About Jamie

I work with leaders and their teams on what and how they communicate.

With a background in marketing (Shell, GSK, Ford, Reuters). I have since specialised on what goes on inside organisations and have know-how in three related areas: 

1. Leadership communications – helping senior people nail the most compelling arguments and find their own voice – via blogs, op-eds, speeches, and debates at conferences like the World Economic Forum’s event at Davos. Clients have included leaders at Kingfisher, Heidrick & Struggles, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Shell, Oxfam.

2. Leadership capability – Coaching and training to handle complexity and persuade the organisation to do the same. Formative experiences include a London/Beijing marketing agency where my part was to build a strong culture. Sounds like tosh, but many say it was the best time of their career. Projects include Saudi Aramco, the International Red Cross.

3. Research – I do linguistic research inside organisations to understand what counts as normal. Investigating old habits of language can reveal how the organisation really thinks day to day – in spite of change programmes that aim to make it think differently. These habits are often hidden in plain sight but get in the organisation’s way.

My own research is about paradoxes in organisations and how leaders deal with them. Senior people face competing priorities like growth vs sustainability, short vs long term goals, satisfying staff as well as customers. The world needs more good research on how to perform this juggling act well. I present papers at conferences, and recently helped to write the CEO Report, an in-depth study on how 150 global CEOs see their role in a less predictable world. I also teach on master’s programmes at Birkbeck, University of London.

I speak English and French and have two passports, British and Canadian.

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