Inspiring Leadership with Jonathan Bowman-Perks MBE

Dr Andy Wood OBE DLAndy Wood is Chief Executive of Adnams plc. He joined Adnams in 1994, joined the Board in 2000 as Sales and Marketing Director becoming Managing Director in 2006 and Chief Executive in 2010. He has a DBA from Cranfield University and Honorary doctorates; in Business from Anglia Ruskin University, in Science from Cranfield University and Civil Law from the University of East Anglia. He was also awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2013 and between 2014 to 2016 was HRH The Prince of Wales’ Ambassador for Responsible business in the East of England. In 2010 Andy founded and was Chairman of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, he has co-authored a book on Lean and Green Business Systems which was awarded the Shingo prize for Operational Excellence in 2013. Andy is Chair of Norse Group Ltd a large FM company and is a Non-Executive Director of companies operating in the retail and financial services sectors. He is also a member of the Council at the University of East Anglia, Governor of Norwich School, a Board Member to the VisitEngland Advisory Board and Chairman of Visit East of England. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bob Judson served for 34½ years in the military, rising from front-line fast-jet pilot to being a member of the Royal Air Force’s Senior Leadership Team and an Air Vice-Marshal. He flew the Jaguar, Phantom, and Typhoon, and had the privilege of displaying the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfires & Hurricanes for 2 years whilst he was the Station Commander of RAF Coningsby. In a military career that saw him shift from being on Quick Reaction Alert as a 21 year old in the Cold War with an atomic bomb on the bottom of his Jaguar, through serving on a German squadron as an exchange pilot when the Berlin wall fell, to being the Director of Joint Warfare in his final role, Bob saw a vast amount of change in the RAF and across the world more generally. He flew 120 operational missions over Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina, served in the Pentagon as the Chief of Defence Staff’s Liaison Officer, commanded the NATO airbase in Kandahar (25,000 people from more than 20 nations, 170 aircraft and lots of hostile incoming rockets!), and led the MOD support to the London Olympic & Paralympic Games in 2012.Beyond the military, Bob has built a very successful second career in the private sector. Having initially moved to Deloitte as a director in their resilience and crisis management business, he set up his own consulting and leadership development business in 2019.A qualified coach and neuro-linguistic programming practitioner, Bob now focuses mostly on leadership development for private sector clients and, with his Leading 4 Life brand, he runs workshops, facilitates training courses, and coaches individual senior leaders across a range of industries. His recently launched podcast, Leading 4 Life “Stories”, provides a source of leadership tips and experiences from Bob and his guests.Bob went to school at Christ’s Hospital, Horsham and has never forgotten the great start in life that the school gave him. For the past 8 years (he finished in July), he has been a non-executive director on the Christ’s Hospital Council, which looks after not only the school but also the multi-million £ charitable endowment that enabled them to fund £21 million in bursaries last year, more than 3 times the amount of the next nearest school.Away from the world of work, Bob lives in East Sussex with his wife Saab and their 2 dogs (Shadow & Skye). He is a keen motorcyclist, having taken up riding after leaving the RAF to provide an adrenaline replacement! He also enjoys skiing, scuba diving (especially with sharks) and the occasional round of not very good golf!Bob’s top leadership tip is for leaders to remember that they have 2 ears and one mouth and that they should use them in proportion! Too many leaders talk much more than they listen and, consequently, they too often fail to capitalise on much of the value that they could derive from those around them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Metcalfe’s guiding principle is that leadership is not just an individual pastime; rather it needs to be embedded at all levels within and across organisations so those closest to the need can meet it in an aligned and autonomous way. This belief stems from his career in the military where alignment between Headquarters, Operations Rooms and the person on the ground is so vital, whether on conventional or alternate activities. The strength of this belief was forged in both peacetime activities and operational theatres that included the Falklands War and various roles in Northern Ireland.Since then, he has dedicated his career to enabling leadership at every level through consulting, facilitation, training and coaching. He encourages people to think and respond through the lens of self, others and the system, proactively and consciously choosing where their focus should be. This is achieved by creating clear goals alongside simple habits and routines that enable consistency between a person, team or organisation’s inner and outer games.This experience includes 14 years as CEO of LIW, expanding the organisation from start up to global leadership consultancy, preceded by 14 years as an officer in the Royal Marines Commandos. More recently he spent 3 years as a Partner with Denali Venture Partners and he now operates as an associate and investor to his previous organisations, as well as an independent consultant to a small number of other purposeful organisations across sectors and throughout the world. He is motivated by organisations that have a positive impact and has recently concentrated on working with the UN World Food Program across Africa and the Middle East including working with leadership teams and operational leaders in Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Somalia. He also works with the Kids Cancer Project in Australia who are dedicated to saving childrens’ lives though investment in cancer research.Rob and his team held the world building abseil record in 1992 for scaling to, and abseiling from, the upper deck of the CN Tower in Toronto, alongside a team from the Canadian School of Rescue Training. He was also “Mentioned in Dispatches” during his service, acknowledging that this was due to the efforts of the leaders and the people he had the good fortune to command.Rob sees how neuroscience is proving what was previously only a belief about good leadership practice. Many of his top tips are based on this truth. His top tip for your reflection is to “do whatever you want but know what you are doing”. He picked this quote up from someone else and has since observed that it is often not the case! