
Inspiring Leadership with Jonathan Bowman-Perks MBE
Show summary. Each week former British Army Officer, CEOs coach, Top Team coach and motivational speaker Jonathan Bowman-Perks MBE brings inspiring leadership themes and guest interviews to you. Jonathan’s wide cross-section of guests vary from Generals to distinguished SAS Officers, CEOs and business leaders. This podcast appeals to the full cross-section of leaders: from younger aspiring leaders, Entrepreneurs, experience managers to CEOs, Partners, MDs and Chairs of businesses. Stories of inspiration, failures, hard won lessons, top tips and practical leadership advice for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes

Feb 25, 2021 • 54min
#134: Nicole Ryan - Founder of Alex’s Adventure Ltd. & Ex- Marine Engineer & Trainee Addiction Counsellor
Nicole is from the south of Ireland from a place called Millstreet in Cork. Her mother is Russian and her father of South American decent, after the birth of her brother her father left, and her mother moved both Nicole & Alex to Ireland. As a young girl she faced great challenges as sadly her mother fell victim to domestic violence, and she grew up in a difficult home environment but always took great solitude in books and storytelling.During her teenage years Nicole always dreamed of doing something great and when she finished school, she went to study Marine & Plant Engineering at the National Maritime College of Ireland where she was the only female in a class of 50 males. Faced with a toxic masculine world Nicole proved herself to be a capable engineer and began working for Irish Ferries in 2015.A few months into her career she received some devastating news that her only brother was in hospital after trying a substance at a party and she spent 4 days by his side until he subsequently died at the age of 18 years old. Alex saved four lives through organ donation but in reality, he saved 5 – he enabled Nicole to embark on one of her greatest adventures yet.Nicole gave up my career as a Marine & Plant Engineer to come home and build Alex’s Adventure. Over the last 5 years she has travelled the length and breadth of the country visiting schools and delivering a workshop educating and sharing how our choices can impact our lives forever. To date she has visited over 70 schools, colleges, youth clubs & businesses and has impacted over 7,000 students nationwide. From this life changing experience Alex’s Adventure, the drug education programme was born which aims to not only help students and the wider community learn more about substance misuse but also to upskill people in the community and empower them to be able to do what she can do.Nicole holds a degree in Marine & Plant Engineering, a Certificate in Training Development & Design and will complete a diploma in Substance Misuse Studies in 2021 in hopes of opening her own practice as an addiction councillor. She has won various awards including Humanitarian of the year 2018 and Best Start Up 2019. Nicole also works with individuals and senior corporate teams on finding their inner resilience and the power of storytelling.Leadership top tip: The solution is the easy part, figure out the problem first.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 22, 2021 • 50min
#133: Joel Blake OBE - Founder of GFA Exchange and President of Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce
Joel is a multi-award-winning businessman, public speaker and corporate advisor, with a passion for inclusive business support and financial technology.He started his working life at the age of 16, where he worked in a recycling factory, peeling stickers of hangers. At the age of 18, he walked into a recruitment agency with a dog-eared CV and pitched himself to the consultant. He walked out with a role as a Marketing Assistant for a FTSE 500 company with no prior experience.But at 21, he felt a calling to help business growth through inclusive business support. He accepted a role as an Employment Mentor with Connexxions, where he helped corporate firms source talent from disadvantaged communities. Within 3 years, he became the leading Corporate Leadership Advisor for the Midlands region, delivering mentoring and personal development training to over 300 aspiring leaders every year.At 25, he founded one of the UK’s first diverse recruitment and advisory services, building an international client list including the BBC, HSBC and Essentra PLC, a global £1bn turnover firm. At aged 30, he became the UK’s first National Diversity Advisor for Golf, where his team helped to bring in over 5,000 new diverse participants into the sport.In 2013, he diversified his passion for inclusion into the world of Finance, co-founding a financial lending firm company that provided funding to launch over 650 new UK businesses in under 3 years. After exiting the businesses, he went onto launch award-winning fintech, www.gfaexchange.comIn 2017, Joel took on an additional role as Executive for Access to Finance and Growing Business for the GBSLEP, supporting the needs over 6,500 SMEs. He still supports the GBSLEP as a consultant with their inclusive business support strategies.He has lectured at Aston, Warwick and University of Birmingham Business Schools and advises professional and public sector bodies, on developing innovative business support models and strategies. He has also advised business policy teams at No 10 Downing Street.Joel is currently the President of the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, a Fellow of the National Centre for Entrepreneurs, and a Non-Executive Director of two companies.He was awarded an OBE for Services to Business Support and Enterprise in 2016.Leadership tip: Never forget where you come from but know where you are going. #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 18, 2021 • 1h 1min
#132: Pamela Hackett - CEO of Proudfoot
