Inspiring Leadership with Jonathan Bowman-Perks MBE

David was appointed Group CEO of Wilton & Bain in May 2017, following a Group-wide MBO in partnership with Beechbrook Capital. Prior to this, David spent 20 years, building, leading & pioneering highly successful interim management businesses aligned to the Global Technology & Digital markets. He has been regularly quoted in leading media (Forbes, Huffington Post, FT) for his opinions on the rise of interim management, gig economy and alternative consulting models. In his youth, David was a passionate Rugby Player.  We talked about his upbringing in “middle England”, through private education at Uppingham, and how he has taken inspiration from his father’s success “against the odds”. An avid reader about leaders in sport, military and business, David is a life-long learner.  Spoke on “mis-leaders and expiring leaders” – who suck the life out of you, and create “a not invented here” environment. Learnings from being a talented schoolboy rugby player, to the unforgiving environment of the Youth Team, at his beloved Leicester Tigers. Working as a team, to deliver a shared goal – Success is rarely about “one great man/woman”.   The Management Buy Out (MBO) of his business.David has learned how to balance the objectives of his Private Equity investors & shareholders, with the objectives of his team; it is a demanding place to be, but the demands are not unreasonable. Founders & Chairman – very clear from the outset, that they wanted to create and share wealth by building a business they could sell. Taking the “Founder” culture borne on the core values of “generosity and reciprocity” and building on that; making it systemic. A team of teams. Do the right thing; take accountability.Consequential value – building a strong business is about other people. That responsibility outweighs the contribution of any one individual. It is about driving value from the sum of the parts. Leaving a legacy better than you found. David is building an inclusive business; with diverse thinking giving everyone a voice – He encourages ideas to come from all over the business especially from the quiet voice in the room, and has begun implementing the concept of reverse mentoring, in areas like technology, where people with less “experience” have much more knowledge, and are closer to the “action”. As often described in rugby, David wants Wilton & Bain to be a business “for all different shapes and sizes”. Wilton & Bain trebled in size from 30 to 100 over a period of 3 years. To keep growing, need to bring people along. Be consistent and reliable. Tip – be decent to people, be humble and be decisive (get the order of events right). #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #InclusiveLeadership #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Garry Hearn is running a Masters Programme for all mid-level Army Officer (Majors) – focussing on strategic leadership trends in the world.Gary is Inspired at 3 levels - strategically & personally by Nelson Mandela. Then inspired at an operational level by his CO Colonel Roger Thompson R Signals who led him during Falklands War, believed in him as a soldier & helped him become an Officer. Then tactically & personally inspired by one of his Majors on the course - John Parks who had a tough upbringing in a family of Irish Travellers & became an inspiring leader.Top Leadership Tips - Leaders are everywhereDiversity of people gives diversity of thinkingMistakes & having the humility to learn from them. Example of poor decision and personal bias colouring his decision. John Adair’s: Task, Team & IndividualAnother example restructure organisation chart - “it’s perfect & therefore brittle because it’s not future proof”.Leadership is about others - getting them to do things to the best of their ability. Know your people really wellGarry Hearn is a Colonel in the British Army he was recently responsible for the programme management of the UKs largest Defence Technical Training Transformation Programme, focussed on transforming training and through life learning for up to 40000 students per annum. He is now engaged in delivering leadership and professional learning to the Army's emerging leaders. He is a CIS Engineer with over 35 years’ experience in a variety of military roles including, leading organisations, Strategic Human Resource, Organisation Development, as well as training and education.  In a previous role he was the Principal of the Defence College of Communications and Information Services and his efforts in transforming the College were recognised with him being appointed as an Officer of the British Empire (OBE). He has a BSc (Hons) and three Masters level degrees comprising an MBA, MA in History, and an MSc in Strategic HR as well as being a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Chartered Management Institute (CMI), and the Learning Performance Institute (LPI). He has also recently completed his first book offering an insight into 35 years of leadership and the lessons he has learnt. Garry completes his military service next year before entering an as yet to be defined, new chapter on his journey.