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stuart Tootal spent twenty years in the British Army, serving in Northern Ireland, the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also held strategic planning appointments in the MOD, where he was awarded an OBE for leading a major structural change programme in 2005. In 2006, Stuart was the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment and led the first UK combat unit into Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). He resigned from the Army in 2008 having been promoted to full colonel. A major reason for leaving the Army was the poor treatment of his wounded soldiers.Stuart joined Barclays later that year, where he spent a decade holding MD global leadership positions, which included heading the bank’s security and global travel departments, as well as running a retail banking customer initiative. During this period, he specialised in building a global team and delivering strategic change programmes across six different business units spanning fifty-five countries. He also played a key role in numerous crisis management situations, including leading the bank’s response to the Arab Spring in Egypt in 2011. While at Barclays, he founded and ran the AFTER ex-military employment programme, which hired 650 former service personnel into Barclays. Stuart also founded the Parachute Regiment Afghanistan Trust charity, as CEO and chairman, which raised £3.7M for wounded soldiers. In 2019, Stuart set up Matero Consulting as a founding partner. Establishing a new approach to change management, based on providing clients with disciplined critical thinking decision-making, agile planning, and empowerment execution tools and skills. Matero’s clients have included HSBC, LSEG, Centrica, One Technology, and Metro Bank, as well as a number of startup companies. Typical projects have centred on supporting the design, build, and delivery of major change initiatives where servant leadership development, creating a team culture of accountability, and harnessing diversity to resolve complex issues has been key.Over a fifteen-year period, Stuart has been engaged by over fifty FTSE and Fortune companies on the subject of speaking about empowered leadership and creating a mission purposed culture. Clients have included RBS, Kraft, the Daily Mail group, Babcock, Invesco, Virgin Atlantic, Accenture, Fidelity, and Grant Thornton. Stuart is a history graduate of London and Cambridge universities and part-time author. His first book, Danger Close – Leading 3 PARA in Afghanistan became a Sunday Times best seller and his fourth book, about the SAS in the Falklands War, entered the Sunday Times best seller list in 2022. He is currently writing his fifth book for Penguin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim is CEO of Vorboss Limited, a technically led internet service provider with one of the UK’s largest networks. Experienced Chief Executive Officer with deep understanding of technology and processes, creating value with a clear strategic vision. Background in engineering, numerous skills within technical software and IT, extensive knowledge across fibre, infrastructure, telecoms, cloud and connectivity verticals. Demonstrated history of building an organisation from the ground up, leading and growing a high performing team to deliver best-in-class connectivity services to businesses across the UK and Europe. Vorboss is currently deploying London’s newest business-only fibre network, providing the first real alternative to BT Openreach that networks and businesses can rely on. Our network is built to meet the future demands of 5G networks and 100Gbps connectivity. Vorboss is the first provider in London to connect enterprise buildings at 100Gbps, with end-to-end ownership of the fibre path. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oscar Trimboli is an award-winning author, host of the Apple award-winning podcast Deep Listening and a sought-after keynote speaker.Along with the Deep Listening Ambassador Community, he is on a quest to create 100 million deep listeners in the workplace.Through his work with chairs, boards of directors, and executive teams, Oscar has experienced first-hand the transformational impact leaders can have when they listen beyond words. He believes that when leadership teams focus their attention and listening, they will build organizations that create powerful legacies for the people they serve – today and more importantly, for future generations.Oscar is a marketing and technology industry veteran working for Microsoft, PeopleSoft, Polycom, and Vodafone. He consults with organizations including American Express, AstraZeneca, Cisco, Google, HSBC, IAG, Montblanc, PwC, Salesforce, Sanofi, SAP, and Siemens.He is the author of how to listen – discover the hidden key to better communication – the most comprehensive book about listening in the workplace, Deep Listening – Impact beyond words and Breakthroughs: How to Confront Assumptions. Oscar loves his afternoon walks with his wife, Jennie, and their dog Kilimanjaro. On the weekends, you will find him playing Lego with one or all his four grandchildren. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Macaskill (pronounced Muh-KAS-kill) is a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned mindfulness teacher and leadership coach. During his 24-year Navy career, he served in multiple highly dynamic leadership positions, from the battlefield to the operations center and the board room. Jon's unconventional yet highly effective style of teaching leadership is fueled by his passion for helping people and organizations become the best versions of themselves. He takes what helped him excel in his professional life and heal in his personal life and now shares this through mindfulness coaching, grit and resilience training, and keynote speaking, all in the pursuit of helping others achieve their full potential.Top tip: Masters are never done learning - learning something new every single day! