Inspiring Leadership with Jonathan Bowman-Perks MBE

This was very special for me to have a US Naval Aviator who was trained at the same bases as my father had trained at, and who had flown F14 Tomcats at the Top Gun school, while Tom Cruise was filming, and then going on to come on the USS Nimitz before his current career in Boeing.Mike Manazir served 36 years in the U.S. Navy and retired in 2017 as a Rear Admiral (Upper Half). As a naval aviator, Mike was qualified in the F-14 and the F-18 aircraft, flying 3750 fighter hours and conducting 1240 arrested landings during fifteen overseas deployments aboard aircraft carriers. A graduate of TOPGUN, Mike commanded a fighter squadron, two ships including the aircraft carrier USS NIMITZ, and a carrier strike group. Mike also completed five tours in the Pentagon. Following retirement from the Navy, Mike accepted a position with The Boeing Company where he conducts liaison between the U.S. Navy and Boeing.Mike has been married to Kelly for 41 years. They have two grown children.Mike has published Learn How to Lead to Win; 33 Powerful Stories and Leadership Lessons in which he describes his own leadership journey through his Navy experience. His stories are applicable in civilian organizations and pursuits as much as in the military. Mike’s book is available on Amazon in all versions as well as an audio version, which Mike narrates himself. Further leadership content can be found on Mike’s website, www.mikemanazir.com.Mike’s “Two-Minute Top Tip” can be encapsulated in one phrase: “Lead from your heart, not with your title”. If you have to revert to using your official title to lead your team, you will not get the best results. To truly build a high performing team, you must create a connection – from your heart – with each member of your team. You must lead with empathy and care. You must let them know that you allow failure as long as we all learn from the failure. You must let them know that the team thrives through the contributions of each team member as a whole. You want them to know it is okay to assume risk and to always strive to gain better results. If you lead with your title, your team will not take risk, they will not attempt to fail and learn. In short, they will not be invested in constant improvement and greater success. Your heart to heart connection with each member will accelerate results. Nirvana for top team performance is when you don’t want to disappoint them…and they don’t want to disappoint you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Craig Valentine, MBA, an award-winning speaker and trainer, has traveled the world helping people get remarkable results through leadership, communications, and change. Known as the Champion of Change, he is a professional speaker and has spoken in the United States, Taiwan, Canada, Jamaica, Qatar (Doha), England, Bahamas, Hong Kong, China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, South Africa, Japan, and Ireland giving as many as 160 presentations per year.Craig is the author of the Amazon.com #1 Bestseller, World Class Speaking In Action.He is also the 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking for Toastmasters International, winning out ofmore than 25,000 contestants in 14 countries. He has used his success formulas to:• win Salesperson of the Year (3 times) for Glencoe/McGraw-Hill’s Mid-Atlantic Division• become an award-winning management trainer for one of the most prestigious and largestseminar companies in the United States (averaging an industry-leading 5.85 on a 6.0 ratingscale)• produce sales years of 233%, 157%, and 152% of goal for Glencoe/McGraw-Hill• sell more than $8 million in educational resources in a single year• win the Rising Star salesperson award as a rookie with Glencoe/McGraw-Hill• Direct a highly-successful employment academy for homeless men in Baltimore City andachieved a 100% job placement rate for the program’s graduates• win Events Manager of the Year for the National Small Business Council• win a Congressional Achievement Award from the United States Congress for excellence incommunications• earn the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins University• receive hundreds of speaking awards from Toronto to Taipei• help the United Way of Central Maryland exceed its $45 million fundraising goal in the year2000 by training their Loaned Executives to present with influence• Run an employment academy for homeless men in Baltimore City. During his tenure, Craigand his team had a 100% job-placement rate.Craig is the President of The Communication Factory, LLC, which is an award-winning company that helps people present with impact. Craig Valentine is the author of the groundbreaking book, The Nuts and Bolts of Public Speaking, Co- Author of the book, World Class Speaking, and contributing author for the books Guerrilla Marketing on the Front Lines, Success Secrets of the Social Media Marketing Superstars, The Speaker’s Edge, and Guerrilla Marketing Remix. He has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and he is certified as a Co- Active Coach and a Guerrilla Marketing Coach.Craig is also the Founder and Co-Founder of