Madejski Drive

More BBC documentary action recently unfortunately featured a flagrant attempt to label John Madejski as an archetypal ‘money can’t buy happiness’ case study. As Britain’s 168th richest person when filming began (worth £325m) the film-maker was transparent in his efforts to show the glum side of extreme wealth.

Thankfully, the occasional glimpse into what makes such a man tick did surface. Many sales people I know are fascinated with self-made millionaires, and consider that there’s a huge commonality of traits that they and successful sellers share. In Madejski’s case, I noted five interesting characteristics of note for solution salespeople:

• It was a shame that each time he was shown publicly speaking, the editing focused on the lacklustre segments, but at least that should provide a filip for poor presenters.
• Another interesting omission was that in the entire 60 minutes, he didn’t ask a single question. Most intriguing of all, he rarely talked when not required to.
• The interviewer would frequently ask a question designed to open him up in a manner that he’d hopefully trip up, but Madejski was joyously comfortable in the silences and never jumped in to say anything he may regret. Most reps realise this is a vital skill, yet nearly all come a cropper with it.
• As for drive, his interrogator noted that he was “excited by potential, what might be“.
• I was also pleased he was summarily dismissive of any cynicism.