ABOUT JMW

JMW is a privately held corporation dedicated to helping companies significantly elevate organizational performance by working with people to expand and enhance their leadership and management abilities, capacities and competencies.

Founded in 1982, JMW employs over 60 individuals worldwide, serving Australia, Asia Pacific, North and South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. JMW clients span a broad range of industries including energy, financial services, pharmaceuticals, transportation, mining, manufacturing, technology, engineering and construction.

JMW supports organizations in the following key areas:

  • Leadership Capability Development
  • Strategy Development and Implementation
  • Organizational Performance Assessments
  • High-Impact Performance Coaching
  • Aligning Senior Leadership Teams
  • Exceptional Delivery of Large-Scale, Complex Projects and Alliances
  • Building High-Performance Teams

Specific challenges typically include:

  • Achieving unprecedented improvement in company performance
  • Implementing critical initiatives that require cultural change, new mindsets and behaviors
  • Developing a leadership culture of accountability, commitment and effective action at all levels of an organization
  • Building client focused organizations
  • Managing transition through organization redesign and implementation of new operating models
  • Dramatically elevating individual productivity
  • Making organizational transformation sustainable

JMW’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

JMW has developed a core competency and specialization in the customization and delivery of leadership development programs tailored to client needs. For over three decades, we have partnered with clients to develop leaders that are critical to their future so that they make a far greater impact throughout their organizations.

JMW’s fundamental premise regarding development is that people are already effective, committed and competent. What limits their ability to realize their potential are barriers which often remain unseen. These barriers are not merely a function of external circumstances, but rather a function of people’s worldview, which shapes their perception of business challenges, opportunities and impediments . . . even themselves.

When people begin to recognize—and take responsibility for—the limits imposed by their worldview, their vision of what’s possible for themselves and their organization expands. Standing in this new perspective, they are better able to identify and acquire the skills necessary to elevate their performance and the performance of those around them. This is how JMW helps clients transform the impact leaders make. Clients report that the impact of JMW’s programs is both immediate and lasting, and produces a measurable impact on people’s behavior and effectiveness.

Capabilities critical for the future

Experts now agree that developing new leadership skills and capabilities requires an ongoing commitment to expand self-awareness and the ability to translate new insights into action on a day-to-day basis. Conventional training methods alone are seldom sufficient. Even for talented and successful leaders, what’s called for is a fundamental shift in “worldview,” a shift in how and what they “see” in the everyday world of business, such that their thinking and actions are derived from a new and more expansive perspective—from a broader set of possibilities and options.

To make this shift requires identifying and shedding certain “default” approaches and habits developed from past experience—and adapting new practices consistent with the desired culture and the organization’s performance aspiration. The table below illustrates a number of specific ways in which such transitions evidence themselves for leaders participating in JMW programs.

FROM / TO
Function/Division/BU-focused / Collaborative, thinking from the whole
Needing direction / Self-reliant, informed by areas of strategic importance
Compliant / Committed and accountable
Reliant on past success / Courageous in deciding, accepting risks and acting
Reliant on existing knowledge / Seeking continuous learning
Internally-focused / Market- and client-focused
Non-conforming / Supporting corporate standards
Providing the answer / Asking insightful questions/Creating an environment for thinking and creativity
Relying on existing behaviors / Taking responsibility for change
Linear, analytical / Broad-based strategic approach
Telling and directing / Inspiring and influencing
Circumstance-driven / Operating with Integrity (doing what you say, regardless of circumstance)
Denying underperformance / Powerfully dealing with “what’s so,” facing up to difficulty/failure

JMW’s Track Record

PARTIAL CLIENT LIST (TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO) – Past and Current

BP / ANSA McAL Group
BHP / Bermudez Group
Atlantic LNG / WorleyParsons
Phoenix Park Gas / EY
Point Lisas Nitrogen Ltd. / Petrotrin
YARA / National Gas Company
MASSY Group / IPSL
Blue Waters Products Ltd

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PARTIAL CLIENT LIST (INTERNATIONAL) – Past and Current

AECOM (Aus) / ConocoPhillips / Talisman Energy
Macmahon (Aus) / Queensland Main Roads (Aus) / Invensys
Abigroup Contractors / Department of Defence (Aus) / The Boeing Company
MainRoads, Western Australia (Aus) / Rio Tinto Industrial Minerals / Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd.
Arup / Devon Canada / The Procter & Gamble Company
Melbourne and Sydney Water Corporations / Road Transport Authority (Aus) / London Stock Exchange
Motorola, Inc. / Energy Resources Australia / Transport Construction Authority (Aus)
BHP / Shell / Z Energy
Bristow Group / Fluor / Network Rail (UK)
Mubadala Oil & Gas / Sinopec / Chevron
Bovis Europe / Fulton Hogan (Aus) / Parsons Brinkerhoff/Balfour Beatty
National Air Traffic Services (UK) / SKM (Aus) / Citigroup
BP / Hess / Pfizer Inc.
Internal Revenue Service (U.S.) / Standard Life

In 1986, an internal audit attributed in excess of $100 million in savings to the success of JMW “breakthrough projects” in five of IBM’s key development laboratories. As a result, JMW was asked to develop a training program to equip IBM managers and leaders with the capabilities required to deliver similar gains on an ongoing basis. The resulting program afforded our firm a unique opportunity . . . to demonstrate that “transformational” capabilities could be learned, assimilated, and replicated by others. The reputation and track record we enjoy today began then.