two successful small businesses that are each highly profitable even in this economy.Most recently, Craig became the co-author of the Amazon.com #1 bestseller, World Class Speaking In Action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Et Halstead is currently COO of Search Capital, a firm he founded alongside Jamie Woods in 2021. The organization focuses on the incubation, growth and development of companies working in the talent space from recruiting and consulting to Rec Tech and RTD. Having joined JCW, the recruitment arm of Search Cap, in 2009 fresh out of university the last 15 years have been busy for Et who has seen the organization grow from 3 people in a small office in London to over 300 team members spread across 6 countries, 8 brands, 5 sectors and annual revenue in excess of £60 Million pounds An unusual mix of experience, Et has bounced between back and front office throughout his career responding to whatever the the organization needed as it moved through its start up phase. He graduated from London South Bank with a degree in industrial design before falling into the recruitment industry in a post credit crunch world. Starting out as a junior headhunter he quickly moved into a managerial role growing and leading high performing teams that enabled organizational growth. In 2012, at the age of 25, Et moved to New York to set up the organization in the American markets. As the business grew so too did Et’s remit, moving from management to executive leadership and eventually in 2018 to the Chief Commercial Officer role that pinpointed his key skill set – operationalizing business initiatives. In 2021 he was asked to move into the COO role focusing on the development of the groups corporate services functions. But Et sticks firmly to the fact that turning idea into reality is not his passion. An avid reader he created the Future Managers and Leaders training course for Search Capitla which pulls together the knowledge of hundred of business and psychology writers to develop management expertise across the group. When not in the office you’ll find him pursuing one of his endless hobbies (much to his wifes frustration) from fishing, and shooting to wood working and tennis. Most frequently you’ll find him playing with his growing family on his farm in Massachusetts.His Top Leadership Tip: 1st Asses and Issue. Sharpen the Axe in Steven Covey advice. Isolate to execute. Never Assume you understand the problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin has over 30 years' executive leadership experience spanning three sectors - healthcare, financial services and professional services - having worked in HR leadership roles for Boots, Abbey National, Capital One, Freshfields, Norton Rose Fulbright, EY and most recently for KPMG as the UK Chief People Officer. In addition through his work with Scope, Nottingham Trent University and two multi academy trusts he has over 15 years' non-executive experience. Kevin now runs his own advisory and consulting business supporting leadership teams with people and talent strategies, succession planning processes, diversity, equity and inclusion practices and HR organisation design. He has recently taken on a role as Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Adviser for Wellcome Trust helping them become a more inclusive employer.In recognition of his passion for and commitment to creating diverse workforces and inclusive cultures Kevin was recognised in HR Magazine's Most Influential UK HR Practitioners 2022. He was also included as one of 35 Advocate Executives in the INvolve Heroes Women Role Model 2021 & 2022 lists and as a Top 50 Ally Executive in the Outstanding LGBT+ Role Models list 2022. From 2020 to 2022 Kevin served as a Steering Group member for the government-sponsored Hampton Alexander/FTSE Women Leaders Review.Kevin holds an honours degree in Politics from the University of York and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He lives in Ealing with his second wife Shami and has two adult children from his first marriage. He is a proud Geordie having been born and brought up on the coast in Whitley Bay and is a life long supporter of Newcastle United. Other than following the fortunes of the Toon Army in his spare time you will find him either out enjoying some good food and wine, supping a beer in a proper pub or at a live music gig. Kevin’s top leadership tip is to build a diverse team of differing personalities, talents and aspirations. Leading that team will be more challenging but the diversity of thought that it brings and the different abilities each individual offers will lead to superior results. Support and encourage them. Listen to all voices. Include everyone. Recognise their achievements publicly and share your feedback privately. Stretch them with new and exciting work but do not overwhelm them. Allow them to grow and move on. Never selfishly hold them back. Take enjoyment and satisfaction through their success. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A recognized global creative leader having been Co-Founder of a UK design agency from the 80's, ATTIK, to the challenge of being Global Design VP at The Coca-Cola Company and today the Founder of a next generation agency disguised as a creative community called; KnownUnknown. 