A look at why having the best team behind you is critical.
By Drakes Director John-Paul Drake.
It is no secret that I am an F1 fanatic. I love my Formula One and it’s great to see that they have been back racing during these uncertain times, although, it does mean that I occasionally lose some sleep when staying up to watch the races.
For those who don’t watch motorsport, it’s easy to dismiss it simply as a few people driving around a track at dizzying speeds – plant your foot on the pedal, drive around in circles and see who can cross the finish line first.
It’s so much more than that.
Motorsport is a sport of strategy, finesse and most importantly – teamwork. This may come as a surprise to many people. It’s just the driver and the track, right? Wrong. Picture this: it’s the Hungarian GP. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is coming out of the out lap to come into the grid for the start of the race. The wet conditions do not favour him – he hits a wall, breaking his wishbone, front wing and front left suspension and manages to limp his way to the start/finish grid. With only 10 minutes to go to the start of the race, it’s easy to think he would have given up and gone back to the pits.
Instead, what we saw was 14 Red Bull pit crew members descend on the vehicle. With Red Bull clearly giving them their wings, they banded together to fix the car in an incredibly short timeframe. All working on their part of the car, some independently, some overlapping, but all with the same end goal. Get the car back on the track. This awe-inspiring moment of teamwork saw Verstappen start the race and finish on the podium in second place, on the shoulders of his teammates.
At Drakes, there have been so many times our team has stepped up and done their part. To me the car represents our distribution centre. We had a team of 100 people working on the project and everyone had their bit to do. Everyone knew what needed to be done and completed it all in a very short timeframe.
There have been so many times in our 45-year history that our team has stepped up, banded together, and gone above and beyond to get us to a podium finish. From building and operating our distribution centre, rebranding to be solely Drakes, new store openings and very recently with assisting and providing for our customers during Covid-19. All of these examples had different teams involved. Yes, we all work for the one team – Drakes – but they all have individual teams with specific goals. Fixing their part of the car fixes the car overall – these people are specialists in their part. We are not afraid to get the right people for the right job.
You can be one of the best drivers in the world or the best business leader in the world, but without the best team behind you, you cannot achieve your goals.
Like Max Verstappen, our team gives us wings.
Want to get to know me and my team? Connect with me!
LinkedIn: @johnpauldrake
Facebook: @JPDrakeAU
Website: www.jpdrake.com.au
YouTube: jp drake
Instagram: @shake.and.drake
Podcast: /DucksDontGetColdFeet
About John-Paul Drake
John-Paul Drake has retail in his blood. Starting out as the trolley boy and shelf stacker 30 years ago in the family business, his passion for retail is firmly solidified as the Director of Drakes. JP is a staunch supporter of supporting local and is not afraid to call it like he sees it.