Short audio preview

Adrian Webster, son of a Yorkshire Coal Miner, former milkman, riot copper, IT salesman and all round ball of energy, took to the stage at the Lewis Media Centre. His intention: to help the London Business Forum audience consistently get the best out of both themselves and their teams.

After studying some of the world’s most successful individuals, Adrian formulated his findings into a fun and creative book - Polar Bear Pirates in which various characters we all recognise from the world of work are brought to life as animated characters:

• Bloaters - who never take advice but are always ready to give it.
• Neg Ferrets - ‘Warriors of Doom’, who are dedicated to the negative and have a problem for every solution.
• Sinkers - those who have never achieved anything and want to ruin it for the rest of us.

Within Adrian’s world, these familiar characters are enemies to our ultimate quest – to become Polar Bear Pirates - highly focused individuals who relish the challenges that life throws up. The danger for us all on this quest is complacency and the fruitless pursuit of an ‘easy life’; but if we can guard against this we can reach ultimate success.

Having outlined his characters, Adrian moved onto the crux of his presentation – how we can motivate those around us to better performance. The secret, he argued, is to realise most people don’t end up doing what they set out to do. Therefore, it is important to discover what motivates ordinary people in ordinary jobs to make a difference. According to Adrian there are no ‘I’m just….’ Jobs; everyone in every company is a superstar. The challenge is to create an environment where people want to come to work and have fun.

Leadership was next on the agenda. Regardless of your level in an organisation, Adrian argued that it is vitally important to develop and hone your leadership skills. Leaders should paint a clear picture of themselves to their employees in order to clearly outline their expectations and integrity. You should ask for certain things from your team upfront and, in return, promise and provide support. The expectations Adrian outlines to his teams are:

1. Honesty
2. Punctuality
3. Ask for help
4. Admit mistakes
5. Enjoy yourself

Adrian believes people have two parts of their mind, the floppy disc that deals with the day to day, and the hard drive which is our personalities. Between the two there is a grid which stops big things, such as traumatic news, going in. Unfortunately, Adrian argued, this grid also stops many of the big things that big companies rely on to motivate people from working. Instead we should concentrate on the “Tiny Noticeable Things,” which cost nothing but for which leaders and companies will be remembered. For example, a boss remembering everyone’s birthday can have a much bigger impact on team motivation than even pay rises or annual leave. TNT’s must be relevant and are more explosive the higher up the source from which they come.

To close his presentation, Adrian outlined the key qualities of highly successful people…

1. Ask Questions
2. Enthusiasm and Passion
3. Determination
4. Belief
5. They are Do-ers
6. They have fun

These, Adrian enthusiastically espoused, are the ingredients of people we come into contact with every day - young children. If we can release this in our teams we have the beginnings of successful people and companies. Therefore success is not about growing up and up, it is about growing sideways into your role and achieving genuine and long lasting job satisfaction.