1986 - 2013;Co-Founder, ATTIK UK, age 19, unemployed and a street artists and former graphic design student. James and his partner Simon Needham applied for a financial grant from his Royal Highness, Prince Charles' youth charity, UK in 1986. They received £2,000 seed funding to start their design company and bought a first generation Apple Mac. Twenty five years later ATTIK grew to have offices in Leeds, London, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sydney and over 250 staff. ATTIK was acquired by Dentsu, Japan in 2007 in a multi-million deal. James then served in a creative leadership role at Dentsu before departing to go brand side.2013 - 2018Global Design Vice President, The Coca-Cola CompanyJames brought an outsider, entrepreneurial spirit to Coke. He changed the definition of ‘design’. Creatively led global brand activations across 200+ markets and introduced/built creative networks internally and externally to work in more agile ways directly with creative talent. Under his leadership he successfully re-branded over x20 billion dollar brands at The CC Company.“Undoubtedly, I can openly say that James represents a ‘before and after’ in the history of The Coca-Cola Company.”— Marcos De Quinto (former CMO), The Coca-Cola Company2019 - PresentFounder, KnownUnknown In 2018, James Sommerville departed his Coke VP role after realizing the creative industry was not evolving with the needs of a client. James launched what is now called KnownUnknown - a distributed network of talent (designed pre-Covid) that connects creatives around the world and embrace new technologies such as generative AI products to help the Creative Pro. Leveraging KnownUnknown community, he recently executed brand work for Ford, Google, HP and General Mills while connecting them to some of the highest creative talent in the world and is launching a beta AI tool for Graphic and Brand Designers.Other highlightsThe Prince’s Trust Recipient, Alumni, Enterprise Fellow and Patron.James has now been involved in The Prince’s Trust for 35 years both as the recipient (1986) and today helping the next generation of young entrepreneurs in UK and US.James appeared on UK ‘Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” UK for The Trust and raised $125,000 with OG supermodel, Jerry Hall.James has spoken live at over x25 Prince’s Trust events including being on stage with HRH The Prince of WalesBuckingham Palace (2007)St James’ Palace (2014 / 2021)Clarence House (2016)James is assisting The Trust to launch The Prince’s Trust America.“James has become the Virtuous Circle.”— HM King Charles IIIMarketing / Design / Brand  Keynotes;James has spoken on Design and branding at over x250 different locations/ live events over the past 25 years as keynote or panel speaker / judge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Welch is a truly inspiring leader.Dr Michael Welch OBE founded Blackcircles.com, the world’s first click-to-fit online tyre retailer in 2002, selling the business to Michelin in 2015. Prior to Blackcircles.com, Michael started his career in the tyre business aged 15 in Liverpool, England, as a tyre installer with a local independent tyre dealer. He started his first online tyre business two years later, in 1995, after being made redundant. He subsequently sold that business to UK fast-fit chain Kwik Fit, where he was hired as the group’s first head of e-commerce in the lead-up to Ford’s £1 billion acquisition in 1999. In this role, he spent a few years between the UK and the US assisting the Ford group with their e-commerce execution.In 2016, during a brief period out of the tyre industry, he founded and chaired fashion retail startup Atterley.com, a global network of fashion boutiques. In 2019, Michael turned his attention to the US tyre market with his new venture, Tirescanner.com. The website serves as a platform for brick-and-mortar tyre retailers who are looking to compete with pure players for a share of the US online market. With an initial launch in Florida in 2019, Tirescanner.com has gone on to build a national network showcasing the very best of brick-and-mortar retail stores and mobile installation vans across the United States. The US tyre replacement market was valued at $42bn (USD) in 2019.In 2021, Tirescanner merged with Tirebuyer.com to create one of America’s largest online tyre retailers, with over 11,000 installers across the USA. Bringing Tirescanner’s strategy and expertise together with TireBuyer’s scale, the aim of the merger is to create the country’s leading online tyre experience.Michael established The Welch Trust in 2015 focusing on supporting children and young people in need of adoption and fostering, as a fostered and adopted person himself, as well as kids with critical and terminal illnesses. The Trust recently built its first ‘The Welch Learning Centre’, a school computer and library service for children in Bali, Indonesia. In May 2021, The Welch Trust partnered with the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity and NHS Lothian to bring MRI-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) to Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP). This was the first time this laser technology was made available in Scotland. Michael also sits on the board and is a Patron of The Prince’s Trust, the principal charity of HM the King. Michael was awarded an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) by the HM Queen Elizabeth ll in 2016 for services to business and charity. He also received an honorary doctorate in Enterprise from Edinburgh’s Napier University.