We’ve often read about famous people complaining about being misquoted.  This morning I read an article by Caroline Madden in The Irish Times titled “Things that make an entrepreneur get out of bed every morning”.  Caroline explained that I’d said that Bill Cullen was an insecure entrepreneur whose drive stems “from the grinding poverty of his childhood in the inner-city slums of Summerhill in Dublin”.  I said nothing of the sort!

I asked the question “what makes Bill tick” because all the Apprentices were absolutely adamant that they wanted to work for Bill, and I wanted to know why?  Because in my opinion, if you’re going to work for someone, you should at least be considering the individual you’re going to work for.  I assure you that Bill was thinking hard about what made each and every one of the aspiring apprentices tick… because he wanted the right person!  In my opinion, upward management is just as important as downward management.  This is particularly true in Ireland where there is not the same power-gap that exists in some cultures.  For example, if ‘your superior’ asks you to do something in Korea, you comply!  Not so in Ireland where we question and challenge as a matter of course, so the relationship between Employer and Employee must be symbiotic to function well.

I feel happy with posing the question “what makes Bill tick”, but I wish I hadn’t answered it in the You’re Fired Show.  Clearly some people like Caroline Madden feel free to adapt the story as they see fit.  What makes an Entrepreneur tick?  Well I could guess, but I’m not qualified to answer.  What I am qualified to answer is what makes a driven person tick, and that’s insecurity.  I’d say I’m a pretty confident person, but there’s still that little demon on the shoulder asking those questions  It drives me on every day and I’m sure it drives Bill too.  However, just having insecurity isn’t enough to be successful; in fact that’s the trick.  Coupled with that insecurity is the courage, determination, intelligence, stamina, integrity, work rate and humility to overcome and succeed.

Bill Cullen is a star and to sum him up with the word ‘insecure’ is ridiculous and somewhat rude, because there’s so much more to it than that.  I’ll be much more careful about what I say on live TV again… no wonder TV people (politicians, sports people et al) master the art of saying nothing!