Page 24 - PWM2024_JUNE EBOOK

BETTER BUSINESS

The route to

success

For any one of a myriad of reasons, certain people
manage to rise above others. But what makes a
great leader – someone who is successful in their
chosen field, a person that is revered and admired,
and an individual who is known as an achiever?, by
Adam Bernstein
T saw, what we would now recognise
ake Robert (later Lord)
as a Kindle. He says that it “blew my
Gavron, who founded St
Ives in 1964 with £5,000
mind” and he went back to the group
and went on to make a for-
to talk about the device.
tune for himself and many Unfortunately, the company didn’t
others in the industry as
the company grew into the pre-emi- share his vision, so he left to set up his
own business, Webmart, in 1996.
nent printer of the time. The group
was floated on the stock market in Rising to prominence
1985, the same year it acquired Clays. Biltcliffe is a firm believer in peo-
He was made a Labour peer in 1999. ple rising to prominence through a
Or what about Felix Dennis, who, as a mixture of innate talent, support
child, lived in his grandparents’ tiny from peers and family, tenacity, and
terrace house with “no electricity, no in some way, the desire to succeed.
indoor lavatory or bathroom ... no However, he also reckons that there
electric light, but gas and candles”. is an element of luck – “as the old
And went of to found his eponymous adage goes in sales, the harder you
publishing business, and become a work the luckier you get”. This is why great store in “having a trusted network around you to test ideas and to give
billionaire. In seeking an understand- he thinks that “there has also to be sound advice”.
ing of what makes an outstanding strong self-belief because there are Prerequisites
leader in the world of print Adam many obstacles that have to be over-
Bernstein sought the advice of five come to be successful... it is never a Biltcliffe holds that individuals need certain prerequisites to be success-
people in the industry who have linear journey. Resilience is key”. ful. He lists these as intellect, interpersonal empathy, and being trustwor-
achieved. It’s logical that he sees success thy. He also believes in a mixture of nature and nurture along with “people
allied to risk. In particular, Biltcliffe believing in you early on in your career… we are all riven with self-doubt at
Simon Biltcliffe recognises that there is always risk in certain times.”
Founder and executive chair- business. For this reason he believes He also emphasises the importance of building a network that can be
man, Webmart it is important “to be tolerant of called upon during good times – and bad – for an alternative perspective.
Biltcliffe’s journey into the print uncertainty as innovation, by its very He knows that building such a network takes time but says that “if you
industry was, he says, “an easy one” characteristic, is often counter-intui- think of business as a game of snakes and ladders, your network helps you
in that he applied for a job in a news- tive and risky. There has to be a high find the ladders and avoid the snakes. It’s a much more efficient way of get-
paper which happened to be with a degree of failure otherwise it ting where you need to be”.
printer, one of Robert Maxwell’s wouldn’t be innovative.”
companies as it happens. He notes But what makes a notable leader in Problem solving and managing people
that at the time, “it was a very pro- Biltcliffe’s eyes? He cites a combina- So, are successful business leaders innately good at problem solving and
gressive organisation and Kathy tion of people skills, drive determina-
Woodward, who later became the tion and luck. managing people, or are they just bloody-minded people who refuse to take
chief executive of the BPIF, obviously On top of that Biltcliffe suggests a ‘no’ for answer?
spotted something in me and put me knack for good timing; an idea From Biltcliffe’s perspective, being able to work as a team and put the
on a directorship course for the brought to market too early won’t be effort in are essential. As he highlights, “you need to bring everybody along
group.” Sometime later, Biltcliffe adopted so reading the market is with you wherever possible; I wouldn’t say successful leaders are bloody
was sent to Japan where in 1993, he another key skill. Here he places minded because this only lasts for a time and quite quickly you can lose the

24 PrintWeek MENA June 2024 www.printweekmena.com