We take the case that “Transformational Leadership Development” has three primary dimensions:

  • The individual’s own ability to think and act
  • The individual’s ability to influence thinking and actions of others
  • The organization’s performance and results

In each dimension, the magnitude of impact targets an outcome beyond “the predictable”. Literally thousands of individuals and numerous Fortune 100 and ASX 100 companies who have sponsored their participation attest to, and provide evidence for the fact that JMW has consistently met that challenge.

Our clients say…

“Time and again, JMW helps you produce outstanding results while also transforming your organization’s abilities. They don’t bring the answer into the organization; they induce the result from the inside by revealing the inherent capabilities and strengths of the people.”
Chris Gibson-Smith, Chairman, London Stock Exchange

“Beyond the obvious deep skills in developing a transformational leadership capability, JMW consistently demonstrated an enduring commitment to my team’s success that was simply tremendous. Their real value came from combining leadership development with a refreshing results orientation which led to a performance that was truly extraordinary by any measure of business success.”
Mike Bennetts, Chief Executive, Z Energy

“If you are responsible for an organization and you believe that there is an outcome that’s possible for your organization that’s significantly better than anyone else believes possible, JMW will give you the tools, the techniques and the understanding to create the possibility in your organization for that to happen and how to empower your organization to go get it.”
Tom Knudson, Chairman, Bristow Group Inc.

Since 2000, JMW has delivered 469 transformational Executive programs to over 5,000 senior business leaders around the world.

Key focus areas of JMW Executive Programs include:

  • Linking executive development with strategy
  • Demonstrating a return on investment
  • Using executive development as a vehicle for cultural and organizational change
  • Education and development as an element of strategy to attract and retain people
  • Designing executive development to directly impact performance

JMW’S METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH

Programs designed by JMW to develop transformational leadership have pioneered a variety of innovative concepts, approaches and practices. Many of these practices have since been adopted by leading academic institutions and corporate universities and as a result are now generally accepted as standard features of the leadership program delivery repertoire. These innovations include:

  • Rigorously articulating commitments for session purpose and outcomes and being held to account by participants
  • Conducting multiple-session programs over extended periods of 6 to 9 months with leadership initiatives to apply and enhance learning in action
  • Requiring participants to define, commit to, and deliver breakthrough projects with measurable business value over and above existing expectations
  • Providing individual coaching during and between sessions
  • Using templates that enable constructive feedback and insight
  • Reconciling targeted project objectives against actual delivery for learning value
  • Linking course content to business context and priorities
  • Asking for commitments from participants to improve mental, physical and emotional health
  • Establishing learning support partners and groups to sustain learning beyond the program

Example key frameworks, tools and distinctions deployed in our leadership programs include:

Conversations for Performance / The Anatomy of Reaction
Access to Authenticity / Facts versus Interpretations
Alignment vs. Agreement / Commitment versus Compliance
Background Conversations / Committed vs. Descriptive Talking
Declaring New Possibilities / Principles of Integrity and Accountability
Intervening with Problems / Bringing Closure to the Past
Inventing the Future / Limits of Self as Identity
Leading through Influence / Keeping Vision Alive
The Breakthrough Model™ / Essentials of Collaboration
The Source of Performance / Productive Disruption

JMW’s proprietary technology of principles, practices and tools are taught in ways that have each participant challenge him/herself to achieve the highest level of what is possible through self-reflection, choice and insight. In fact, after the programs, people are able to use everyday experiences and challenges as a fertile ground for continuous growth and development.

JMW’s methods include such specific tools and practices as:

  • Techniques for listening more generously to others
  • Templates for establishing commitments via clear and effective requests, promises and offers
  • Processes to identify and acknowledge one’s biases and prejudices
  • Templates for offering constructive feedback
  • Written assignments to speculate about, expand on, debate new principles
  • Individual, partner, and group exercises utilizing role play, critique, and coaching to embed learning and generate insights
  • Role-play presentations to test engagement, understanding and agreement of others

In order to support learning, JMW has a considerable library of relevant content to draw on for this program. The nature of the content contribution ranges from well-established conceptual frameworks to specific methods, tools and practices for applying such concepts in real time.

JMW’s development is based on three fundamental premises.

  1. Human beings want their lives to matter, and are thus drawn to opportunities for extraordinary accomplishment and a chance to make a difference.

This statement serves as a foundation from which to think about who people are and how one might choose to relate to them. It appeals to people’s best instincts about themselves and others, and hence provides an optimistic and highly empowering entry point for taking on the challenge of personal learning and growth.

