Jim Lawless

Facing Change and Leading Change

Categories: Adventure, Business, Leadership, Motivational, Sales

Jim Lawless is one of the world’s leading keynote speakers. Over half a million people on five continents have been entertained and inspired by Jim’s presentations and many more by his bestselling book “Taming Tigers” (Random House).

Jim acts as an elite team coach at board level and serves as a non-executive board chairman. He has advised companies globally on creating cultural change and elite teams. He has designed and implemented successful change programmes in companies including Apple, Barclaycard, Atos, Axa, BT, Aramark, Skrill Group and Badminton England.

He insists on testing his principles on himself before advising others, using “Taming Tigers” to become Britain’s deepest freediver. He is the first Briton to dive below the magic 100m barrier on a single breath of air.

In response to an audience challenge, he proved “Taming Tigers” by becoming a jockey in 12 months. At the outset he was 3 stone (20kg) too heavy and could not ride.

These adventures – and the lessons he learned – bring him and his methodology immediate credibility with audiences on all continents.

Jim holds a Bachelor of Laws degree, qualified as a solicitor and practiced commercial law in the City of London and in a major IT company before founding Taming Tigers Limited (formerly “Optimise”).

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in 2008 in recognition of his business writing.

Taming Tigers: Accomplishing “Mission Impossible”

“Understanding what makes change tough, the stories we tell to avoid that reality and what we can do to achieve new results is now critical to the survival of a business or a career.”

Accomplishing “Mission Impossible” depends upon our ability to adapt to and create disruptive changes, to seize opportunities at pace, to play to win rather than play “not to lose”, to engage and empower others and inspire action.
Our greatest asset in creating and adapting to change is also our greatest liability: The Human Mind. A tool formed over many millennia to favour the familiar over pioneering behaviours, creative tension and new uncertain outcomes.

When the leaders and people across an organisation begin to understand, own and enjoy the mindset that creates purposeful change, “Mission Impossible” becomes a live possibility. That’s the reason Jim Lawless created the “Taming Tigers” framework.
Regularly re-booked by many of the world’s leading companies (and their disruptive challengers), Jim has devoted the majority of his working life to finding out what makes lasting transformation possible for individuals, teams and organisations – and to making change happen.

To date he has shared his tools for transformational change with over half a million inspired people at events on five continents and many more through his bestselling book “Taming Tigers” (Random House 2012).
Jim’s presentations are renowned for giving the audience:

The Desire to Act to make the change happen, personally
The Courage and Confidence to take personal risks in changing objectives, behaviours and communication and
Practical Tools: what to do and how to recognise and overcome the personal barriers – the Tiger

Jim’s commitment to testing the Taming Tigers framework has seen him accomplish two of his own “Missions Impossible”. He became the UK’s deepest freediver (the first Briton to pass 100m on one breath) and transformed from non-riding unfit consultant to Jockey in 12 months to answer a client challenge (and £1 bet!).

Jim’s understanding of change in the individual, team and organisation is hard won. Jim has advised on change and coached high performing teams at board level for 15 years with a client list including global giants such as Apple, BT, AXA, ATOS and Barclaycard and private equity mega-success stories such as Skrill Group.

Jim Lawless

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