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #InclusiveLeadership #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fiona has had an amazing leadership upbringing & knew from the age of 11 she wanted to be a fashion designer. So after studying fashion at university she began working with George Davies at NEXT then moved with him to set up George at ASDA With a focus on Women’s fashion Fiona is now MD at Harpenne as part of the River Island Group.River Island caused a media flurry when it recently unveiled a new womenswear brand Harpenne, which aims to fill a gap in the market with 120 different ethically-sourced items designed to suit all body shapes.The importance of decision making rather than indecision and living with the consequences. Also so important to not try and fit into others moulds and play to your own strengths.In her extra session she spoke of her speciality – helping people focus on what would you want your legacy to be? For her it’s about being passionate about great Product design and she recognises the positive impact clothing can have on how people feel about themselves. Passionate about developing people to the best they can be.She has won many awards as a leader for innovation, inspiration and mentoring.She likes and is now comfortable being different – doing the job she loves - the more you love a job the better you will be at it. Talking on bosses who avoided personal accountability. She feels risk taking and decision making is especially crucial in fashion – it’s inevitable you will make mistakes but be able to adjust and move on. #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #InclusiveLeadership #Boards   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Knight is now a Financial Advisor with St James Place. Previously he served as a Royal Marine officer. One notable event was whist leading a 30-man platoon as a commander in Iraq with 1 PWRR. They got pinned down for 8 hours under constant fire - surrounded by a far larger force. They had small-arms, MG & rocket fire constantly in-coming, but held their cordon. The Military Cross (MC) award for gallantry was awarded to James in 2007 for the platoon working together & collaborating under danger & great drama with no losses.James tells an inspirational story about a RM Corporal in the Aegean Sea rescuing migrants drowning. Sadly, a number of them had already drowned & he took on the gristly job to pull out the dead bodies. That was not a task that anybody willingly takes on, but he & his team did it, without complaint, leading the way for the other more reluctant members of the ship to do more too.  The Corporal was a natural leader. He repeatedly went above & beyond his duty to do things that others were not willing to do. Quiet & modest - Huge respect for doing the jobs others wouldn’t do. James himself I found to be a humble leader who learn from getting it wrong. “As a troop commander I was mistakenly trying to win the popularity of those I led. Actually I eroded my own authority & boundaries by trying to be their friend & too popular. Instead what I should have sought is respect which is crucial. We all need boundaries”.Top Tip - “Beware over-control as a leader. Let go to the point where you start to feel uncomfortable - that’s the right amount of autonomy!” #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #InclusiveLeadership #Boards  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alison Hutchinson CBE is the CEO of Pennies, an award-winning fintech charity making digital giving affordable, sustainable, and feel-good.Previously, Alison spent 15 years at IBM running a European consortium of banks & leading the global business for ecommerce solutions for the financial services sector. She next joined Barclays Bank where she was the first CEO for a small digital subsidiary joint venture with Accenture, & latterly Marketing Director at Barclaycard. Prior to Pennies, Alison was Chief Executive of FTSE financial services company Kensington Group plc. She currently holds Non-Executive Director positions at Yorkshire Building Society, LV= & DFS.Alison was very inspired by the values and upbringing of her parents; especially her Mum “Aunty Betty”. She learnt a hard work ethic, how to start multiple businesses in the West Coast of Scotland & putting back to charity & the community. She’s inspired by everyday people & what they do in their lives. She spoke on the advantages of Executive Coaching.Learning from mistakes – her style was sometimes to be over positive, strong & that can be overwhelming - coming over as aggressive & she needed to dial back. She learnt - let others talk first & understand them - put yourself in the receiver’s shoes.Top Tip – How you do things more than what you do. How you make others feel. “Sorry”#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #InclusiveLeadership #Boards   