now and we couldn’t waste a second. One chance – that was what we’d got. Personally we might never have the same opportunities again for the rest of our lives.
He was right. For many employees those years were defining, they shaped the careers of future CEOs, entrepreneurs and an army of talent who took a little of Hugh’s determination with them when it was time to move on and make more of their careers. He drove them hard and they saw the value of being challenged every day. And became the challengers themselves.
We started with a Vision and never gave up until we delivered on it. And, the uncompromising so-and-so he was, people loved him for it.
Think about how you challenge your team. Now is your time. It might be the only opportunity you get!
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