After 20 years, I’m hanging up my charity running shoes – but the values that guided my fundraising efforts are just as important in my business life

Yesterday, I completed my 21st timed marathon in London, pounding my way around the streets of the nation’s capital with 40,000 other runners. It felt good to be back in such great company again, after last year’s Covid induced virtual event.

I’ve been raising funds for charity for 20 years now, running numerous full- and half-marathons in a variety of locations, completing a gruelling ‘13 marathons in 14 days’ Paris to London challenge, and even trekking to and from the North Pole. But yesterday was my last serious fundraising run. When the sponsorship money is collected and counted, I will have exceeded my personal goal to raise £100,000 for a deserving children’s cancer charity. I feel it’s time to hang up my running shoes, and put away my cold weather gear.

During Sunday’s run I had time to reflect on my fundraising adventures. I realised that, apart from some wonderful memories, and friendships I will treasure forever, I will be taking forward with me a set of values and principles that were forged in the pursuit of my goal, but have also guided me throughout my career in the global banking and financial services sector. Here are the five I hold most valuable:   

Personal Integrity: In committing to raise money for charity, just as in my business dealings, I have always set out to do what I’ve said I will do. In both instances, people are relying on me to be as good as my word, and I will do my utmost to not let them down. Whatever the personal costs, be they of a physical nature through the aches and pains of training for a marathon, or the mental pressures of putting in long hours, late nights and sacrificing my personal life to meet a business deadline, I pride myself on delivering on my promises on time, every time.

Humility: When you face nature at its most vicious and unpredictable, as when you trek to the North Pole, you quickly learn the true meaning of that word ‘humility’. Humility isn’t a weakness, nor does it require you to humble yourself before others. It’s about seeking to be free from arrogance and pride, and accepting that some things are simply beyond your control or power to influence. Once you have grasped that concept, you’ll also know that nothing is impossible to achieve.

Resilience: My friend who I met at the North Pole, Inge Solheim has a favourite maxim: “There is no short cut to any place worth going to.” If you are going to make a tough journey, you may need to dig hard to stay the course, but the rewards when you do succeed can be immense.

When I embarked on my ‘13 Marathons in 14 Days’ challenge, for example, I had no idea how deep I would need to mine my own reserves. On the morning of Marathon 10, I awoke feeling totally spent, as if I had absolutely nothing left to give. I was on the point of withdrawing from the challenge in desperation and defeat, when I received a text with a video from a small group of kids who I knew were relying on me to succeed. The film inspired me to find what I needed, and I went on to run a personal best time. The point being, however low you feel, never give up. There’s always some inspiration or motivation you can access to complete the challenge you are set, if you only look hard enough. 

Respect: As you meet people along life’s journey, you never know when you may meet them again, or in what circumstances. So, it pays to be kind, and to have some respect for everyone, regardless of status.  I’ve spent enough time doing marathons to have outpaced an inexperienced runner, when at my peak, offering up words of encouragement as I passed them by, only a few years later to have them, at their peak, pass by me with encouraging words of their own. Respect and kindness work both ways. They cost nothing, but they truly are priceless.

Trust: Throughout my fundraising efforts I’ve learned to put my trust in a small personal support team, who can make important logistical things happen while I focus on training and running. Without their input, I would have been unlikely to reach my fundraising target when I did.

It’s the same in business. Don’t think for one moment that you can go it entirely alone and that the only way to get something done properly is to do it yourself.  That speaks back to the arrogance and pride of a person lacking humility.

Trust your team. It’s my absolute conviction that the collective efforts of a well-trained, and trusted team will always outshine the achievements of any lone individual, however gifted.

For what they are worth, these then are the five guiding principles that informed my fundraising effort, and which I try to observe in my business practice.

To conclude, I would certainly be lacking in humility, respect, personal integrity and trust were I not to effusively thank each and every person who has assisted my fundraising drive through the years, and to all who have given so generously to support the valuable work of my chosen charity.

So, thank you all!