Why Flamme Rouge?
The story behind the name…
People often ask why I called my consultancy “Flamme Rouge.” Cycling fans usually recognise the reference - it’s the red flag marking 1km to go in a race - but even they aren’t always sure why I chose it. And no, before you ask, it has nothing to do with the red-light district (thankfully, I haven’t had to resort to those kinds of antics to win clients!).
The name came about quite by chance. When I set up the business nine years ago, I had no idea what to call it. I chatted to my brilliant friend (and business contact) Thom Gibbons, who suggested I list what was on my mind at the time. The Tour de France had just started, so words like bidon, peloton, sprint, and bikes came tumbling out. Then I said “Flamme Rouge” — and we both stopped. Thom didn’t know what it meant, but it resonated with him instantly. And that was it: name sorted.
And now for the reasoning behind it – with a bit of a back story. I love cycling, I love everything about it, I love the freedom of exploring on two wheels, I love how easy it is to spend time with friends and go for coffee and cake, I love getting fit while having fun (well other than the eating of cake part), I love bikes and all of their accoutrements (I’ve become a bit of a geek) and I love how cycling attracts people of all ages, sizes and abilities, including many disabled athletes – it’s one of the most accessible past times in my opinion. Professional cycling is such an amazing sport to follow because it needs cyclists of many different abilities – it needs the sprinters, the hill climbers, the all-rounders that bring the team together, the domestiques – it actively needs cyclists with different strengths for a team to function. But to win? You need a strategy. You need everyone pulling together at the right time, with a clear goal.
The Flamme Rouge marks the final kilometre of a stage. Everything in the race builds towards that point - the teamwork, the breakaways, the peloton dynamics. Getting all of the riders to the Flamme Rouge in the right place, in one piece, sets you up for the final push. I see professional services marketing and BD in the same way – everyone inside the firm has a skillset which is very specific to them and very much valued by the firm – some people love networking, some people would rather poke their own eyes out with a stick than go to a networking event but write articles, and explain technical information, in a way that even Einstein would be impressed with. Some people have immense relationship building skills and so are made for building and nurturing relationships with referrers and gaining work from them. All of these skills are vital, but unless we bring them together under the auspices of a strategy – one which leads towards very specific goals – we run the risk of each pedalling off in a different direction (see what I did there?) and not gaining the benefits of all working together in a unified way.
No cycling team would be able to perform, never mind win, without the myriad of professionals behind the scenes – the mechanics, the masseurs, the nutritionists, the marketers, the finance team, the data analysts – I could go on. This, for me, is hugely representative of professional services firms – the lawyers, accountants, property professionals, IT gurus – would be lost without the huge number of “support” staff (and I dislike this word – I think it does these teams a huge disservice – so it’s in inverted commas for want of a better word – answers on a postcard please) that it takes to make any firm the success that it is. And once again – the strategy focuses efforts of each of these teams, along side the “fee earners” (also for want of a better word) to ensure that everyone is working together to achieve the best results.
So, there you go – that is why Flamme Rouge is Flamme Rouge – and why I was SO excited to go to the Grand Depart of the Tour de France this year watch the riders fly beneath the flamme rouge, knowing the hours of training, dedication, and strategy it took to get there.
Do you work in a professional services firm? Are you a sprinter, a climber, a team motivator? Or are you the DS (Directeur Sportif) and wish that you could have a bit of help getting your strategy for success sorted. Give me a shout, I would LOVE to help!