Life, as far as Will Butler-Adams is concerned, should be a risky business.
‘As you get older, your risk profile drops,’ he says. ‘In business you have to stop that happening, because you get too comfy. You have to keep taking risks. I’ve started taking my children flying. That was quite a challenge with my wife, because she knows me far too well.’
Butler-Adams, it seems, is one of those people who puts your own life in stark perspective. The chief executive of folding bike firm Brompton is not only a chartered mechanical engineer with an OBE for services to industry, he’s also a qualified pilot.
‘You plan a trip – I take it very seriously – and it’s a bit scary,’ he adds. ‘Once life gets too comfy, you stagnate. You have to keep pushing, because we’re going to be dead in a minute. You don’t want to bet the farm, but you have to keep feeling a little bit scared.’
He doesn’t just reserve this treatment for family. Butler-Adams has been doing it as Brompton’s leader for the past 14 years. ‘The job of a CEO is to keep pushing the team,’ he says. ‘Everyone’s worried. They won’t take risks and fear they might get into trouble. Somehow, the younger generation are even more fearful of taking risks. Think of the Victorians: they trotted off with their moustaches, did mad stuff and didn’t think anything of it. We’ve got to live a bit more. I take my leadership
