What did a rally across the world teach me about business? It’s about being in the drivers’ seat

Driving across deserts from Peking to Paris is a reminder that, in business, it’s not always the strongest or the fastest who win the race, it’s those that stay cool under pressure and get back on the road, says John Caudwell

I’m filing this month’s column a short distance from the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan, having almost completed week four of the 14,500km Peking to Paris Rally in a vintage 1938 Chevy.

Yes, you read that right.

For six weeks, my brother and I are tackling what’s been dubbed the world’s toughest motoring challenge: across China via the Gobi Desert, and then through the deserts of Kazakhstan and on to Western Europe.

There is no roadside breakdown cover for us; we needed to pack all the spare parts we thought we might need in advance and carry them on board. This rally is all about temperamental vintage cars, raw grit and a route that punishes both man and machine.

We’ve been engulfed by dust storms in the Aral Karakum desert, camped under canvas with the most basic facilities, been stopped by police and lost vital time to mechanical gremlins. At one point we clawed our way to third position overall – only for a breakdown and a 60-minute penalty to knock us right down the league table again.

There’s a saying among the rally crews: “There’s always a breakdown waiting to happen”. And it struck me, somewhere between the Kazakh Steppe and a ferry across the Caspian Sea, just how true that is for businesses too.

Read the full article here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/what-did-a-rally-across-the-world-teach-me-about-business-it-s-about-being-in-the-drivers-seat/ar-AA1GytJt