James McCullough
James was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as an officer into the regular army in 1986. His various military posts included leading a team of instructors in designing and running training courses for army recruits, as well as his own command of a team of 15 soldiers.
After four years he left the regular army to take an honours degree in Economics and Politics, during which time he also served as a leadership instructor for Oxford University Officer Training Corps. This entailed leading high altitude expeditions abroad, an interest which he continued with World Challenge Expeditions, in which under-graduates and school leavers were taught teambuilding, leadership, and management skills.
James cut his teeth in the commercial world as an international marketing and sales manager for a family-run engineering firm, but then discovered his vocation was in learning and development. After a three year stint as economics teacher and head of department, he became a management development consultant in 1998, and set up his own company in 2001. James has a masters degree in Organisational Behaviour from Birkbeck College (University of London), a diploma in Performance Coaching and is a member of the Association of Business Psychologists.
What we do
We are a management development consultancy dedicated to delivering innovative, practical and professional solutions to classic people issues that small to medium size businesses face, such as:
- Getting engagement and loyalty from employees
- Empowering staff to achieve consistent delivery
- Getting the right people
- Increasing retention
- Ensuring buy-in to change
- Developing leaders
- Maximising team performance
Helping growing businesses to identify, retain and develop their talent
McCullough Associates focuses on how small to medium size businesses can increase their employee’s performance from average to "excellent" and therefore increase productivity and profits. There are different approaches to developing people and McCullough Associates recognises this. Underlying all our approaches, our primary aim is to get individuals and teams motivated to change and to move on in line with organisational goals.
The essence of our business is to enable individuals and teams to get to where they want to be. This often involves helping to release people from the constraints that hold back their true potential. So underlying everything we do is a foundation model of motivation and employee engagement.
How we do it
Our people management interventions include both the prevention and resolution of negative behaviour, as well as the development and enhancement of positive behaviour. To do this we apply the latest techniques in selection, assessment and development as well as providing a consultancy service which addresses specific performance issues that lie outside the day to day norm. We also offer personal coaching for individuals coping with change.
Our style
We work in partnership with our clients, saving them both time and money by helping them to solve their people problems and thereby allowing them to focus on their core objectives. We offer a partnering relationship based on trust, commitment and our understanding of your business goals; our commitment to this relationship is to empower our clients to achieve their organisational and career goals.
Who we are
James McCullough is a Business Psychologist and Executive Coach with over 13 years experience in Learning and Development. Together with a network of associates around the UK who are experts in their fields, he delivers to a wide range of clients at all levels of management. See client list. His personal goal is to help individuals and teams to get to where they want to be by realising their true potential.
What can we achieve for your business?
Here are just some of the things we can do to create sustainable competitive advantage for your organisation:
- Facilitating change in the behaviour and attitude of your people
- Giving people meaning and direction in their work
- Placing leadership at the centre of your management approach
- Improving the design and effectiveness of your people related processes
- Increasing people’s motivation towards change
- Developing your teams so they create effective solutions and achieve a high level of performance
- Creating high ownership and accountability throughout the organisation.
- Improving the choices you make about putting the right people in the right job.
What our clients think of us - some quotes
"I want you to know how much I enjoyed the assessment process and my discussions with James. I found the entire experience both interesting and rewarding. In particular, James was thoughtful and insightful in his review of both the data and how it related to our conversations. Very powerful stuff! " (Fran Goldwyn, CEO Quorum Associates LLC)
“James is a high value deliverer who consistently enthuses groups whilst never failing to impress with his detailed knowledge of subject matter and to engage participants in learning. He is versatile, personable, and professional and comes very highly recommended as a safe pair of hands with added value.” (Alan Sears, MD Vybrant)
"James was a great facilitator and quickly created a safe environment where our group quickly bonded and shared our personal reflections to great mutual benefit". (anon. from Ammerdown)
" I have found the course very good. Very helpful and useful. I have been able to recognise the journey I have been in and make sense of the next step in understanding my self better. I am able to make sense of the things in my life that has influenced and effected me both positively or negatively – Thank you". (anon. from Ammerdown)
Our ethos
Our vision is to see other people succeeding in their work by helping them unleash their hidden potential. We believe that good talent management is about achieving change through people. This means helping people grow and understand not just what they can achieve but what they want to achieve. Our experience to date has convinced us of the enormous potential to use talent management skills to ratchet up performance and ultimately transform businesses. We believe in straight talking and pragmatic action. This means that we avoid using (where possible) clichés and jargon in our communication. It means that we do not offer interventions or ‘quick-fixes’ that do not add any value to existing processes.
What extra value can we offer?
Our unique approach is based on:
- Business focus – I use a modular approach to training: short sessions focussing on specific topics that relate to issues being faced in the workplace. It is likened to a doctors’ surgery, using a consultative approach to solve business issues, but using our joint expertise to put in both preventative measures as well as the ‘cure’.
- Inspiration – my core model is motivation and engagement as it surrounds so many people issues. I enable people to inspire themselves to success, by helping them find what is unique to them and helping them to develop their personal leadership.
- Knowledge – I bring with me experience of working in both highly structured/processed organisations and small firms with little or no structure or process. I have delivered work in multiple sectors across every continent and that, combined with my research based study of organisational psychology, means I know what works and what doesn’t.
- Commitment – I work best when in a partnering relationship with my clients; one which is based on trust, so that my genuine interest is in delivering the best outcomes to my clients.
- Client focus – I listen to my clients and deliver bespoke interventions for clients that deliver against their business needs. I never deliver off the shelf packages.
- Flexibility – I am committed to quality delivery of the intervention and so will be flexible in how and where I can deliver it. If something changes then I am able to accommodate most changes. This involves being able to think on my feet, being well-prepared and having a positive outlook.
Who we work with
Here are some of the clients that we have worked with in the past:
Banking - Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, ABN Amro, Rabobank, RBS, Societe General, Deutche Bank, Kleinwort Benson, HSBC.
Pharmaceuticals - GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer Group, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Chiron, Sanofi-Aventis, Astra-Zeneca, UCB, Daiichi Sankyo
IT - Microsoft, Computacenter, ARM,
Energy/Oil - Exxon Mobil, Total Oil, Innogy,
Automotive - Rover/BMW,
Transport - British Airways, Network Rail, National Express
Professional Services - Countrywide Porter Novelli, Knight Frank, Norman Broadbent, Davis Langdon and Everest, DAS group.
Construction/Engineering - Mowlem/Carillion, Amey, Bovis Lendlease, McAlpine, Institute of Civil Engineers
Telecoms - British Telecom, Energis,
Utilities - Anglian Water,
Retail - New Look plc.
Education - Supreme Education Council Qatar, Kent Business School, Ralph Allen School Bath,.
Food and Drink – British Sugar, Tate and Lyle.
