Adrian Moorhouse MBE

Adrian Moorhouse MBE, Olympic Gold Medallist & top Corporate CEO

Adrian Moorhouse won gold in the 100m breaststroke at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988 and was World Champion for each of the following three years. In 1995 he managed the transition from elite sport to business, setting up Lane 4, offering consulting solutions in leadership, elite performance, success planning and related fields. The business now has an international reputation, employs over 70 people and has a turnover in excess of £7m. Lane 4 is a regular top-10 ranking business in the UK’s prestigious Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For ratings, and in 2009 Moorhouse himself was voted 'Best for Leadership' out of 1,000 organizations entering Best Companies.

Upon first meeting Moorhouse, what is immediately apparent about him, despite an undoubtedly focused personality, is his welcoming, easy style. He is as comfortable listening as talking – a quality many organizational leaders could do well to emulate – and he describes his leadership style as ‘at various times a shepherd, a broker and a mediator.’

He is clearly attuned to attaining the highest standards, and credits his ability to develop great teams in his present career with the fact that elite sportsmen require great teams around them: ‘At that level you end up using teams really well, creating a team out of the sport back up like psychologists, nutritionalists and physios. I was feedback-hungry for anything that could give me that extra margin for success.’

Indeed, it is this hunger for feedback, despite being certain of one’s own talent, that distinguishes many great leaders from the ranks of the merely very good.

But the transition from sportsman to top corporate leader was not always smooth. He did know that he didn’t want to cash in on his Olympic gold by trading only on fame. ‘The last thing I wanted was to be a celebrity,’ he comments, ‘I just wanted to work hard at something I was passionate about.’ But leading an organization was, by his own admission,‘a journey of self-awareness,’ incorporating as it does the need to focus on nurturing other people’s top performance.

Yet Moorhouse has unquestionably done it. Amongst his own employees, he employs ‘a lot of set pieces’ to enhance communication. Lane 4 holds Magic Mondays once a month, incorporating all available staff in a morning business meeting and afternoon learning sessions. They hold quarterly reviews, making people feel good about what they have achieved, but creating space to acknowledge any opportunities missed. And they focus each gathering on future directions, something of a mantra for Moorhouse, influenced by his own desire not to be defined by his past glories in the pool: ‘You have to find a future orientation in your life, not a past orientation.’

Moorhouse ensures staff are offered good benefits, such as private healthcare options, and tax-efficient cycle to work and home computer purchase schemes.

But most importantly, he has found ways for Lane 4 to overcome the natural tendency of organizations towards hierarchy. Moorhouse put 5% of the company into employee ownership, democratically based not on rank but on length of service. He identifies areas of special interest for staff to develop unique knowledge areas, thus ensuring that personal development is not dependent on waiting for senior vacancies to arise. And he treats targets as ‘excitement generators rather than as sticks,’ aiming to create a ‘line of sight’ for everyone between their own targets and the organization’s as a whole.

Adrian Moorhouse is that rare creature, someone who has managed the transition from elite self-focused sportsman to elite people-focused corporate leader. He gives you the impression not only that he will do everything to maintain a leading edge in his business, but also that he is a great boss to work for. Moorhouse has struck gold again.