Rob James

Background

About Rob James

Rob is a leadership and executive development specialist with an MBA and nearly 30 years’ experience of Organisation and Talent Development in global organisations. In the last 20 years, he has worked extensively advising CEOs and executive teams to improve team and organisational performance. In particular, his work has focused on using experimentation to create more innovative and agile approaches to strategy development and value-creation. Before beginning his own consultancy practice in 2003, Rob held a senior management position in executive education at PwC and then spent several years as Head of Consultancy at OPP, one of Europe’s largest organisation psychology consultancies. He has previously been Head of Management and Leadership Studies at the Royal Navy's University and is currently a member of the Advisory Board at the American University of London Business School. Since 2008, he has been a Faculty Advisor and Programme Director in Executive Development at London Business School (LBS), designing and delivering leadership programmes for a wide network of UK and international clients. Rob is an author and a leading practitioner of ‘business experimentation’ - a philosophy that challenges conventional leadership attitudes and business practices. Using this process as a learning vehicle, he has advised more than 800 executives in over 40 countries to explore innovative solutions to business challenges and drive organisational change. Most recently, his client work at LBS contributed to a prestigious European (EFMD) gold award for ‘Excellence in Organisation Development Practice’. Rob’s book "Business Experimentation - Driving innovation and Performance"" was published internationally by Kogan Page in September 2021. It is used as one of the core texts of London Business School innovation programmes Rob’s interest in promoting innovation and business growth extends to his pro bono work. He is part of the UK government’s Help to Grow initiative (2022-25) that provides start-ups and SMEs with support in developing their businesses. Since 2015, he has also been a business mentor for young entrepreneurs as part of the Prince’s Trust charity. He is an Advisory Board member with a social mobility consultancy and a drug and addiction charity. A passionate skier, mountain-biker and padel player, Rob lives with his wife Lynne in Surrey, England. Originally from a military background he served with the Royal Navy as a submarine nuclear engineer and in 1993 he was appointed an MBE whilst serving with Commando Forces Royal Marines.