BDB Pitmans scores gold at latest Building Better event with Olympic medal speaker

On Thursday 29 September, BDB Pitmans’ Cambridge team played host to Helen Richardson-Walsh MBE, as part of an exclusive, in-person event with the double Olympic medallist and GB (field) hockey legend. This marked the latest in the firm’s Building Better series, a collection of events designed to examine the lessons that can be taken from the achievements of extraordinary individuals who have excelled in their field in the name of empowering individuals and teams alike.

Taking place at the Hilton Hotel, the session was introduced by Cambridge commercial real estate partner, Simon Burson, who provided a lively and thought-provoking speech, which drew on highlights from Helen’s recent book ‘An Olympic-winning approach to building better teams: winning together’.

Drawing a crowd of professionals from various backgrounds, Helen explored the connections between sport and business, sharing knowledge and insights developed over the course of her 18-year career to unanimous acclaim.

Helen Richardson-Walsh was one of the most experienced members of the GB women’s hockey team. At the age of 18 she became the youngest ever woman to represent GB hockey at an Olympics in Sydney, going on to compete at four Olympic Games. Over the course of her international career she amassed 19 medals including an Olympic bronze at London 2012, the European Championship title in 2015, World Cup bronze and Commonwealth silver, before finally reaching the pinnacle of her sport with an Olympic gold at Rio 2016.

Helen shared her formula for building better teams and enhancing workplace culture, including how to build high performing teams and enable the development of highly performing individuals. She also looked at the qualities that make a successful team and how to create a winning environment in which people and teams thrive.

Embracing and leveraging our differences was one of our greatest strengths in the Great Britain women’s hockey team when we won our historic Olympic gold in Rio in 2016. What positive opportunities might you be missing out on by negatively stereotyping your team instead of leveraging the different strengths they have?

Partner Simon Burson commented: “It was a real honour to hear from Helen and her advice was invaluable for any organisation looking for ways to enhance its culture. Companies need to be agile but they also need to empower individuals to enable them to apply their strengths and take ownership of their role. We would like to thank Helen for her brilliant, insightful talk and cannot recommend her book highly enough.”