On the heels of winning Scotland’s first gold medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Paralympian and recent addition to the MBH Corporation Board of Directors, Neil Fachie, OBE, looks at the fast-paced business world as yet another challenge, not unlike the world of elite sports.
Fachie, a Scottish Paralympic multiple sports athlete, is also a high-performance business coach building on his experience as an accomplished competitive cyclist. Among his achievements in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the reigning world champion set a new Commonwealth Games record of 59.938 seconds in the men’s tandem 1,000m time trial.
Fachie has been a professional athlete for the past 14 years, since qualifying for the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. In that time, he has brought home numerous medals including Gold for the Men’s 1km time trial in the 2012 Paralympic Games, where he and his pilot, Barney Storey, set the (then) world record time of 1:01:351. Fachie also won the Gold medal for the Men’s Time Trial in the 2020 Paralympic Games and numerous Gold medals from the Commonwealth Games and the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships.
Despite his incredible accomplishments, Fachie is far from done in the search for challenges and in joining the MBH Group, he now has his eyes set on the business world, an area he feels very much mirrors the world of elite sport.
“The crossovers between business and elite sport are massive. In both worlds, the competition is constantly improving and evolving, which means that getting to the top is a huge challenge,” states Fachie. “And then, once you’re on top, staying there involves constant evolution and growth.”
According to Fachie, those who thrive in the sports world are the athletes who find a way to improve their performance under pressure, a fact that is mirrored in the fast-paced world of business.
“I believe that a substantial part in both worlds is the mental aspect. In sport, delivering on the big stage, with the world watching, is extremely daunting and those who deliver when it really matters are the ones who come out on top.”
In a professional sporting career that has spanned over a decade, Fachie has also come to realise that inspiration, both in business and in sports, often comes from seeing the big picture and working towards something bigger than yourself and having the resources and support you need can make the difference between success and failure. One thing the reigning world champion understands, however, is that longevity in both worlds is a constant challenge.
“I’ve had to constantly evolve as I’ve gone through my career, and I’ve found that having a reason to keep pushing has been vital,” says Fachie. “I’m a competitor at heart. I love getting out in front of the crowd and pushing myself to achieve things I didn’t think possible. I also love the constant progression of setting yourself targets and achieving them and this is something you see a lot of in the business world.
These concepts of inspiration and support are partially what drew Fachie to join the MBH Group, an organisation that thrives on bringing small and medium businesses together for the greater success of all.
“The responsibility to perform is always present, but if you can get those around you to work with you for a greater cause, it becomes immensely rewarding,” Fachie states. “When you realise it’s a team game and that you need the help of experts around you, it becomes something that gets you up in the morning.”
Callum Laing, CEO, MBH Corporation plc said “There are clear parallels between high performance sport and the business world categorised by high stakes, fast changes and small margins of error. And plenty of judgement! However, high performance athletes are way ahead of most business leaders in terms of understanding the power of coaching, nutrition and mental training towards consistently performing at the highest levels. Neil embodies all that it takes to overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles to achieve results. There is a lot Boards can learn if they are open to exploring beyond the traditional paths.”
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About MBH
MBH Corporation plc is a diversified investment holding company, listed on the Frankfurt and Dusseldorf Stock Exchanges and the OTCQX® in the United States. The company acquires small to medium enterprises across multiple geographies and sectors that are well established, profitable and looking to scale. By leveraging its Agglomeration strategy, MBH Corporation plc is able to create substantial shareholder value through the consistent and accretive acquisition of excellent companies.
About Neil Fachie
A long-standing member of the Great Britain programme, Fachie is a 2012 Paralympic champion and reigning world champion and tandem kilo and flying 200m world record holder. A track and field athlete at his debut Paralympics, in Beijing 2008, Fachie made the switch to track cycling in time for the London Games four years later winning gold and silver in the tandem B events, for athletes with a visual impairment. It is an area in which the Scotsman has proved dominant, winning gold medals at the 2012 and 2020 Paralympic Games, 14 gold medals at UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships between 2009 and 2020 and 5 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games between 2014 and 2022 in the tandem B kilo and sprint disciplines.
In 2013, Fachie was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to para-cycling and then in 2022, was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cycling.
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