Book Review – The Business of Winning by Mark Gallagher

This book is written by Mark Gallagher, a renowned Formula 1 executive and industry insider with decades of insight into the industry. Unlike Mark, I am not a motorsport fan nor connected with the industry making me a good choice for this book review. My end to end read offered up up the following review. See more about the book, published by Kogan Page here.

The Business of Winning, insights from F1

Overall, I found Mark’s writing style and quality to be excellent. He is engaging, informative and clearly explains his insights on Formula 1 (aka. F1) related topics. If you are a motorsports fan of any kind, this book is a must-read providing a thrilling end to end experience. Mark offers up some fascinating insights into the world of motorsports.

He is not afraid to touch on some of the shadier aspects, which for me led to several ‘ohhhh really??..’ moments as I made my way through the book. As a non-motorsports fan, I found the 1st chapter a little challenging to get through leading to a slog of sorts. The engagement was complete for me by chapter 2 however, where deep insights on leadership in Formula 1 were offered from Mark’s impressive reservoir of industry knowledge.

As the chapters went on, I found them engaging albeit long compared to other reads out there. As a motorsports fan, there is a good chance you won’t even notice this. However, for the business, management or general reader, this may feature in your experience of the book. I was impressed with the way he was able to provide a wide level of engagement. Clearly written, it also included frequent tiebacks into management and business practices based on his Formula 1 insights.

A lot of it will resonate with leaders, managers and marketers as he talked of leadership, building winning teams and the pitfalls encountered by the Formula 1 industry. He was also very candid in his exploration of diversity, and the bumpy road the industry took reaching today’s world of Formula 1 heroes like Lewis Hamilton.

The exploration goes on from there into change, the eSports revolution plus more wrapping up with astute observations on communication leaving a trail of interesting Formula 1 insight as he went through the chapters in a consistent, well written and engaging manner. If you are interested in business, marketing, or motorsports itself, you will not be disappointed. A general interest reader will find it a slow start but will ultimately walk away feeling the effort was worth it.

About the Author: In addition to being a consultant, public speaker and columnist, Mark Gallagher has worked in the motorsports industry for over 40 years, 20 of which has been spent as a senior executive with the Jordan Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing and Cosworth.

More about the book

Have you ever wondered what has made Mercedes the undisputed kings of Formula One? Do you want to know how Lewis Hamilton has managed to exceed legendary driver Michael Schumacher’s record of winning races? And most of all, do you want to find out how to inject that winning streak to your business strategy?

In this riveting insider’s account of nearly 40 years in the Formula One industry, Mark Gallagher explains what it takes to succeed in a competitive business with high technology, high finance and immensely high stakes. Like any global business, Formula One demands the best from its people. To thrive within it requires impeccable leadership and communications skills. You also need to bring in the ability to design, manufacture, develop and launch a constantly improving high-technology product, constantly working to immoveable deadlines with an immense supply chain and tight regulations.

The Business of Winning sets out a one-stop management guide for business leaders keen to emulate this high-speed, high-impact approach to business. This entirely revised new edition unveils how Formula One is using new technologies to finesse the most minute of details, whilst reaching new audiences, playing its part in sustainability with the aim of being carbon neutral by 2030 and showing the way to diversity and inclusion.

John Mulhall @johnmlhll is a writer with Irish Tech News for over 5 years and also a DevOps and Infrastructure Engineer specialising in Cloud related technologies. You can learn more about John at https://maolte.ie

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