Skydiving and the Art of Jumping Out of a Business.

And other speaking topics

What does skydiving, McKinsey & Company, and Executive exits have in common?

Tom will tell you…

Over and above my professional credentials - I have done some pretty weird stuff.

When I left McKinsey, I vowed to use the extra time wisely. This led me to take on a new hobby every year since 2010. From skydiving into stadiums at night, to breaking ankles downhill skateboard racing; international wine courses to yoga teacher training, my outside-of-the-boardroom exploits have led to some great stories, photos and videos…

SIGNATURE TALK:

SKYDIVING AND THE ART OF JUMPING OUT OF A BUSINESS.

With 189 skydives out of airplanes, choppers and hot air balloons, I take your audience on an entertaining insider’s guide to learning, doing and living skydiving.

I draw apt parallels between the technicalities of skydiving (including the fear factor and how it evolves) and the process of changing professional chapters. Whether this be for Founders of businesses looking to exit, succession planning, or professional executives and their next role - the talk is entertaining, relatable, and insightful.

* Tom high above the Dubai desert

Speaker topics

  • Skydiving and the Art of Jumping Out of a business

  • An insider’s guide to MBB consulting - practical insights for real business and leadership

  • From Manager to Executive: crossing the chasm

Talks are typically 45min to an hour.

Workshops & facilitation

I facilitate a variety of workshops and interactive training sessions. I pull together McKinsey consulting best practices and my hands on experience of building and executing strategy for my own businesses. I focus on core principles and practical outcomes that lead to results, on Monday.

None of my work is “canned”. I draw off relevant best-practice concepts and frameworks to tailor working sessions to suit your purpose and audience.

Topic and scope dependent, workshops can be 4 hours, full day, or multiple days.

  • Holistic reviews of strategy (deep pain, competitive advantage, competitive positioning, operating strategy, etc), mission and goals with a strong “executability” lens

    • Deep strategic reviews in the context of shareholder, leadership or business transformation

    • Annual strategy reviews

    • Defining a new vision, strategy, and positioning for a business, business unit or product line

  • Three-year planning and goal setting. Clearly articulated scenario plans, leading indicators and “what you need to believe” analyses to drive agile strategy delivery.

  • Full day interactive workshops to uncover and unpack the authentic leader styles of the participants. Capturing video footage to self-assess and contextualise feedback. Playing with style in a supportive environment with rich feedback.

  • Facilitated workshops applying the Enneagram framework (psychological motivation)

    • High performing team dynamics: assess, define and build ways of working to drive the top team to the next level

    • Leadership profiles and stories: Defining, understanding and evolving leadership style dynamics to effectively lead self, others and the organisation.

    • Influencing and facilitation skills: Advanced skills to optimise collaboration, workshop and meeting effectiveness.