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonathan shares his review and learning from 8 inspiring leaders in the last month:Colonel Tim Collins OBE - CO R Irish, SAS Officer & AuthorAir Marshal Sir Graham Stacey KCB CB QCVS MBE RAF - Comd Brit Forces CyprusRichard Fenning - Advisor & Former Global CEO Control RisksNathan Newton-Willington - Fitness & NutritionJonny Gray - Senior Partner Global Head Sport & Major Events Control Risks + CEO Tennis Integrity UnitPaul Cleal - Former Board Member PwCAshok Gupta - Chairman and CEO of multiple Insurance & entrepreneurial businessesAlexander Knigge - SVP Marketing Comms and Digital Emirates Group  #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Inspiringleadershiptrust #InclusiveLeadership #Boards #Diversity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alex Knigge is SVP Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand (Digital) at Emirates Group. Alex brings a wide diversity of culture background and global experience. He is a passionate and experienced B2C Business Growth Leader with broad experience from building a start-up in Australia to helping large global brands building B2C capabilities. Alex is enthusiastic about building high-performing teams and about fostering cross-functional collaboration to achieve ambitious & transformative business goals, in particular revenue growth and customer satisfaction / NPS. His key domain experience includes Online Revenue Growth, Brand & Marketing, Advanced Analytics, Marketing effectiveness, Marketing Technology and Omni-channel User Experience Design & Optimization. He has extensive international work experience and has spent the past 16 years in Australia, Singapore, South America and the Middle East.  Alex admired his Father who was courageous, rejected arrogance & big egos – he was high ranking inspiring leader in the German Government. I met Alex through The Marketing Academy CMO Fellowship programme with Katherine Tulpa and Sherilyn Shackell. Alex highlighted the importance of humility – to be smart and passionate with experience, yet not arrogant.Bringing on others is key – ‘great leaders develops great leaders’Create your alumni network by developing those you lead - many of those who worked for Alex over the past 14 years have achieved their career objectives and are now in great jobs, sometimes “passing” him into even more senior and demanding roles. Alex’s mistakes – being over-anxious about the ethics & impact on decision on other’s lives.Alex’s advice to emerging leaders - trust your gut on leadership decisions. Do what is right for the company & strategically. It is tough laying people off, but sometimes good - forced them to make a much-needed new start. Top Tip: Be courageous, trust yourself & focus on developing your people. Be more in the backseat than always in front seat. #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Marketing #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ashok Gupta- has accrued a wealth of experience as Chairman, CEO & NED to Insurance & Tech start-ups. He has played key roles in building several highly successful financial services businesses, both traditional (The Phoenix Group, Old Mutual Wealth, SJPC) and digital (EValue, propertyfinder.com, Rocketer). He has also been highly influential in the turn-around of several large organisations (Scottish Amicable, Old Mutual Asset Management). As a result, his expertise is increasingly drawn-on by policymakers to advise on and in helping to effect change to industry sectors (Bank of England, PLSA).  Ashok said – “Life shaped me – I had an unusual childhood as 1 of only 2 x Asian men in a very bigoted town in Northern Ireland (my father was the other). I had a very isolate childhood, so I struggled to find role models from my local community to learn from. So I was drawn to people like Gandhi & Mandela. In my business career I worked with some fantastic successful leaders - Mark Weinberg & Mike Wilson (created Allied Dunbar & St James Place). Also with Hugh Osmond (created Punch Taverns, Pizza Express & Phoenix Group), Andy Haldane Chief Economist Bank of England, Paul Bradshaw (created Skandia).Paul & I shared the view that there are 2 types of entrepreneurs: 1. Those who want to build a great business that delivers something customers really value, and through this make money 2. Those who just want to make money. The difference between the two is hugeLearning from Mistakes – I made the same one twice. Unforgivable. Confronted situations in too assertive, emotional & uncompromising a way. It was totally counterproductive. Top Tip - CEO shine a light beam those they interact with – this can have either a positive or negative impact. What impact do you want yours to have?#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #InclusiveLeadership #Boards #Diversity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Monekosso Cleal acts as an advisor, board member or mentor to organisations and individuals who want to make positive change happen. He brings a wealth of experience in leadership and strategy gained from 30 years working in both private and public sectors.  