About James

I've been an unconventional leader since I was a teenager. First with the scout movement, then the Territorial Army. After university I joined the UK civil service on a graduate management development programme. My career is now in its third decade and I've worked in Finance, HR, policy, strategy, IT, change, operations management and internal consultancy. Over the years I've mentored, coached and developed dozens of senior managers and hundreds of people.

Failure is the Foundation for Success

Our culture fears failure more than anything else. We talk about failure less than we talk about death, even though failure is way more common than fatality. If we are honest we know that there are many things we do Continue reading Failure is the Foundation for Success

How will you be choosing your next boss?

I’m now in a position of needing to choose my next boss. My loan to DCMS is nearly over, a year has flown by, mostly very enjoyable. If I had a free choice I’d be staying here, my team are Continue reading How will you be choosing your next boss?

Narrative and Social Media

revolutionary warfare in France 1789

I had a bit of a lightbulb moment the other day about social media and the driving of narrative. It was when I was doing my analysis on the recent coup attempt in Turkey. Narrative Power As any reader of Terry Continue reading Narrative and Social Media

Civil Service Live 2016

view from the window at Civil Service Live 2016

Yesterday I attended some sessions at Civil Service Live 2016 in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in central London. The QEIICC is next door to my office, so I didn’t spend the whole day there. Some meetings were arranged Continue reading Civil Service Live 2016

Media Bias? Or something else?

We seem to hear allegations of media bias on a regular basis these days. Anytime an interest group isn’t getting the glowing coverage they feel that they so richly deserve we hear the shout ‘media bias!’ The thing is, I Continue reading Media Bias? Or something else?