Henry Engelhardt on the key to Admiral Group’s growing success

Henry Engelhardt, founder of the UK’s leading motor insurance company Admiral Group, tells Ambition A.M. how building a strong team was his key to entrepreneurial success.

Have you ever found yourself having to work with a “bad boss?”

Whenever Henry Engelhardt, founder of London-listed motor insurance company Admiral Group, asks this question to his peers, almost everybody hoists up their hand — and it’s a sight he cannot stand to see.

Engelhardt founded Admiral Group in 1993, a UK-based specialist insurance group that’s grown from a small start-up to a £8.4bn FTSE 100 giant with over 10,000 employees. 

Engelhardt firmly believes that building the right team was the driver of the company’s “fabulous financial results”.

After stepping down from his role as chief executive in 2016, the American businessman and author of ‘Be a Better Boss’ has spent most of his time sharing his entrepreneurial and leadership experience through mentorship programmes and public speaking events. 

But as the art of leadership is never a one-size-fits-all model, the founder of Admiral Group tells Ambition A.M. where founders should begin when it comes to building a successful team – and business.

• Make great decisions 

“You can be the greatest people-person in the world [but] when your business goes out of business, what good is it?”

• Be great with people

“You have to be great with people because you are very, very unlikely to be able to run that great business all by yourself – you’re going to need people.” 

• Create and innovate 

“Even if it’s not necessarily stemming directly from you – although there are ways you can create creativity – you can foster an environment of creativity and innovation.”

Engelhardt, who says he personally met with every new Admiral employee for over 25 years, believes the key to building any successful and financially viable business will be found within your chosen management style.

You do those things really well, you stand a really good chance to have a really good business. Henry Engelhardt

It is also a view shared by Louise Johnson, chief executive of global sport & entertainment agency, Fuse.

“Success is often built on the learnings of others and for business leaders reverse mentoring opportunities can help you understand today’s challenges,” Johnson tells Ambition A.M.

At Fuse, Johnson says each employee’s achievements and contributions are celebrated through a bi-monthly “spotlight award”, which in turn, contributes to talent attraction and retention.

“Our spotlight award is an ongoing recognition programme designed to celebrate exceptional individuals and teams who embody our core values,” Johnson adds.

“The initiative runs throughout the year, highlighting outstanding efforts on a bi-monthly basis, with the winners receiving a financial reward.”