Former UK Armed Forces Chief of Staff (of Joint Forces Command), now pursuing a second, portfolio, career at the nexus of Innovation, Strategy, and Leadership, in the Digital Age. Non-Executive Director, Advisor, Venture Partner, Mentor, and Executive Coach.
Delve into the core of my approach by exploring the insight in my manifesto.
My professional journey has been shaped by constant learnings about Strategy, Innovation, and Leadership, which together are the key to the successful delivery of complex endeavours.
Military Career
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, I began my military career on the Inner German Border during the Cold War. Over the subsequent 40 years, in various roles, I was involved in military activity in Northern Ireland, Britain, Belize, Former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus, and elsewhere (including space and cyberspace). By the end of my career, the world had come full circle with growing concern about a revanchist Russia.
Leadership
I have led multiple organisations, both military and civilian, consisting of anything from 12 people to over 20,000. Through triumph and disaster, I have learnt how to influence and guide groups towards the achievement of a common goal, and understand what fosters the right (and wrong) behaviours in an enterprise.
Strategy
A mid-career role as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence introduced me to the strategic level. But I did not really understand Strategy until I attended the London Business School Senior Executive Programme in 2013, where the work of Richard Rumelt, Professor of Business and Society at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, left an indelible mark. I was then given the opportunity to put Strategy into practice as the Strategy Director and Board Member of Defence Equipment and Support and subsequently as a member of the UK Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Innovation
Half of my military career, and all of my second career, has been centred around capability development and acquisition. I have been a user, a budget planner, a requirement setter, a fleet manager, a buyer, a logistician, and, latterly, a supplier – and all at senior levels. Convinced of the need for innovation within the defence sector, I designed and delivered the first innovation unit in the Armed Forces – the jHub. Since leaving the military, I have embarked on a portfolio career in tech, consisting largely of advisory roles for startups/venture capital, mostly, but not exclusively, in the defence sector.
Who can I help
If you want to grow by exploiting the opportunities offered by new technologies, if you want to choose, or to change, or to motivate, if you face disruption or seek to disrupt, I think I can help.