  1. Successful people are already highly effective and committed, but they have barriers to the full realization of their innate potential for effectiveness and commitment.

Even the most capable and talented leaders can recognize areas to improve and take their prowess to a new level. However, often the most significant barriers to realize their potential are unseen. These “blind spots” reside in one’s habitual views and opinions—about the environment, about others, and even about oneself. Once seen and acknowledged, authentic new insights and breakthroughs emerge, revealing pathways beyond prior limits.

3.Learning is a social phenomenon which, in and of itself, is enabling and satisfying.

Effective acquisition of new capabilities invariably occurs in a social environment, in communities of practice. Evidence also shows that those who engage in ongoing learning derive a greater sense of satisfaction from their everyday experience of living and working.

To put our development philosophy into practice, JMW has developed a unique model that incorporates informational, operational and transformational learning. The difference in method and impact is demonstrated by the following model:

Figure 2: Three kinds of learning

By addressing what’s required for leaders to advance in all three realms, the impact extends beyond the benefits of traditional learning—which deepens understanding through new relevant data.

As with any practical skill or competence, improvement depends on consistent and appropriate practice. Our approach incorporates sufficient time and attention to enable leaders to discover what they can actually “do” to practice the specific behaviors and actions which are designed to enhance their effectiveness.

While the components required for transformational learning are less familiar and obvious, we have developed reliable methods for instigating this process. Consistent with findings in recent research, challenging successful and talented individuals to question their own assumptions, habits and attitudes proves useful in building a new level of personal reflection, insight and self-knowledge.

Each individual learns differently and at a different pace, therefore part of JMW’s philosophy is to include alternate modes of learning. This kind of impact for people can be accomplished in classroom training and through blended learning modalities, e.g., teleconferences and web conferences, multi-media, on-line programs, coaching, project work, etc.

JMW’s training philosophy therefore includes training that encourages participants to:

  • Own their development and take the opportunity seriously
  • Engage fully in programs
  • Explore, and be willing to be surprised by insights that occur as authentic and compelling
  • Take the opportunity to reflect and integrate that experience to draw a deeper understanding of how leadership actually shows up “on the field”
  • Develop a more sensitive and precise inner compass
  • Develop an appreciation of development beyond assessment
  • Adopt an approach to career development as a journey of learning

From the perspective of IP, JMW’s Executive Programs incorporate the following fundamentals:

  • Transformational leadership stands on a foundation of integrity, authenticity and the courage to be committed to something bigger than oneself.
  • Leadership in action is defined as “causing what isn’t” vs. “managing what is.” Ultimately, a leader’s job is to intervene in service of performance and results which would not otherwise occur.
  • Confronting the limits imposed by one’s strengths and weaknesses provides an access to create capabilities beyond both. This is the key to increased confidence.
  • Greater fluency with the language of commitment and action enables leaders to translate concepts, possibilities and ideas into real and measurable results. It also provides increased leverage for influencing others and responding to change.
  • Delivery of business challenge (“breakthrough”) project objectives which exceed existing expectations (both during and subsequent to the program) provide the requisite challenge and stretch to ensure learning is translated.

Measuring the success of our programs

JMW is committed to demonstrating a strong return on investment through its program design and delivery. We incorporate a series of assessment methods to ensure maximum impact of our programs, including:

  • Daily written feedback from participants at the end of each day to assess take-up of concepts and tools and to ascertain any outstanding questions. We respond to this feedback directly to the participants each day.
  • Participant satisfaction surveys at the end of each classroom session and at the end of the program which can be co-designed with the client. These are aggregated and discussed with the client following each session.
  • Interviews with managers and sponsors, as well as organizational development and HR professionals to observe indicators of change in individual and organizational performance
  • Tracking of successful completion of course assignments against commitments

JMW has also utilized on-line surveys for self-assessment of both participants’ learning and the value and impact of the program. We will discuss with you the benefits of adding this additional measurement tool.

Impact on Business Results

Measures of the program’s impact, both individually and for the organization, are also evidenced through the conduct and delivery of selected business project challenges (currently known as “extraordinary outcomes”) by each participant, during the course of the program. These projects represent a commitment to deliver outcomes and results that are significantly beyond historical levels of performance.

The projects have several criteria:

  • Related to participants’ current accountabilities
  • Beyond what would be predictable to produce in the timeframe they choose
  • Requires design and delivery of milestone results by the beginning of each class session which will be reported on and captured during class sessions
  • Approval/sign-off and support from the participant’s manager
  • Measurable using normal and accepted company standards
  • Makes a material difference to the division and/or company even if not fully delivered

All projects are reviewed by to ensure they meet the above criteria and are consistent with what the client is committed to accomplishing in the overall engagement. At the end of each session, participants are asked to complete a survey assessing the degree to which they have made progress against achieving the objectives and outcomes of the session, which is compiled and shared with the client program sponsor.