In 1998, following another disappointing Rowing World Championships, Ben Hunt-Davis and the rest of his GB Eight rowing team realised that if they carried on doing what they were doing, they would keep getting what they’d been getting – which was a lot of 7th place finishes!
So instead, they decided to approach things differently, critically, asking the same simple question with every single conversation, decision and action they took: ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’.
Along their journey they learned the sustainable, dependable techniques that put them on track for their gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Ben later co-wrote the book ‘Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?’ with Executive Coach – Harriet Beveridge – to show you how to use similar strategies to improve performance in your business or personal life. Today, Ben can be found working with his colleagues at performance consultancy Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?, working across the globe to inspire and change organisational performance.
Ben’s inspirational story is not only motivational, but practical and applicable to organisations around the world. For over ten years, Ben has been speaking at conferences and has spoken in more than 30 countries.
Every Games has its heroes, but behind every celebration on the podium lies thousands of hours of hard training, relentless mental focus, and choosing to get up each morning before the rest of the world in pursuit of that something extra which just might give you the winning margin in an Olympic final. Ben Hunt-Davis’s stories in “Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?” brilliantly illustrate the dedication required to become a gold medallist, and how the lessons might be applied more widely in our lives. It’s a fascinating and inspiring book.
Ben provided an inspirational talk in which he fused the ethos of his Olympic gold medal winning team and its application in the business world. His delivery was energetic, engaging and entertaining – the audience were encouraged to participate and Ben managed to take them along with him as he recounted his Olympic story with humility. Most importantly, Ben’s message has never been more relevant in an industry where the smallest of changes can help gain the competitive edge. We all went away thinking about how we could ensure that own boats went faster.
Ben spoke at our annual Sales Kicker to 150 key staff including our main board and simply put the feedback from everyone who attended was he was the best guest speaker we have ever had. Inspirational, confident, balanced with the right sense of humility, Ben has the unique ability to relate to his audience and our staff were completely absorbed in his every word. Ben got completely involved in the whole day arriving at the crack of dawn and leaving late at night which ensured that everyone could have a chat to him if they wished, including a photo wearing the gold medal!! Truly inspiring stuff.
Ben Hunt-Davis came to our event and ‘wowed’ everyone with his inspirational and uplifting session. Ben is living proof that the only barriers to achieving greatness are the ones we create ourselves, but not only that he helped us with tools and techniques to remove the barriers. Ben is very warm and engaging and the time we had with him and what he covered will stay with us for some time.
An excellent ‘do it yourself’ organising for success book. Essential for full time winners! Personal yet professional.
Having Ben at our 2012 Company Kick off took our event to a different level. His personal experience demonstrated and perfectly supported our company mission to change the game, leaving staff motivated, inspired and focused on the changes ahead. His ability to relate to people from all levels and the challenges of a growing business was spot on. I would thoroughly recommend him to other business leaders looking to motivate and focus their teams.
An inspiring journey, thoughtfully translated into practical, everyday lessons that can be applied in virtually any situation. The book makes the point again and again that ordinary people can achieve truly extraordinary things.
Ben’s talk was inspiring and I received loads of great feedback afterwards from many in the team. The themes Ben talked about from his professional sports experience resonated so well with many of the messages that I was trying to get across namely: making a difference, driving outstanding performance, and being a great boss. I used a number of your quotes in my wrap-up session for the conference. Your session gave a unique perspective to these themes and added real value to the day.
I think the key thing is, if you’ve achieved what Ben’s achieved, it’s obviously a message in itself in terms of that highest level of performance, but also Ben’s got a presence and a charisma about him that makes the message come home in a very solid way.
Ben recently came to the Institute of Directors IOD Young Directors event and his session was an absolute knock out. I think it was one of the best business presentations I’ve been to – and I’ve been to a few. Ben had a simple style of delivery and couples this with his unique insights in high performance sport. If you want your team to lift their game and go for gold – a few minutes with Ben and his team at “Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?” will set you out on the right road.
I have read a very large number of books that help one to develop strategies and action plans to help one clarify and reach life and work goals. Many of them are extremely good. This book by Olympic rowing gold medal winner Ben Hunt-Davis and executive coach Harriet Beveridge is quite the best I have ever read.