Motivational Speaking: Leading from Behind

On 23^rd February, Capgemini held its Core Services Kick Off 2017 Conference in central London, and invited Alan Chambers along to give the keynote speech.

Alan is an ex-Royal Marine and a renowned polar explorer, who has been organising expeditions to the most inhospitable places on earth for the past 20 years.

Capgemini had 3 important messages to put across, and so Alan was well-placed to discuss these in the context of his recent expedition to the North Pole.

Leading in my function

Putting the customer first

Being the best I can be

“It gets to minus 72 degrees up there – that’s quite a cheeky little temperature!”

Over the course of an hour, Alan described in detail (some of it gruesome!) how he researched, planned, and led the first team to walk unsupported, in the dark, and the ‘wrong way’ to the top of the world.

 The drift of the Arctic Ocean is from east to west, so anything which floats on that ocean (such as polar ice caps) will move the same way. Hence, setting off from Canada (in the west), it is possible to walk 15km east, camp overnight, and end up further back from North Pole than when you started off the day before – quite a mind game!

1. Leading in my function 

“You can learn as much from bad leaders as well as good leaders….and I’ve experienced plenty of bad leaders in my time in the military”

No matter what the management textbooks might say, you don’t always have to lead from the front. In fact, leading from the back, in management terms, can often be more beneficial.

For example, on the expedition, Alan would walk at the back of the group in order to observe the strengths, weaknesses, and leadership capabilities of the other team members.

“If you’re at the front, you only tend to look ahead, towards where you’re heading, not behind to check on everybody else”

So, you can lead by example in terms of the attitude and the behaviors you expect, but you do not have to physically be at the front…..in fact, it is often beneficial as a leader not to be the one in the limelight.

 2. Putting the customer first

“Weight is a big issue on these expeditions…a massive issue actually, when you start cutting the bristles out of your toothbrush to save extra grams”

 Even set against this almost obsessive need to save weight in mind, Alan was still mindful of his duty to the primary sponsors, Johnny Walker whiskey.

The theme of whiskey on ice was juxtaposed throughout the expedition from a PR point of view against the polar explorers on the ice. So, a tot of whiskey was a constant feature (not the worst in the world it must be said!), but even to the extent that the team carried a bottle all the way to the North Pole so as to drink their sponsor’s product at the summit.

Net result = £20m worth of publicity generated for Johnny Walker whiskey.

 3. Being the best I can be

“OPERA = Ordinary People Extraordinary Results Achieved”

 Attitude will always beat experience.

When it came to selecting people for the expedition, one of the candidates was called Charlie, who freely admitted that he had no polar or endurance experience and couldn’t even ski.

However, Charlie was selected for the final four on the basis of his ‘can do’ attitude, in preference to other far more experienced candidates.

As it happened, of four explorers who initially set off on the expedition, two of them had to be airlifted off the ice (injured), and only Charlie remained, battling through whiteouts, equipment loss, and extreme physical deprivation to make it to the North Pole.

Watch out for Alan’s book, due out later this year, which will build upon his speech and how to lead and build great teams in more detail.