Olympian & Co-CEO Andrew Lindsay: Leading, Discipline & Success | The Resilience Project Podcast 001

What can we learn about resilience and success from an Olympic Gold winner who went on to become Co-CEO of UW (Utility Warehouse/Telecom plus PLC) that has grown to over one million customers, and over two billion in annual turnover?

Lots!

In this episode of The Resilience Project Podcast, we hear the extraordinary journey of Andrew Lindsay MBE, Olympic Gold medalist turned Co-CEO of a market-disrupting UK business.

Host Wes Linden asks the questions as Andrew shares the mindset, discipline & leadership strategies that have propelled him from the winners podium to the helm of a hugely successful business.

Discover the secrets behind Andrew's unwavering resilience; his approach to achieving success & shutting out distractions; and how you can do the same in your life.

00:00 Intro
01:06 When did you realise you were going to win Olympic Gold?
02:06 What's going through your head in the last moments before winning Gold?
03:23 Who is keeping you motivated?
04:01 Do you remember how you felt crossing the finishing line?
04:59 For how long had you thought you could be an Olympic winner?
06:05 How long had you been on that journey for?
06:14 How do you switch from maybe to definitely?
07:20 We all have dreams but then go back to real life. How do you keep pushing towards the goal?
08:38 What’s different about those who succeed on their own, without a team to work with?
09:38 What did you do to become the best?
10:50 Did you enjoy the journey or think ‘this is crap’?
11:56 How do you overcome the need for instant success vs incremental improvement?
12:49 Whilst making incremental changes, how do you have focus to know you’ll achieve your goal vs settling for ‘this is as good as I can be?’
14:25 When you hear successful people say “Yeah, I always knew I was going to achieve XYZ” do you believe them or not?
16:17 Have you had moments where you have imposter syndrome and ask yourself if you’re good enough?
18:19 Do you think it would have been harder to achieve your success if you were starting today with social media & more distractions?
19:58 Is it true one of your teammates got to pick between you another guy but the other guy was his best mate, and he still chose you?
21:22 What mindset must he have had to choose between you and his best buddy and effectively reject his pal instead of you?
22:00 When you were on your journey to success were there any moments where you were l completely down on yourself, thinking ‘screw this’?
24:26 What was the story about you being dumped by a girlfriend at a particularly low point?
25:41 So what advice did you get to get you back on track?!
26:39 And you've got kids yourself now. So what do you say to your kids to help them have the mindset to understand that there's peaks and troughs and failures sometimes along the way?
28:13 A favour if you please!
28:27 So if you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
29:07 What has been the biggest thing you had to overcome whether in sport or business, that actually you didn't think would be a problem?
31:21 How did you know when it was time to walk away?
32:34 How do you avoid living off former glories and instead push on?
34:28 Have you ever had the blues when you realise you’ve achieved something, and now it’s done, you’re not sure what is next?
36:00 Tell us why you left a high-paying job for one on a fraction of the salary?
36:51 Did you always thinking ‘I want to end up as a CEO?’
37:37 Do you think it’s okay for people to take a step back in order to take a big step forward eventually?
38:32 What made you decide to join the leadership team at Utility Warehouse (UW)?
39:16 You didn’t start as CEO - but that business has had incredible journey and now has over one million customers. What lessons have you taken from rowing and winning at Olympic level, into your business career?
41:20 UW have helped lots of people save money in the energy crisis - but has a unique business model where Partners do UW alongside the jobs as a side-gig. What resilience lessons have you shared into those people to keep them on track?
43:56 Irrespective of what they are working on, what would you say to people about keeping resilient however bad things might seem right now?
47:21 How close is failure and success in your experience?
49:00 How do you avoid getting neg’d out by the news and social media?
49:44 What was your daily mantra for success?
51:06 For someone listening who's not feeling great and thinking about giving up on whatever they’re working on, what would you say?
53:21 And finally, what happened to the girlfriend?!

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See Andrew’s Team GB Olympic Gold winning race:    • Sydney 2000 - Men's Eight Olympic final  

See Andrew’s Olympic winning podium moment:    • Men's Eight Gold | Sydney 2000 Medal ...  

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