During 16 years as a partner at PwC, the global professional services firm, he held a range of leadership positions including at main board level in both the UK and Africa practices. He’s led and grown successful businesses within PwC such as the Government & Public Sector practice and Africa Business Group. Alongside his client work in corporate finance and consulting Paul also led PwC’s Human Resources function through a period of substantial change.  Paul has been widely recognised externally for his work promoting diversity in business and as a senior role model and been a member of the Government’s Social Mobility Commission, among other non-executive roles which currently include Kingston University (Vice Chair of the Board), National Citizen Service Trust and Sainsbury’s Foundation Advisory Board. He’s also a member of the Premier League Equality Standard Assessment Panel and has a variety of other informal advisory and mentoring roles. He holds an MBA from London Business School. Paul’s latest appointment is as a NED at Guys & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust which is the most significant NED role he’s had. Its special as that was where his father did his medical studies from 1948 to 1955.Paul Monekosso Cleal is highly successful by anybody’s standard - promoted at 40 onto PWC main board as People Partner. Deputy Chair, University of Kingston & Board Member, National Citizen’s Trust - community, social mobility & higher education. Paul’s Leadership Tenets: 1. Integrity - being honest with people. Is there a good reason not to share information? 2. Clarity - Create & communicate the vision so everyone understands 3. Inclusive Leadership. Stop exclusion. Teaching Diversity, Equality & Inclusivity Premier League. 4. Lack of Understanding. People who don’t think like you do. Paul has great courage & humility. Looking back on when he got it wrong & he could have communicated better: 1. I should have checked - do they really understand and have you listened? 2. Making it logical doesn’t account for people’s emotional reactions to change. Paul and his wife Suzanne Cleal use mentoring & coaching. Paul‘s Inspirational father was a leader & key figure in Africa’s World health organisation (WHO). Paul got advice from his Father before he died – “always take people with you”.#InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #Inspiringleadershiptrust #InclusiveLeadership #Diversity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonny Gray is a Senior Partner at Control Risks (one of the world’s leading business risk consulting companies) having had a fast stream, highly successful military career & left after commanding The 1st Battalion The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders with action in the Iraq War. As a result he was awarded the Queens Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS) in 2004.He found that a lot of adjustment and learning was needed to transition from the military to a Professional Services Firm (PSF) in 2005. Since this interview Jonny has been selected to be the first CEO of the global Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) from February 2020. He looks forward to working with all involved in world tennis to grow and develop the TIU into a broader-based integrity organisation for professional tennis. In Control Risks he had leadership consulting roles in EMEA & the Americas based in LA. He was then Head of Sales & Marketing for the Americas and finished up as Global Head of Sports and Major Events based back in London.  For Jonny he admires Inspiring Leaders like General Sir David Richards (Lord Richards now) & General Sir Nick Carter plus former Control Risks’ CEO Richard Fenning. He learnt to thrive in a complex matrix management structure with reporting lines by function, geography and client. Having done an MPhil at Cambridge in the Army, Control Risks invested in sending him to Harvard Business School for two PSF courses. Also training at the UK Institute of Directors helped him to “be less rough around the edges”. Leading in a PSF is about normally leading from back and only occasionally from the front - depending on circumstances. He learnt to create the environment for others to succeed. The challenge is to “Empower & Enable” your teams (sometimes 3,000 miles away) and yet you understand them and what it takes. He realised you need a lot of humility. What Jonny got wrong in leadership. It’s about constant learning. Jonny said - my DNA was to lead and be at front - that is often NOT what is required. Rather to be “a producing manager” who sells and leads by example while empowering others to stretch for success. Top tip - You lead people; you manage resources. #InspiringLeadership #leadership #CEOs #MotivationalSpeaker #teamcoach #InclusiveLeadership #Boards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.