I spend a great deal of my time listening.
Listening as individuals work out the complexities of leading their companies, coming to terms with where their strengths lie and what to do about their weaknesses. Listening to the joy and frustration of building the business.
I have worked for over 20 years with businesses of all types, a few you may well know of and many you may not. The issues are shared, yet the answers are always individual.
I would describe myself as dedicated to helping individual business leaders and their management teams as they grow their businesses, develop their companies and become more effective as leaders.
My specialisms are in understanding the growing business, the strategies and psychology of growth and change.
The development of my consultancy has its roots in my early adult years. My first year at Glasgow University coincided with my father starting his own business after 20 odd years successfully selling for NCR. I was involved in the early days and canvassing out on the streets was a formative experience. I learned what good service means and how to serve well. I couldn’t have found a better grounding.
University was an MA (Hons) degree in English and Scottish Literature which gave me so much, yes even in the professional life I have chosen.
After university I had a couple of sales and marketing positions in publishing in London and Edinburgh, but I sought something more. An interim position working for the Forum of Private Business was to prove the basis of subsequent developments. The FPB gave me a ground up view of the tough realities of striving to grow your own business in the mid 80’s in the UK.
From there I joined the Scottish Development Agency as a business advisor. It was the SDA of George Mathewson, Neil Hood, Gerry Murray and a lot of other very able and talented people. I learned enormously about business strategy for indigenous Scottish companies and about the wider and global context of competitive advantage. My MBA from Strathclyde University coincided. It gave me a sound basis for many of the consultancy approaches I have subsequently developed.
In 1989 I started Matrix Management Consultancy with David McKeran, a colleague from the SDA. We grew the consultancy, employed a team and were engaged in a wide variety of consultancy assignments for indigenous companies, some large corporations/multinationals and public sector organisations.
The work that has influenced me and deepened my understanding consists of the wide ranging strategy and company development assignments across virtually all sectors. Other aspects contributed too, such as the learning from the Foresight Consultants (pioneers in intrapreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking), Edward de Bono’s creative thinking as applied to business and two ground-breaking consulting projects which I led for Scottish Enterprise – Encouraging Female Entrepreneurs and World Class SME’s added different perspectives.
In the mid 90’s I co-wrote Shaping the Entrepreneurial Company which I am told still holds a great deal of relevance for the business leader. If you’re lucky Amazon might have it.
Over the years I have learned a number of psychometric intervention tools and have read widely on leadership and the psychology of business creation and growth. Matters of spiritual development and growth have run in parallel and have now become dovetailed into my work and what I have to offer. A combination of contemporary eclectic Christian influences, eastern meditation and yoga have come together and they are central to my thinking and being. You’ll know more if you come on Re-Charge.
In early 2006 I decided to create a consultancy to fully serve the needs of directors of ambitious growing companies, in particular focusing on their leadership, strategy and company culture. So began the work of Flannigan Consulting and I hope these pages give you a good understanding of how the consultancy can help you.
