Mindset is what separates the good from the great performers and when it comes to building a high performing and happy team, it’s everything.

Challenges come and go but how we deal with them is what counts. It’s easy to complain and bury our heads in the sand but a slight adjustment can make a world of difference. Let me explain.

I learnt this lesson while selling luxury Italian motorcycles for a reputable UK dealer when after a particularly busy and successful Saturday’s trading – 10 bikes sold for an average of 10,000 pounds each. The following Monday my answerphone was full of messages of customer complaints. I was shocked. Talk about coming down to earth with a thud!

Mike, the company owner, saw that I looked rather down and frustrated and asked what was up. I said that all I had been dealing with that day were problems and considering how great the weekend had been, the contrast was hard to handle. His answer surprised me. “But Jeremy, your job is to deal with problems,” he replied with a smile.

He must have seen on my face that I didn’t fully grasp what he meant. “Let’s go for a ride on the Ducatis” he said, and with that shot off to get into his Agostini leathers. I donned my gear too and fired up the demo Dukes. “What a lovely sound” I thought, “Like music to my ears.”

We headed out onto our favourite 20 mile long demo route through the beautiful English countryside. Mike was an experienced and smooth rider and I locked into our pace quickly and the roar of the engines made me feel alive as I flicked this amazing work of art left and right through the sweeping twisty bends. Oh, how I felt so alive!

At the halfway point, a pub perched up on top of a hill, we pulled in for a breather and a stretch. Being over six feet tall meant that after 30 minutes or so on one of these speed machines, most tall folks needed to get off and reset somewhat.

“Feels great eh, Jeremy” said Mike with a smile from ear to ear. “Absolutely, Mike, I

love it. Makes me feel truly alive”!

“You see, Jez, what we sell our customers is a dream, one of freedom, escapism, fun and lifestyle. You are a facilitator of that.” he said with a serious look on his face.

“Of course, when the buying and owning experience goes well, I’m happy but what really builds loyalty and trust is when things go wrong because that’s when we really earn our money and build our brand.”

He went on to explain that he actively recruits people who run towards problems not away from them as this is what business is about. This hit me hard as up until this point, I had not thought about business like this at all. He had a point. Customers don’t just buy a product or service, they buy the wisdom, support and community behind it. The stronger this is, the more loyal customers are likely to be.

And with that, we jumped back on the bikes and set off back along the demo route back to the showroom. I knew this road very well as I had ridden it many times before but Mike was more experienced and faster than me but it didn’t matter because I was having a fantastic time going at my own pace enjoying the sound of the V-Twin engine roaring away underneath me.

After about half-way, under hard acceleration out of a sweeping bend the engine started to sputter and then all of sudden, it stopped. Nothing, other than the wind and then silence. I pulled off the road and got off cursing. I’d run out of fuel, something I hadn’t done for years! Mike was long gone and I was in the middle of nowhere with an expensive, beautiful and fast motorcycle but going nowhere, ahem, fast!

Mike’s words came back to me. “Mindset, Jeremy, it’s all about how you frame problems. Look at each one as a challenge and a way to improve your resilience, resourcefulness and skillset.” he had said as we were jumping back onto our bikes at the pub.

“What to do now?” I said out loud as if I was expecting the cows in the adjacent field to answer me. I had no phone, there were no farms or houses about and I hadn’t seen a car for the duration of the route. Even so, if one had come along, I wouldn’t want to have left this very exclusive and expensive motorcycle by the side of the road here with night falling. It was, as Mike had reminded me, the first one of its type in the world. “No pressure then Jeremy” I thought.

There was no other option, I had to push it the 10 miles back to the showroom. Not easy considering the hills, wind and the fact I was wearing leathers and protective gear. I figured that I lost about 2 kgs in the following hours but I learnt a lot about myself. I broke the pushing stints into 10 minute ‘sprints’ followed by short rests and stretches.

Once on the home straight, my mood lifted as I saw Mike’s truck on the horizon. As he got closer, I saw that he was laughing. As he pulled up on the opposite side of the road and got out, I felt something was up. “Jeremy, at least you have a smile on your face and you didn’t leave this beauty up on the hill. What happened?” he said.

“I ran out of petrol” Mike, I replied rather sheepishly as this was a no-no when going out on demo rides and we were constantly being reminded about it. “I know,” he said. “I wanted to teach you that going from highs to lows so fast is all part of the game and it isn’t about what happens to us in life that is important, it’s how we deal with it that counts. “Mindset Jeremy, positive mindset.”

He had purposefully made sure that I would run out of fuel to teach me this important lesson, one that would stay with me forever.

Herein lies an important lesson to us all. Since that experience 15 years ago, I’ve reflected on this a lot and it is fundamental to developing as a person in life as well as business.

We all love problem solvers but in our companies, there must be a healthy environment where failure isn’t stigmatised. In doing this, our collaborators are more likely to run towards challenges and not away from them as they know that their team has their back if needed like Mike had when he came to pick me up but only after I had done so much of the hard work. Also, the added bonus here and arguably just as important, is the fact that your customers feel that you’ve got their back too.

The question is, how can we coach our team to nurture a mindset like this? A question to ponder.

Jeremy Williams | October 2024.