——————————————About TirebuyerAt Tirebuyer our aim is to deliver the world’s best tire buying experience, underpinned by world class customer support. We’ve created an easy to navigate marketplace, coupled with an end-to-end concierge service, for the installation of your new tires. Tirebuyer simplifies tire shopping, provides quick and convenient tire installation with our local or mobile installation partners, offers fast and free shipping, and removes the guesswork on cost through guaranteed upfront payment. In 2021, Tirescanner merged with Tirebuyer to create an even better website with incredible customer support. We have a nationwide network of 11,000 mobile and in-store installation partners, all pre-qualified by our team. Your tires can be delivered fast and free to one of these tire shops – in some cases the same day you order. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie Waller - entrepreneur, philanthropist and adventurer Jamie Waller is a serial entrepreneur having started, built and sold many businesses over the past twenty years. Waller currently owns the majority of two businesses that trade globally, has eleven minority investments in the UK and US and is also the Founder and Chair of The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Network. Waller lives in London and currently splits his time between philanthropy, entrepreneurship, adventuring and writing. His first book Unsexy Business was a best seller and he is currently wring his second, titled: The Dyslexic Entrepreneur. Waller is currently training for the Africa Eco Motorcycle Race in 2024 and aims to travel to space in 2025. Waller's top leadership tip is: think differently and delegate well. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-waller-0b04063/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unsexy-Business-entrepreneurs-businesses-extraordinary/dp/0857197134 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hoffman has been called the ‘Rolls Royce’ of personal development workshops. Frequently in the press and on the radio and in podcasts, we are now in our 28th year in the UK. Our growth has been due to word of mouth as well as the recommendation of therapists, life coaches and people looking to develop human potential. Our 7-day residential course is available around the UK (www.hoffmanprocess.co.uk) and we offer places to around 500 people a year. As well as growing the business, I have also been part of the training of our trainers. I’m also a license holder and Administrator for Hoffman International our global franchise company.1989-1999 Personal Presentation LtdSerena worked as a corporate trainer with Julia Goodman who founded Personal Presentation ltd. Julia created a unique ‘You brand’ coaching methodology which was ground breaking at the time. Her company continues to work with blue-chip clients today.As a female entrepreneur, I’ve successfully juggled being a mother with an acting career and running a growing business.1985-2018 ActressSerena has had a varied TV, film and theatre career spanning 33 years. I trained at RADA (colleagues include Ralph Fiennes, Jane Horrocks, Imogen Stubbs, Neil Dudgeon). She spent six months as Superintendent Amanda Prosser in the Bill, was murdered twice in Midsomer Murders and kissed Pierce Brosnan in an Aston Martin in Goldeneye. See separate page for acting credits.Other skillsFor the Hoffman Process, Serena coach all our teachers in voice and breath work. She gave them tips on how to monitor their energy and use the appropriate performance levels to engage an audience over a long period of time. She also uses role-play to help them with their one-to-one skills, building trust, rapport and create a safe place for our clients to do their work.She hosts regular monthly talks in London and also facilitate all support groups for our Hoffman participants. She has held talks and co-facilitated courses in Ireland, South Africa, Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam. I wrote and co-facilitated a Hoffman workshop specifically for teenagers that we launched at Bedales school in 2013 and hope to include in University programmes.As the face (and voice) of Hoffman UK, I engage with our social media on a daily basis. I inaugurated the Hoffman magazine and edited the first three issues. A few years ago, she designed the Hoffman App and co-wrote and published a Hoffman 365 day journal. She is currently upgrading her website, work which should be completed this year. In the past year, she has been working with a business consultant on the plan for Hoffman to transition to a not-for-profit organisation