Bob Holt OBE & Jim Lawless (Morning Session)
Challenged by the global pandemic CEO’s have had to make shifts in the way they lead. We wanted to explore what this has meant for business leaders on Day 2 of C2S Leadership Week.
We brought together speakers to look at Leadership from different perspectives:
- Bob Holt OBE – business man, investor and philanthropist
- Jim Lawless – key note speaker, author and high performance team coach
- Tom Ayerst – Partner PwC, Bristol Office
- John Eades – Leadership author and international speaker
Bob Holt OBE, Leadership
We asked Bob Holt OBE to join us for a Question Time session to answer questions on his many years experience of building a billon pound business and chairing growing business.
Not many Leaders can say they have taken a business from £9m to over £1Bn but Bob is one of these exceptional individuals who have innovated within their field of expertise and deserves the description of being an inspiring leader.
With a flawless history of leadership success, Bob is one of the UK’s most acclaimed businessmen. He is most famously known for his pivotal role in the rise of Mears Group PLC. Since taking control in 1996, he led the business onto the stock market, building an order book value of £3billion and steered the company to its market leading position. Bob is currently holding executive and non-executive roles in several companies where he continues to be instrumental in guiding businesses to make beneficial changes that will not only improve the business itself but will aid communities and have a positive impact on the lives and welfare of others.
Bob shared with us stories starting with who inspired him and where did he get his work ethic from – ‘that would be ‘my mother’. Whenever asked what did his father do Bob will always reply ‘he worked for my Mother’. Bob has always held women in the highest regard and see’s no boundaries to them achieving great things but agrees there is still much to do to right the imbalances and he is constantly looking at this within his businesses.
Talking about his approach to COVID Bob said ‘You have to make yourself available and be visible. Even when you don’t have all the answers, or some of the time early on in the pandemic – we didn’t have any of the answers! From the moment, Covid broke, I took the decision to host a daily webinar to the business. We have c 2,500 employees and up to 400 would join in each day. People in the business who may not have met me previously, had the opportunity to talk with me. My message is clear; “if you want to speak with me, then I am here, speak to me”. My advice to leaders is to make yourself available and be visible.
Watch Bob’s Interview:
To contact Bob: bob.holt@bobholt.com
Jim Lawless, Taming Tigers
Having seen Jim capture a room of business people over 10 years ago we knew we had to have him for Leadership Week!
Jim challenged us through his inspiring session to seize the pen and write our story, challenge ourselves and to be brave!
Taming Tigers doesn’t offer short cuts or quick fixes. It offers everything you need to find the desire, confidence and courage to do things you never thought you could.
To test Taming Tigers, Jim told us the story of going from overweight consultant to televised jockey in a year and he has entered the record books as the first Briton to free dive below 100m.
The Ten Rules have been used in companies from San Francisco to Bangkok, from Apple to Virgin.
Jim took us through some of The 10 Rules:
- Act boldly today – time is limited!
- Re-write your rulebook – challenge it hourly.
- Head in the direction of where you want to arrive, every day.
- It’s all in the mind.
- The tools for Taming Tigers are all around you.
- There is no safety in numbers.
- Do something scary every day.
- Understand and control your time to create change.
- Create disciplines – do the basics brilliantly.
- Never, never give up!
To contact Jim:
Maria Papacosta
T: +44 3300 272320
maria@jimlawless.com
Jim’s Presenttaion on the Day:
Recommended Reading:
John Eades – Building the Best
John Kotter – Our Iceberg is Melting
Jim Collins – From Good to Great
Simon Sinek – Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
