From leaving the banking sector in 2001 through to retirement at the end of 2022, David developed a portfolio of activities which derived principally from 25 years’ experience in commercial and investment banking with HSBC and Deutsche Bank. His consultancy activities embraced strategic planning and implementation as well as mentoring existing and aspiring entrepreneurs. He became a recognised expert in his field, speaking regularly at conferences and running seminars and workshops. He provided one-to-one and group mentoring to entrepreneurs, many of whom were aiming to establish themselves as consultants. During this period, he published eight books on different stages in the journey of business life. These are highlighted below.
For a number of years, he was an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Finance at Bayes Business School (formerly known as Cass), where he ran workshops on managing strategic change, entrepreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship, leadership, building high-performance teams and sales. In addition, he acted as course director and provided facilitation and mentoring support to participants in small groups and on a one-to-one basis. As well as working with the student community, he participated in Executive Education programmes for major private sector institutions from the UK, Middle East, South Africa and Asia, plus UK public sector institutions.
David is a Freeman of the Company of Entrepreneurs. He holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. He is a Certified PRISM Brain Mapping Practitioner.
ABOUT THE BOOKS
The “Crew to Captain” series of books plots a course from starting your own business, through growing it and taking it to the next level, then easing into semi-retirement, and finally progressing to full retirement. It’s similar to Shakespeare’s idea of the “7 ages of man”, but in this case there are 4! There is also a sidestep into how you go about setting yourself up as a sole practitioner consultant.
From Crew to Captain (2010) takes you on a journey through 3 important phases:
Reflecting – what does it take to make the transition from working for a big institution to working for yourself … and is it for you?
Planning – how do you prepare for a successful launch?
Doing – how do you go about implementing your plan?
A Privateer’s Tale (2014) is about the transition from a big institution to a specific area of activity, namely consultancy.
Above all else, it will show you:
What good consultancy looks like.
How to win clients.
How to keep them happy, so that they come back for more and tell other people about you.
Commander of the Fleet (2015) was written to help people, having proved to themselves and the market that their business model worked, figure out how to take it to the next level.
You will learn:
How to create a value business capable of sustainable, profitable growth.
How to deal with “growing pains”.
Specifically, how to move from being a sole practitioner consultant to running a consultancy practice.
These 3 books are known as the “Crew to Captain Trilogy” and are also offered as Executive Summaries named, ‘A List of Lists’.
Changing Tack (2020) effectively created a bridge for people looking for an intermediate step between full-time employment and full retirement.
This book is for you if:
You are contemplating this transition and want to ensure you achieve it with “eyes wide open”.
You are keen to learn from others who have done this or are doing it.
You don’t know what you don’t know in terms of considering all the options open to you.
Changing Tack Part 2 (2022) takes a look at progressing to full retirement, whether from a part-time or full-time working situation.
This book provides you with some issues to consider in terms of:
Retiring – your financial position means you can do this.
Repeating – you want to carry on because you are having so much fun and/or you need the money.
Reinventing – you genuinely believe you have at least one more activity to explore and/or you need the money.
‘From Crew to Captain’ Podcasts
I was invited by Alex Ede of PRISM Brain Mapping to chat about my book trilogy ‘From Crew to Captain’ for PRISM’s “Brain Behaviour Business” – The B3 Podcasts
The 3 podcasts are:
‘From Crew to Captain’ – Making the transition from working for a big institution to working for yourself.
‘A Privateer’s Tale’ – making the transition from working for a big institution to operating as a sole practitioner consultant.
‘Commander of the Fleet’ – taking your business to the next level.
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
One of the things that struck me as I developed my mentoring business was the number of people I encountered who were thinking of starting their own business who really did not have a great deal of sales experience. With this in mind, I am delighted to have teamed up with my good friends at Prism Brain Mapping to address this need.
Introduction to Sales & Adaptive Selling
This course is designed to help those who are new to sales, or who find sales scary or daunting, be more comfortable with selling. It gives you the tools to win more clients and secure more business from existing clients.
The course is divided into three parts:
PRISM & Self Awareness
– through PRISM, the online behavioural profiling tool, you will understand your own behavioural preferences and have enhanced self-awareness of others’ behavioural preferences, which means that you understand your clients better, can tailor your sales strategy to each client and can develop the attributes of a good salesperson.
Sales Process
– following our defined sales process means that you can turn strangers into cash in the bank.
Adaptive Selling
– learn how to adapt your behaviour which means you can build better relationships with clients and prospects throughout the sales process.
Successful completion of this course will mean you can use your new-found knowledge on behaviour and adaptive selling to build strong, positive, long-term relationships with clients old and new.
Enrol and enhance your sales skills today