Pam is the CEO of global operations management consulting firm Proudfoot. With more than 30 years of management consulting and leadership experience across industries as diverse as mining to banking and working with 100’s of company’s Pam has led Proudfoot through an extraordinary transformation, powered by a consulting model focused on developing clients’ in-house skills and capabilities. She champions a people-focused approach to transformation which helps clients achieve change at speed and scale, with tangible outcomes that make a long-term difference. Pam is a recognized thought leader, as well as a respected writer and speaker, on the topics of employee engagement, change management, leadership and business transformation. She is an award-winning CEO, regularly contributes to the CEO Magazine, and has led Proudfoot to be recognized by the FT and Forbes as a leading consulting firm. Her book Manage to Engage is available through Wiley Publishers in March. Leadership Tip. First, manage to engage. Together you get there faster. #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 15, 2021 • 58min
#131: Patrick Kane - Young TED Speaker & Young Ambassador
Patrick Kane is a public speaker, ambassador, disabled persons’ advocate and healthcare communications company account executive. Patrick became a triple amputee after a 3-month battle with meningococcal septicaemia when he was just 9 months old. Ever since then he has spent his time talking with others about what it means to be disabled and what others may be able to learn from his experiences. In 2010 Patrick became the youngest person in the world to be fitted with a revolutionary bionic arm and is an ambassador for both the UK Sepsis Trust and Össur. In 2012, he was selected to carry the Olympic Torch through Trafalgar Square. Patrick graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2020 with a degree in biochemistry and is currently pursuing a career working for Havas Life Medicom as an account executive. Outside of work, Patrick speaks for audiences which have included TEDxTeen, WIRED: Next Generation and even appeared in an advert for Apple in 2014 for its Worldwide Developers Conference. In 2018 he wrote an article titled “Being bionic: how technology transformed my life” for the Long Read in The Guardian. While the theme is often related to disability, Patrick’s speaking appeals to audiences from all backgrounds (and abilities) because of the emphasis he places on changing the world you live in by changing your perception of it. His Leadership tip – opportunity is the result of how you perceive your current situation. #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 11, 2021 • 48min
#130: Bo Brabo MBA – Coach, Keynote Speaker & Author “From battlefield to White House to the boardroom”
Throughout his career, Robert “Bo” Brabo has always focused on the people, helping them tackle their issues as if they were his own. Since retiring from the US Army as the Chief of HR Operations with the White House Communications Agency and Presidential Communications Officer for both Presidents Bush and Obama, Bo has served in several executive positions and is the founder of Hail Media Group Ltd. Bo received his MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He is a professional speaker and author of the book “From the Battlefield, to the White House, to the Boardroom: Leading Organizations to Values Based Results”, an Amazon Top 100 Hot New Release in Business Leadership. Bo is the Co-host of “The Bo & Luke Show” (a top 2.5% global podcast) inspiring listeners to be, know, and do better every day.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 8, 2021 • 39min
#129: Dr. Marta Ra PhD - CEO Paracelsus Recovery & Women in Sustainable Finance
Previously one of Switzerland’s most successful women in the banking industry, having managed the country’s largest pension fund valued at almost CHF 40 billion, Marta Ra is now working as CEO at Paracelsus Recovery, the world’s most individual and discreet addiction and mental health service with clinics in Zurich and London. Now a qualified therapeutic coach, Marta is the woman leading the way in helping the ultra-rich and successful with their mental health. Her experience at the top of the banking industry (having worked at JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Deutsch Bank and Morgan Stanley) gives Marta an unparalleled insight into the highs and lows of the world’s most successful.She has also co-founded Women in Sustainable Finance, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to empower women who wish to see a more inclusive and sustainable financial industry.Her Top Tip: Life sends the lessons back if you haven’t taken them first time around.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 4, 2021 • 1h 4min
#128: Sandy Loder - Founder and Chief Executive of Peak Dynamics and AH Loder Advisers
Sandy Loder combines his financial services, military and sporting experience to provide a valuable sounding board and expertise to help organisations, teams and individuals in a variety of complex and challenging environments. He ‘partners’ with leaders and teams, providing advice and counsel, leveraging his coaching and mentoring techniques in a challenging and positive style. Sandy began his career as a British Army Officer after attending Sandhurst. Aged only 20, he was responsible for leading and managing 30 soldiers on operations in Northern Ireland. He also served in London, Cyprus and Sierra Leone. He finished the last two years of his military career redesigning and running Brigade Squad – an iconic 8-week course focused on leadership development and selection for potential British Army officers. He then spent the next 18 years working in his family business, Robert Fleming, before helping to set up and work in his family’s single and multi-Family Office. During that time, he developed a unique Next Generation development programme for clients’ offspring. He continues to run a development programme and over 500 young people have been through these programme. In 2007, he attended Harvard Business School. He established AH Loder Advisers in 2010 to advise Family Offices, Family Business owners on matters such as succession, leadership and next-generation transition. In 2013, he went on to establish Peak Dynamics, as a spin-off from AH Loder Advisers. This consultancy advises corporates, elite sportspeople, extreme athletes and adventurers and the Special Forces on Organisational Culture, Team Dynamics and Individual Behaviour and Decision-Making, Leadership and Resilience. He specialises in improving human performance and decision-making. He has also been taking clients out of their comfort zone for over a decade on expeditions such as dogsledding in the Arctic, where he works with them on their leadership and team development. He is currently setting up a new venture called Leaders’ Walks – providing carefully selected and beautiful walks for Leaders, their teams and contacts to talk and network.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 1, 2021 • 1h 2min