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Aston joined the army in 1964 as a boy entrant with no formal qualifications. On entering adult service in 1966 he was posted to the Gloucestershire Regiment. Here he served in Berlin, Minden, Belize, Canada and Northern Ireland. He was a Corporal, section commander at age 20 and within 5 years was a platoon sergeant and went on to command a platoon on operations in Northern Ireland.In 1978 he passed SAS Selection and was employed in Mountain Troop in D Sqn. He served all over the world and took part in the Falklands War where he took part in the liberation of South Geor gia, the raid on the airfield on Pebble Island and the taking of Mount Kent.Later he was employed as the senior instructor at the International Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol School in Germany. Following this he was instrumental in the formation of the Light Recce Commanders Course at the School of Infantry. A tour as the RSM of the British Military Parachute School followed. His final job in the army was as the Divisional Sergeant Major assisting in running Company Commanders Courses at the Land Warfare School.On retiring from uniformed service he was employed as a civil servant working with the Infantry Trials and Development Unit delivering Urgent Operational Requirements for ongoing operations.Since retiring in 2013 he spends his time walking ‘Wilf’, his Border Terrier, cycling, training for and running ultra marathons. He has co-written a book with Col Stuart Tootal about his experiences during the Falklands War –‘ SAS – SEA KING DOWN’Top Leadership TipKnow your team and always be approachable, Always set an example and be decisive in all you do. Above all, know that Loyalty goes down as well as up. If the guys know you’ve got their back, they will protect yours. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Barron, General Manager Personal Care UK&I / VP Deodorants Europe at Unilever With nearly 25 years’ experience in the industry, Chris is the General Manager for Unilever’s Personal Care business in the UK&I, and VP for Deodorants Europe. He was also recently appointed as Deputy chair for the industry body the Cosmetics, Toiletries and Perfumeries Association. Chris started his career with L’Oréal on their management trainee scheme, before working both in their marketing team in London, and the International Development team based in the company's global headquarters in Paris. He first joined Unilever in 2006 and has since then worked in London, Chicago, and New Jersey on many of Unilever’s biggest brands. Since 2017 he has been on the UK&I leadership team and is currently General Manager of the Personal Care business unit. He is also charged with running the program for the Deodorants business across Europe, Australia & NZ, leading the cross functional team for this €1bn business. Chris has significant experience in working on purposeful brands. He has worked hard to pioneer a number of initiatives on Hygiene Poverty, to address the fact that almost half of low-income households have had to go without hygiene products because they can no longer afford them. This has seen more than one million products donated to charity partner In Kind Direct over the last year, and he is now working on scaling the initiative across the industry. Most recently, on Unilever’s Dove brand, he has been involved in launching Cost of beauty: A Dove film which invites people to join us on our mission to make social media a more positive place for young people. Chris is married to Lizzie and has two daughters, Alice and Lottie. He is a big rugby and cricket fan, but the Chicago Cubs will always have a place in his heart. Chris’s top leadership tips are firstly, to ‘make it personal’ with people by connecting with his team and broader stakeholders in a personable, authentic way. Secondly, his work during the pandemic as one of the leading manufacturers of soap and hygiene products in the UK&I informs his tip to wash your hands - more often than you think you need to and for longer. This is a habit from the pandemic we must keep, which would help to reduce the burden on the NHS by keeping us healthier and avoiding respiratory diseases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi I'm Doug Field, the CEO of the vibrant and dynamic East of England Co-op, a co-operative society that has thrived for over 150 years and continues to grow with passion and purpose. What sets our Society apart is our unwavering commitment to our members—over 280,000 strong—who are the lifeblood of our co-operative. We take immense pride in being the largest independent retail business in East Anglia, with a remarkable presence spanning more than 200 trading outlets across 70 diverse towns and villages in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. As the CEO, I am entrusted with safeguarding and nurturing the legacy of our members, ensuring their interests are protected for generations to come. It is a responsibility I wholeheartedly embrace, driven by a deep-seated passion for the East of England and the remarkable communities we serve. Beyond the East of England Co-op, I am actively involved in initiatives that make a positive difference in our region. Previously I was Chair of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership and am a Trustee of the esteemed Green Light Trust. I work to support and uplift local businesses and charitable causes. Before moving to East Anglia my career included four years at Christie Group plc as Group Financial Controller and six years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Bristol. Away from the professional realm, I find great joy and inspiration in the adventures that parenthood brings. My three school-age children keep me on my toes and fuel my imagination. Sports also hold a special place in my heart—I relish witnessing the successes (and failures) of my hometown sports teams, from Hull City's promotion to the Premier League to Hull FC's victorious rugby league Challenge Cup win in Cardiff.His Top TipAsk questions - Asking questions is a great way to get the most out of our lives and businesses. It encourages us to learn and share our thoughts, which helps build trust, encourages new ideas, and improves performance. From a leadership perspective asking questions also encourages others to participate in problem-solving and to take ownership of their own ideas. As a leader, it is important to be curious and open to new ideas. It is through asking questions that leaders can gain insight into what is important to their employees and gain a better understanding of what’s happening on the ground. Finally a good question can begin to shift the way we perceive of think about something that might serve as a catalyst for change Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.