My career in the Army gave me a set of technical skills and experience relating to the development of individuals, teams and organisations which included operations, planning, training and logistics. It taught me to understand people recognising that every individual has a unique perspective and that their engagement required subtle variations. I learnt from experience that there were few simple solutions and most problems needed to be solved through a sound collaborative approach.
My second career started as a Crisis Response Consultant focusing on maritime kidnap in Somalia and the Gulf of Guinea. This involved forming, managing and supporting diverse teams to resolve tense situations. During the last 10 years, I have concentrated on supporting SMEs and helped many businesses, including insurance and financial services, law firms, energy firms, defence contractors and corporates achieve increases in operational effectiveness that resulted in productivity increases.
Collaboration, problem solving, conflict resolution and continuous improvement are all part of my mantra of “how can we do stuff better?” I prefer getting my “sleeves rolled up” than pontificating from the side line and take great pleasure watching those I support thriving, be it a local law firm or Bath Rugby.