#127: Dayna Steele - CEO of The Rock Business
Dayna Steele worked with the world's greatest rock stars for years, observing what makes a rock star and what makes a fleeting one-hit wonder. This rock radio Hall of Famer brings her Rock Star Principles of success to The Rock Business: entertaining podcasts, popular speeches, best-selling books.Rock star speaker, best-selling author, and Texas rock radio Hall of Famer Dayna Steele brings you her Rock Star Principles podcast, conversations with successful rock stars in business and entertainment. Join Dayna and her special guest with a new episode every Friday for lessons learned, obstacles overcome, and the fun and bizarre stories along the way. It could be a real rock star, a CEO, an athlete, an actor, or you. Listen to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and wherever podcasts are broadcast.As a popular speaker, Dayna's #RockStarPrinciples and true stories entertain your audience and gives them memorable lessons for individual and company success. Dayna takes the audience on an entertaining and thought-provoking rock journey from backstage all the way to the top of the charts with true stories and the business lessons learned about leadership, teamwork, communication, customer service, marketing, and more. The presentation is available on Zoom, Google Meetings, Microsoft Teams, and for individual consultations via phone or other online meeting.Dayna Steele is a successful entrepreneur, media strategist, nationally recognized radio and TV personality, and the author of the best-selling business book "Rock to the Top: It Now Goes to Eleven - What You Can Learn About Success from the World’s Greatest Rock Stars" and creator of the "101 Ways to Rock" book series. She started and sold the first NASA and space-related retail website becoming an aerospace executive in the process, gives laptops to high school students in need, and lives in Texas, California, and New York with her husband and too many rescue dogs. Dayna's mantra: The more you do to help someone else succeed, the more you will succeed.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jan 28, 2021 • 55min
#126: General Sir Mike Jackson KCB CBE DSO – former Army Chief of the General Staff, author and TV commentator
General Sir Mike Jackson's illustrious career in the British Army has spanned almost 45 years and all that time he has shown loyalty, courage and commitment to the British army whilst also being an undeniable media attraction. A man of substance where foreign policy is concerned, he has served in theatres from the Artic to the jungle but is perhaps best known for his role in charge of the British troops to end ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, for assembling the British ground component of the coalition that toppled the Taliban, for equipping and organising the army we dispatched to defeat in Iraq and for re-organising the British army with aplomb. His drive, enthusiasm and dominating personality were always popular with his soldiers and drove him right to the top of his profession. He may have been a general but he never stopped caring about the men and women in his charge, despite the politics. "Soldier: The Autobiography" exhibits all the qualities for which Jackson is admired; his professionalism, his honesty, his directness, his exuberance and his sense of humour. Most of all, it gives a vivid sense of what modern soldiering entails.Upon his return to the UK, Jackson was promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Land Command, the second-most senior position in the British Army. After three years as Commander-in-Chief, Jackson was appointed Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the professional head of the British Army, in 2003. He took up the post a month before the start of the Iraq War. He was succeeded as Chief of the General Staff by Sir Richard Dannatt in 2006, and retired from the Army after serving for almost 45 years. He is married to Sarah, and has 2 sons and a daughter. His interests include, music, reading, travel, skiing and tennis.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jan 25, 2021 • 1h
#125: Jonathan Bowman-Perks MBE - CEOs Trusted Leadership Advisor, Team Coach, Podcast Host & Author
As the host of the podcast, Jonathan is interviewed by the Co-Host Ben Atkinson in a linked in live session. Jonathan shares his fascinating life journey through 20 years as a British army officer and 20 years as a business leader and coach to other inspiring leaders. He has accumulated a wealth of top tips, experience and knowledge from the many challenges, mistakes and successes he has been part of. These “battle scars” he acquired in the military and in business and he has developed and learnt practical top tips for leaders today. Touching on everything from morals, integrity, life-purpose, health, well-being, mental health, finding good advisors, building your emotional and social intelligence, coping with adversity and not overdoing your resilience to building your brand reputation, image, impact and finally leaving a sustainable legacy. Its frank, raw and authentic.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.