Interviewer: Mariham Magdy
“I would say to any entrepreneur starting from zero, have the right philosophy about yourself and what you want to achieve, about your product or service and then take the most appropriate action to get it done.”
Vic Williams
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE
Vic Williams is author, speaker, trainer and business consultant, with over 30 years’ experience in starting and growing businesses in various industries in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
In 2011 he began to grow The Audacious Company, which is focused on leadership, management, sales, LinkedIn and presentations skills training, almost exclusively using LinkedIn for business development.
He is the author of ‘Audacious Leadership’, founder of The Prepare for Awesome Podcast and have developed numerous training programs in the leadership, management, sales and presentation skills environments, which have been delivered to clients across the United kingdom, into Europe, Africa, the Middle and Far East.
The Prepare For Awesome Podcast is a motivational program which is available every Thursday at 3 P.M UTC.
THE INTERVIEW
1- HR Revolution Middle East: Thank you so much Mr. Vic for accepting our interview request. This interview is an honour to HR Revolution Middle East, as well as an amazing learning opportunity for our readers.
You have such an inspiring success story which I really want to highlight for our readers to learn from it: You had to leave school at the age of 16, which did not diminish your thirst for knowledge nor your desire to become the great person you are now, and despite the discouragement you had from your father at some point of time, you decided to fight against all this at a very early age.
Mr. Vic, your success journey says a lot about your persistence & your refusal for any limiting belief, what piece of advice would you share with our readers about that, and how were you able to get over all the discouraging conditions you went by?
Vic Williams: I think the most important thing I learned at an early age and the piece of advice I would give to your readers is, never allow the opinions of other people define who you are or who you become. No one knows the skills and abilities which you have that are just waiting for an opportunity to be showcased to the world.
At an early age, I looked around me and saw so many people achieving great things despite their background, the country they were born in, their family disadvantages and was inspired to live the life I determined, not one determined by my father or by circumstance.
Does it mean I always succeed? Certainly not. I probably fail more than most other people, but there is an inner drive to get up, dust myself off and get on down the road to the goals I have set for myself.
I think a second thing I would say is, never compare yourself with other people. When you compare yourself with other people, you will always be second best and a failure. Compare yourself with your own previous best and each day try to improve on that. It is pointless and demoralising to compete with anyone else.
2- HR Revolution Middle East: Another milestone you were able to successfully overcome, which I believe many entrepreneurs are experiencing as well and needs to learn from you about it: moving from South Africa to UK & starting all over again. What does it take from an entrepreneur to be able to make it “moving from a place where he managed to build connections & develop a business to a totally new market starting from zero”?
Vic Williams: It is all about 4 things. Firstly, your philosophy is your thoughts; your thoughts about yourself, about the country you live in, the country you are heading to, etc. Your thoughts then drive the second component and that is your attitude. If you have negative thoughts, you will have a negative attitude and that won’t change simply by changing country or town. You have to start by changing your thoughts where you are and your attitude where you are.
I did not leave South Africa with a bad attitude toward the country, but a good one. My view was, if I could make it in South Africa, I could make it in the UK.
The right attitude will then drive the right actions which will give you the results you want. And so those are the 4 things I focus on.
It is easy to go to a country like the UK and live off the system, but I was determined that would never be me. And so my philosophy has always been I will do what I need to do which is legal, moral and ethical to ensure that I am able to support my family and create the lifestyle we want.
So I would say to any entrepreneur starting from zero, have the right philosophy about yourself and what you want to achieve, about your product or service and then take the most appropriate action to get it done.
3- HR Revolution Middle East: Mr. Vic you have an amazing performance as a Motivational Speaker & trainer which I really believe that it results from years of hard work & sincere efforts, mostly on the inside as you have taught us in one of the most distinguished workshops I have attended in my life. How can leaders work on their inside to be able to lift others?
Vic Williams: That is a great question, Mariham and thank you for the complement. There is a quote you may have heard, particularly from people in the IT space when talking about computers. The quote is, ‘Junk in, junk out.’ The idea is, of course, if you feed a computer the wrong type of information, you will get the wrong result out as a result.
I believe the same is true with humans. If we feed our brains, which is after all the most sophisticated piece of equipment in the known universe, junk then we can expect the same out. And the way in which we feed our brains is not only through the actual food we eat, but through the things we read, that we listen to, that we watch. All of these things define what we think, and as I said previously, what our attitudes are.
So if a leader wants to work harder on themselves than they do on other people to become inspirational, motivational and to lift other people up, they have to be keenly aware of the what they read, what they listen to and what they allow influence them.
If you are putting the good stuff in, you will generally have the good stuff to give out. Reading books like, ‘The Slight Edge’ by Jeff Olson and ‘Over the Top’ by Zig Ziglar, have given me the ability to give out the good stuff and that is what I would recommend to any leader. Let what you put in define what you give out.
4- HR Revolution Middle East: “The Prepare for Awesome Podcast” what a Brilliant Initiative! How did you think about it & how much does it really benefit people to change and develop? I am sure there are a lot of success stories to share about that.
Vic Williams: The Prepare for Awesome podcast came about as a result of a desire to make a difference in peoples lives and to use every medium available. And one of those mediums is podcasting. The name developed out of some very lengthy discussions my wife and I had over many months as we formulated the idea. She is a partner in the business and so has been integral to developing the podcast and the subjects we speak about.
