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.

Startegy – or just getting stuff done?

That’s not a typo, I meant Startegy. That is my normal typo when I type strategy, but inspired by Neil Gaiman‘s typo of Caroline. I thought it summed up an approach to things that just got on with doing stuff Continue reading Startegy – or just getting stuff done?

Major Projects Need Leaders not Managers

I was at the Major Projects Association AGM and annual dinner on Monday evening. It was an interesting event and I met several people that gave me different perspectives on running major projects successfully. There was a bit of a Continue reading Major Projects Need Leaders not Managers

What are your personal Values and why?

I’m part way through the Project Leadership Programme run by Cranfield University on behalf of Cabinet Office. The most recent module asked us to come up with our personal values. It was an interesting exercise, because we were given a Continue reading What are your personal Values and why?

Good Strategy

This is adapted from a session where I shared some of my experience of being a strategy team leader and also from studying Strategy for my OU degree. I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved in strategy development within Continue reading Good Strategy

Should I be a PRINCE2 Practitioner?

PRINCE2 is one of the most cited project methodologies by government projects, even including Agile over the last few years. This is part three of a very short series on learning about project delivery methodologies. Part 1 was a general Continue reading Should I be a PRINCE2 Practitioner?