Coach Ray helped Lyndon rule world of business
ONE of the world’s most successful businessmen believes much of his success is down to his years playing for Ray Prosser.
That’s the view of Lyndon J Faulker, below – who batted third at Microsoft and was responsible for the CD, Windows, Microsoft Office and the Xbox. As plain Lyndon Faulkner – Charlie’s nephew – he used to be Prosser’s hard-as-nails centre for a couple of years before injury struck.
“I learned so much from Pross and it has guided me at times during my business career,” recalls Faulkner. “How to treat people, how to communicate, how to relentlessly chase and plan for success and how to deal with rare defeats and setbacks.
“He made the club feel like family. There’s lesson number one for the budding CEO and he always trusted you to get on with the job, another big lesson. When I left Microsoft and it came to floating a NASDAQ company in the States I had no expertise whatsoever and it was pretty scary. So I did a Pross. Identify the talent you need, hire the right people, enthuse them with your vision and let them perform.
“Teamwork was everything at Pooler under Pross. Everybody working for one pre-determined goal. Clearcut concise communication, dedication to the cause and tenacity, a willingness to undertake the long haul. That’s all stuff I took from rugby and Pooler.
“When I had to retire I spent the first year trying to sell the idea of CDs to record companies, a totally alien role because I was an engineer by training.
“I was banging my head against a brick wall, but I still carried that self-confidence from Pooler days into my new job. If you worked hard enough ‘victory’ would come. And victory did finally come when our CDs appeared on Tomorrow’s World with Raymond Baxter. After that it took off.
“Pross was good at handling defeat as well. Don’t panic, re-set, be better, go again.
“A defeat at Pooler always sparked an explosion of energy and a stunning bounce back and return to top form. Which is how it should be in business as well”