You can't be bold on an empty canvas.
Notes on leading engineering teams, getting Chartered, and the foundations under both — from twenty years inside vehicle programmes.
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Leadership isn't about power. It's about responsibility.
Module 1 of what an Oxford Executive Leadership programme taught me — starting with the idea that reframed everything else.
Read the essay →"I think I've left it too late for Chartership."
I hear this more than almost anything else — usually from engineers with 15 or 20 years behind them who are, by any honest measure, more than ready.…
Read the note →The series
Contents →Lessons in Executive Leadership
Eight essays from the University of Oxford Executive Leadership programme, one a month.
01Leading for high performance30 September 2026
02The job of the leader: Envisioning & engaging28 October 2026
03The job of the leader: Choosing & connecting25 November 2026
04Leading with power and influence23 December 2026
05Leading teams for effective performance20 January 2027
06Strategies and models for leading change17 February 2027
07Mastering complexity and plurality17 March 2027
08Reflect on your purpose as a leader14 April 2027
Finance, demystified.
A four-part series for anyone who leads without a finance background — the concepts I found most useful, sharpened at Stanford, in plain English.
01Reading the story in the numbers18 November 2026
02A pound today beats a pound tomorrow16 December 2026
03How good decisions get made13 January 2027
04The levers that move the business10 February 2027
Who writes this
About →I'm a mechanical engineer who has spent twenty years leading engineering teams on vehicle programmes, most of it in the UK. I'm Chartered through the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (CEng, 2015) and a Fellow of the Institution. Today I'm Head of Process Chain for Vehicle Programmes at JLR, where my job is to get the Defender family delivered to cost, time and quality.