We set out with a very clear intention of sharing content with would empower people in their daily lives. We have all read and heard the stories of the great adventurers who have climbed the highest mountains, swam the worlds oceans, trekked to the North Pole single handed, etc. And these are great inspirational stories, but my question has always been, ‘What about you? What about your seemingly ordinary life. How can you see the greatness in that place?’
And so, we focus on the ordinary person, with an ordinary life. How can we inspire them to grow and develop through stories like their own. For example, there is the story of a young man from a small village close to where I live. Tommy was born and raised in a very poor family and was told he would never be anything more than a street sweeper, because that what his father and grandfather had been.
I am not sure how he came to listen to the podcast, but I received an email from him with his story. In the email he told me how the things he had heard have inspired him to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer and had begun to take steps toward that goal.
And that is the point of The Prepare For Awesome podcast. To share with ordinary people ideas, motivation and inspiration which shows how awesome each of them are.
5- HR Revolution Middle East: “Audacious Leadership” is a great book for such a great & authentic leader “Vic Williams”. In this amazing book you address the five key levels of leadership which starts by developing oneself & ends by developing new leaders. What is one indispensable trait leaders must develop in order to grow throughout the five levels?
Vic Williams: Fantastic question Mariham. I think you hit on the key to success as a leader and that is to focus on learning the skills of leading yourself first. There is a vast gap between the skills of leadership and the skills of management, but these often become confused.
From my experience and research, I have discovered that great leaders work harder on themselves than they do on other people or on the situation they face.
We must remember that leaders are not special humans endowed with special super-powers. Leaders are just like every other person. They are flawed, faulty and make mistakes. But the true leaders have that one quality which makes them stand out which is they consistently and persistently strive to improve themselves in every area of life.
A great example of true leadership is Nelson Mandela. Not a perfect human. Not without fault. Made some huge mistakes, but constantly tried to change himself. In fact he said, ‘One of the most difficult things is not to change society, but to change yourself.’ He spoke these words from a lifetime of changing himself to become better every day.
6- HR Revolution Middle East: From your marvellous experience Mr. Vic, how “Leadership” has become a crucial key for business success? What losses do businesses really incur when they disregard developing a leadership capability within?
Vic Williams: These are really great questions Mariham and for me very important questions.
To go back to my previous answer, it is firstly important to understand the vast difference between leadership and management. To understand what defines each of these ideas as separate skills sets.
Regarding leadership, it is defined by the person as an individual, not by position, status, job title, education, etc. So, leaders are the visionaries in a business. They are looking down the road at where the industry is going and are ‘seeing’ the companies position in that space. They are the people who have the skills to see opportunities where other people see obstacles. They are focused on answering the why questions of business success.
Management, by contrast, focused on the what and how questions. In other words, they are focused on the route to making the vision a reality.
This means, if leaders fail to develop other leaders and help them develop those skills which define leadership, the business will always follow and never lead in their industry. They will become a ‘me-to’ company. Innovation and inventiveness are key skills of leadership and so these will be lacking if real leadership is not developed and nurtured in the organisation.
A very good example of this fact is the tech giant Apple. When the founder was alive and with the company, it was innovative, inventive and they were at the forefront of their industry. However, if we are honest and look at the company today, we will see they have great management, but are far behind companies like Samsung and Huawei when it comes to innovation and product development. They have become a ‘me-to’ product.
Good leadership is therefore critical, throughout an organisation to ensure its sustainable growth and long-term success.
7- HR Revolution Middle East: You said that “Using LinkedIn as my primary source of marketing, new client development and retention of my existing clients has pushed me to learn not only the basics of the platform, but also what the best strategies for connecting and engaging are” What is one of the best engaging strategies you would like to share with our readers to adopt?
Vic Williams: You are right Mariham. I have used LinkedIn from almost the first day I arrived in the UK to build a business which now sees me travel extensively and that has come from developing an engagement strategy which is designed to develop long term relationships with the people I want to engage with.
I think the one thing I would say that people could adopt immediately if they want to increase their engagement is to get involved in the conversations which are relevant to their environment or relevant to the environment of the people they want to engage with. The key to engagement is to be involved and engage. Don’t be a silent stalker. Get into the conversations and you will very soon find people seeking you opinion and then real, deep engagement happens.
8- HR Revolution Middle East: The “Audacious Training Company” actually offers one the best courses designed for equipping participants with the skills needed to be great presenters. Can you share with us three secret tips to apply for presenting more effectively?
Vic Williams: 3 presentation tips? I think first thing is to nail the opening as it is the opportunity to catch the attention of your audience. So, instead of starting with an introduction and a bio, start with a startling and relevant fact or with a thought provoking question which draws people in.
Secondly, throughout your presentation, whether it is one minute at a networking meeting or a key note address to a thousand people, speak with the audience, not at them. Any presentation should be for the benefit of the audience and not for the benefit of the presenter.
And thirdly, use the full extent of your voice. Speak louder when needed, but equally lower your voice to an almost conspiratorial level when you want people’s attention. Use the higher register notes in your voice and the lower register notes when appropriate.
In any presentation, your voice is your super power, so use it to its fullest extent.
Thanks you for the opportunity to share these ideas with you and your readers. It is a privilege for me to do this interview.
THANK YOU
