Great question and straight to the point! Nice.

Well, most recently I've been focused on working in the games industry as a coach and consultant and more recently an employee. The latter as Chief Learning Officer at Splash Damage and then Chief People Officer at Supernova.

Prior to working in games, I have been delivering workshops to a range of diverse sectors, both here in the UK and overseas. Everything from Formula 1, to investment banking to oil and gas exploration in the Middle East! I've pretty much worked in every industry and with every scale of company; from scrappy start-up through to FTSE 100 and S&P500.

And going back even further, I had a 20-year career in the British Army. I joined as a 16-year old boy and retired as a senior Major. The highlight being selected as a leadership instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Most recently I've been awarded Fellow of The Institute of Leadership. So whilst none of that may be impressive, I think it means when it comes to leadership, I have some experience. But not necessarily all the answers though!

A great question, after all, my services only exist because business struggle to get it right - right?

If I could sum up the things I've seen go wrong within organisations it would be three main things; lack of clarity around the vision, poor communication and poor leadership behaviours.

Briefly let's dig into all three. First lack of clarity around vision. This could be for the business as a whole or an individual project. People will fundamentally do the best with what they've got. This includes the work they do on a day-to-day basis. But if this work is not in support of a vision, then we cannot be surprised (although leaders often are) if the results you get are not the ones you hoped for (and hope IS NOT a strategy btw!)

Poor communication is often at fault with a lot of organisational problems. Even if there is nothing to update people on, update them anyway, as a lack of, or no communication is just an invitation for rumour, uncertainty and doubt.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it's leadership. In particular the behaviours exhibited by leads and leaders. The most powerful way to influence someone is through your behaviour (just ask any parent). Human beings are great at copying what they see on a consistent basis. Strong, authentic leadership encourages the same throughout a business. Leadership that relies on the power of a position or title will demonstrate poor behaviours and guess what? These take hold just as easily.

The main type of support and by far the most effective in terms of impact and cost, is the 'fractional support' approach.

Think of it like a part-time member of your team, commissioned for a specific project, over a 6-12 month duration.

So typically this might mean support to the senior leadership team through 1:1 and team coaching; people/HR system design and management and leadership development. Rather than one-off workshops and events, a longer term approach that provides consistent support, accountability and sector expertise.

The one thing I don't do is off-the-shelf or one-off workshops. These are provided by other great trainers and coaches - it's just not an effective solution to your bigger challenges!

The first thing to emphasize is that one size does not fit all. I don't do off-the-shelf training, apart from my online courses which are made available from time to time.

Instead, I work with organisations to fully understand the ambition, opportunities and challenges they face. Only then do I recommend a programme of training and coaching, designed specifically for that context.

Key words to note. Firstly, 'programme', I don't do one-off workshops or short engagements. For leadership to take hold in a business, you are wasting everyone's time and your money if you think an afternoon discussing leadership will make a difference. Most commonly, six months is the shortest duration to engage in a programme with any chance of making meaningful difference.

Next are the words 'training' and 'coaching'. My approach is to blend the two modalities so that the group as well as the individual get what they need. I also believe that equipping a business with a culture of coaching is a powerful legacy to leave behind once our work is done.

Absolutely. Both options have their merits and drawbacks. It really depends on your organisation's set up and culture. Of course, if you're fully remote, we can do everything via Zoom, Google, Teams or whatever works best for you. These online platforms offer great functionality for online training and coaching and I make maximum use of virtual breakout rooms, whiteboards, jamboards etc. I can also build out online resources to support the programme right here within this website.

For more traditional, in-person training or coaching, we can design an approach that suits your team's work patterns with the added benefit of blending resources online too.

Basically, we build something that fits your preferred style and can be a blend of all approaches.

I charge whatever the intervention is worth! Now that sounds evasive, but you'll recall that I build my programmes individually for each business, so it really depends on what we decide to build together.

There's full transparency in the process however and I like to give you an indication of costs as early as I can in our initial conversations.

I will say I'm not cheap, but nowhere near as expensive as the cost of rolling out poor coaching to your organisation!

In a word, NO!

I hate spammy messaging and grifters as much as you do (probably). If I'm developing online material, most of it will be free. If I'm going to charge for any service it will be there for you to check it out rather than me trying to 'sell' you on it.

I'm on a mission to share as much knowledge as I can having gathered quite a lot of it as a leader and coach to a host of different industries. Giving it away for free is the best way I know how to share my ideas and do my bit.

It also gives you a chance to 'try before you buy' - see if my ideas and approach resonate with you and the culture you're building in your business.

For those that would like me to help them specifically, either 1:1 or for their business, then that's when the commercial conversation happens.

Sound fair? I hope so.

Great, here's some things to consider. Take the time to think about the answers to these questions and you are well on your way of finding the right training provider match for your needs (hopefully me, but I don't know until we speak do I?!)

1. What are the specific challenges and needs of [insert target audience here] in our organisation?

2. What skills are critical for success in these roles?

3. What learning formats and methodologies will be most effective?

4. How do we measure the effectiveness of the training/coaching programme?

5. How can the programme support the business broader goals?

6. What resources are available or needed?

These aren't the only questions you could ask yourself, but they're a great start! I hope that helps.

Once you've considered these questions (and more) feel free to get in touch

The easiest thing to do is book a 15-minute call to think out loud and get some ideas. No obligation at all. In fact, I'll insist that we don't even get as far as talking about costs or potential deliverables until you are absolutely clear on what the problem is you're trying to solve.

How does that sound?

It seems that running my own business is a full time job, but thankfully I've swallowed my own medicine and set clear boundaries between work and home life.

My main passion is training and competing in Ironman triathlon. I've been doing this now since 2005 and have to date finished 26 Ironman races and one double iron distance race. I'm ticking off one of my bucket list goals in 2026 by competing in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii - which I'm super-excited about.

Outside of my physical pursuits, I'm a lifelong (and long suffering) supporter of Watford FC and a season ticket holder. But the less said about our current performances the better! I'm also learning Spanish on my train journeys to client sites and am fascinated by emerging technologies like Bitcoin; so much so that I have switched my company to a 'Bitcoin standard'.

I've been married for 25 years and have two adult children who are making their own way in business.