Get to know: Jan Thornbury

1. What is your area of expertise?

Culture and strategic change, by which I mean

• All things to do with culture change, from defining and embedding authentic, meaningful core values to more specific, targeted interventions to address cultural issues
• More widely, helping organisations to develop and embed vision and strategy (of which values are a part), especially when they are navigating disruption and need to reinvent themselves or achieve a significant shift in mindset or their core business.
• The two are of course interlinked!

2. You have had such a diverse career, what is one lesson that has stayed with you throughout it all?

That my job is to help my clients to lead change themselves, by helping them to build their own capability and supporting them in stepping into their own power.

3. What are some of the biggest challenges organisations face when aligning people, culture, and regulation?

The biggest challenge is always about aligning mindsets and behaviours. It’s very hard to change these unless you have a really strong case for change. I personally believe (and there is a lot of research to back me up on this) that organisations with strong, positive cultures perform better, but that message often gets lost in the pursuit of short-term profits, so it often does not make for a sufficiently compelling case for change. This is where regulation can provide a really powerful impetus – making culture change a necessity. Financial Services is an obvious example of how the regulator can drive positive culture change in an industry.

4. What first led you to pursue a career in consulting and people transformation?

There was no grand plan! I started my career as an academic – a theoretical physicist. I loved the intellectual challenge, but I found the day-to-day just did not work for me. It was too solitary. I found myself looking forward to my teaching sessions and dreading the rest of my week, so I figured I needed a job that brought me into more contact with people. I left academia and joined a Big 4 firm. The ‘people transformation’ interest came later. I was working in post-communist eastern Europe, where people were having to deal with unprecedented levels of change – every element of the PEST analysis was off the charts. I realised that hearts and minds, and helping people to maintain a sense of agency, were the keys to successful change, so focused on that from then on.

5. What inspired you to start your own consulting firm?

• I found that by working as an independent I was better able to adhere to my values – especially the one I mentioned earlier, which is about helping my clients to lead change themselves. I aim to transfer skills and essentially work myself out of a job. I never feel under pressure to do something for a client that they’d be better doing themselves.
• Also, my passion is for doing the work! Most consulting firms operate on a leveraged business model – at a senior level, you end up becoming more of a salesperson and get less and less involved in delivery. That’s great if you enjoy it, but it’s not me.
• So starting my own consulting firm felt like the best way for me to do the work I enjoy while also bringing my expertise to my clients in a way that provides the best value.

6. Is there anything you look to achieve whilst being an Associate at the Møller Institute?

I am delighted to be an Associate at the Møller Institute. I am inspired by the organisation’s charitable purpose, the quality of its work and the calibre of its people. I think there is great potential for learning and personal growth for me, and I aim to embrace that. I’m also looking forward to helping Møller to enhance its offer to certain sectors – especially professional services, which is one of my deep specialisms. I’ve already been involved with the working group on this and it’s very exciting.

7. What are your biggest professional and personal achievements?

My biggest professional achievements are when I have seen my clients win awards for their culture, achieve outstanding levels of employee engagement, leap ahead of their competitors, or do something industry re-defining because of a piece of work I have done with them. I also feel a sense of achievement that I contribute to thought leadership in my area of expertise.

On a personal level, I am proud that I have done things that have really stretched me – for example, taking up an academic post in Germany when I was 21, with only very rusty GCSE language skills; starting my own consulting business rather than pursuing a more conventional consulting career; climbing Kilimanjaro. But the most important ‘achievement’ to me is having a happy family.

8. Outside of work, what motivates or inspires your personal growth and leadership philosophy?

My family and friends are a constant source of learning and discourse. I also read a lot and take a keen interest in current affairs.

9. What are some of your interests / hobbies outside of work?

Mountain hiking; cycling; art; travel; current affairs / politics; cooking (I’m half Italian and love Italian food); family & friends