and ultimately a charity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karuna has been a leadership journeyman for a long time. Over nearly four decades of work and lived experiences, he has studied, observed, led, suffered, been mentored, and gained much from simply observing and learning from both amazing, and unfortunately, appalling leaders. His leadership journey began quite by accident at 19 at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, undoubtedly one of the finest leadership training institutions in the world. Over a year, his first conceptions of leadership were uprooted against the time-honoured traditions of the seafarer. For good reason, as the sea has always been and remains a harsh punisher of poor leadership and judgement. He went on to gain his sea legs working with ship-crews, and leading small numbers of highly capable and well-trained men and women. During his time in the Navy he also lived in Sweden, Australia and the United States, training with other navy men and women, and in the process learning how others chose to lead. He capped 19 years in the Navy in Singapore with two consecutive warship commands over six years, a 45-meter minehunter with 38-crew, and a 150-meter landing ship tank with 120 crew. Leaving the Navy after successful command at sea as the pioneer crew of the Landing Ship Tank was a forced choice. Karuna chose to prioritise his life at that stage to be a father to his two children, and a better version of himself to his wife, who had earlier already given up her career to stay home with the young son and daughter. Leaders make choices, and commit to those choices, and often find themselves in difficult trade-offs.Karuna again found himself another accidental opportunity in the newly created military leadership centre, where he spent a decade as part of the pioneer team to transform military culture through the development of leaders and values work. He successfully retired after three decades in the military, and went on to work for three years as the Singapore Government’s Senior Organisational Development Consultant. His work with Brunei Government leaders was acknowledged by the World Bank in 2016.Over the past 6 years, Karuna has coached and worked closely with Senior Leaders, organisational leadership teams, and middle managers to help them grow into the leaders they need to be. His success rate at supporting organisational transformation is evident from repeat client requests for his support.Karuna is a firm believer in RESPECT as the Core Value for Organisational Leaders. Respect underpins Empathy as a Leadership Practice, and when leaders began to empathise well, they might be described as humble, and demonstrating Humility. Respect is also key to Diversity and Inclusion, and a powerful anchor to much needed people and culture work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM is a Professor of Modern Slavery Policy at the Rights Lab in the University of Nottingham where her focus is on research in the area of prevention, business responses, supply chains, and the role of the financial sector in tackling modern slavery. She is particularly focussed on the important role of investors and works as a modern slavery consultant for CCLA Investment Management.Dame Sara completed a three-year term as the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner in April 2022, a role in which she spearheaded the UK’s fight against human trafficking and modern slavery. She joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1986. During her 33-year career within policing she served as Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police from 2007 until 2015. She was the national lead on intelligence; Vice-Chair of ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters; Director of the Police National Assessment Centre; and ACPO Vice-President. She was the first Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council from 2015 to 2019. She was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2006, made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2011 and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019. She has been recognised with a Career Achievement Award from the Police Training Authority Trustees and the Sir Robert Peel Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Evidence-Based Policing. She is an Honorary Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force supporting the work of the auxiliary police squadron, Chair of the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit Leadership Advisory Board, and a trustee and board member of the Police Foundation.She is an Honorary Professor in Modern Slavery at the University of Liverpool and holds honorary doctorates from Durham University, Oxford Brookes and Buckinghamshire New University. Dame Sara’s top tip is to eat the frog for breakfast - get the nasty things over and done with. It is always tempting to procrastinate, to delay tough decisions, but that only leads to worry. A leader needs to be thinking clearly and not weighed down by worrying about things that they should have done. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.