Strength of mind makes the man

Headline: Strength of mind makes the man

By Jacob Gauthier

Benn Richards is not your ‘typical’ employee at Bristol Myers Squibb, an American pharmaceutical company.

Most of their employees did not grow up in England. Most of their employees were not running their own business at the age of 13. And most of their employees did not serve in the Royal Marines, the United Kingdom’s equivalent of the Navy Seals.

But Richards did. These life experiences have shaped and molded him, resulting in a resilient, mentally tough individual.

Benn’s Turkeys

Richards started a turkey farm business at age 13 when he went down to the local market and bought 50 turkey chicks. Richards said he went from door to door selling not just a product, but an idea.

“I went around selling the idea of Christmas,” Richards said. “The fact that Christmas is about family time, getting back to traditions, and how fun it would be to have that fresh-off-the-farm, free-range turkey you could come and pick up on Christmas Eve.”

By the end of the day, all the turkeys were sold. Not long after, the BBC came to his town and shot a news segment about Richards being the youngest CEO in England. After it aired, Richards’ business took off.

“We went from 50 [turkeys] in the first year to 1,500 within a year,” Richards said. “It ended up paying my way through college.”

The business did more than just cover his tuition, though. Richards said he learned many skills from the experience he still uses today.

“[I learned] how to build relationships,” Richards said, “that people want to buy from people that they like, and to be really consistent with the vision and company you’re trying to create, having it built around a culture that really places a high emphasis on integrity and values.”

The Royal Marines

The turkey farm business was not the only experience that taught Richards valuable life skills. The Royal Marines training program truly tested him, as it was meant to: their slogan at the time was ‘99.9% need not apply’.

The training was grueling. Benn Richards’ wife, Amy Richards, said he would come back from home with bleeding feet. But Benn Richards did not give up.

“He had his eyes set on doing this,” Amy Richards said. “He’d made up his mind, so there was just no stopping him.”

The final challenge in the nine-month training program was the Commando Course, a 30-mile course that had to be completed in seven hours. Out of the 130 recruits who started the course, only 11 completed it. Benn Richards was one of them.

He said it was not physical strength that enabled him to succeed where his fellow classmates had failed.

“Honestly, there is nothing special about me,” Benn Richards said. “There were…a lot of guys there who were a lot fitter than me, a lot faster than me. [The] only difference is the strength of mind.”

Strength of mind. It is one of Benn Richards’ defining qualities that is evident in all aspects of his life.

“It’s just how he operates,” Amy Richards said. “I’ve never known another human who can take criticism [like he does] …it doesn’t matter what you do to that guy, he just goes, ‘Okay, how can I fix that or how can I do it differently?’”

His friend and colleague at Bristol Myers Squibb, Jody Zajicek, said the experience of commando training also affects how Benn Richards works.

“He takes pride in what he does and tries to do his work the right way the first time,” Zajicek said. “There’s always that concept of him having that vision, forward-thinking, with an objective in mind…keeping very persistent in getting to that goal.”

But how does he stay so persistent? How did he succeed in his turkey business, in completing commando training?

“It all comes down to making that mental decision that this is going to be a success and there’s no way I’m going to let it fail,” Benn Richards said. “And that truly is the difference between people who fail and succeed in a lot of different walks of life.”

This attitude enabled Benn Richards to succeed where many others would have failed. His experiences growing up and as a young adult shaped Benn Richards into the resilient and mentally tough person he is today. His perseverance through the extreme challenges of commando training resulted in the strength of mind he is known for.

“Until they [your limits] have been pushed beyond your wildest dreams,” Richards said, “you never really understand what you’re capable of.”

Source

Richards, B. (2021, April 1). BMS Humans of Immunology. LinkedIn. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/bms-humans-immunology-benn-richards/?trackingId=3UeVeuoqSoS%2B7cfFHWxGTQ%3D%3D.