Jim Lawless is a keynote speaker, C-suite advisor, and transformation specialist with a focus on strategy execution, high-performance culture, and leading change in uncertainty. As Founder and CEO of Symmetry International, he works alongside executive teams at global corporations, high-growth organisations, and Olympic teams to design and build organisations that can adapt, decide, and perform at pace. His client portfolio spans Apple, Microsoft, Diageo, HSBC, Novartis, Amazon, PwC, AstraZeneca, Virgin, and Tesco, among others across more than 22 countries on five continents.
Jim is the author of the international bestseller Taming Tigers: How to Do Things You Never Thought You Could(Random House), which has been published in multiple languages and remains a widely referenced framework for transformation and personal change. His keynotes draw on the same principles — combining behavioural science, organisational design, and his own record-breaking physical challenges to make the case for bold, fast adaptation. He is ranked #1 Motivational Speaker outside the United States by Global Gurus, and has spoken to over one million people across five continents.
True to his ethos of walking the talk, Jim has tested his frameworks through two notable personal challenges: he became a competitive jockey within 12 months of sitting on a horse for the first time, and became Britain’s deepest freediver — the first Briton to descend below 100 metres on a single breath — in just eight months of training. Both were accomplished alongside his professional commitments. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, elected in recognition of his writing on culture and change.
Jim began his career as a commercial solicitor in the City of London before serving as Legal Counsel at a global technology company. He founded his learning and development consultancy Optimise in 2000, which has since evolved into Symmetry International. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree.
