Corporate Vision December 2017

32 CORPORATE VISION / December 2017 , As Europe’s original business psychology consultancy, NicholsonMcBride has contributed to some of the most dramatic corporate transformations of the last three decades. We profile the firm’s founder JohnNicholson as we explore the secrets behind his overwhelming success. Success is the Only Option Featuring in Corporate Vision’s Coaching Top 50 In 2017, John Nicholson’s career as an advisor began in the UK Cabinet Office, when he was asked to devise some means of improving the quality of Cabinet Ministers’ decision-making. As time has gone on, he has continued to develop strategic projects, and even founded his own firm, Nicholson McBride. While teaching psychology at the Universities of Oxford, Reading and London, John undertook a number of consultancy projects. For example, he was invited to assess IBM’s International Quality Programme and subsequently worked with IBM on many human resources management concerns, including stress management, entrepreneurship and customer relationships. Subsequently, John needed a new challenge, and after leaving his academic life, he founded Nicholson McBride, which came to be Europe’s first business psychology consultancy. Producing constant results and achieving overwhelming success, Nicholson McBride has gone on to help around 350 organisations, in both the public and private sectors, reinvigorating companies and changing the way they are organised, manage their people and relate to their clients. Customer satisfaction is an integral part of any company’s success, and so John has been able to help many of his clients achieve more success by revolutionising their business. Receiving notable recognition, The Sunday Times described John as ‘the UK’s foremost customer care guru’, and his company as ‘the crack outfit in an increasing field’; the Evening Standard referred to the firm as ‘pioneers of new business practices in the UK.’ Boasting an almost unrivalled portfolio of achievements, such judgements received official endorsement with John’s appointment in September 1992 as Special Advisor at the Cabinet Office on the management of change in the public sector, a position he held for two years. He was closely involved in preparing the 1994 Government White Paper which set out a blueprint for Civil Service reform, and in 1995, played a part in briefing leaders of the NATO task force for Bosnia. Over the past two decades, he has advised the leaders of many UK central and local government, as well as inter-governmental, organisations. Finally, John has also worked in more than a third of the FTSE Top 100 companies and for many professional and financial services firms. He is also the author of several hundred articles and twelve books. The most recent being: Resilience: how to bounce back from whatever life throws at you, spawned the 2010 Local Government National Resilience Survey with 10,000 participants. Before becoming a psychologist, he worked as a musician; between 1978 and 1990, he reviewed new fiction regularly for The Times. Looking into the success of his own company, Nicholson McBride, the firm has gone from strength to strength under John and the rest of his team. Transforming corporations and businesses has been a real legacy of the consultancy, something which the team are incredibly proud of. Many of these transformations have involved such corporate giants as the BBC, IBM, the Inland Revenue, Lloyd’s of London, and the European Central Bank. More than 350 organisations, representing all sectors and in 24 countries. Dealing with various clients, the firm sometimes works with industry leaders, who are mostly determined to remain 1712CV27 ahead of the field in many respects, but also works with those who are looking to climb the ladder and become a force in their respective markets. Many sectors can be hostile and Nicholson McBride helps companies in this respect. Additionally, some clients are start-up teams, often in new industries, others operate in mature markets, and are eager to gain differentiation. The company also work across the public sector, central and local government, as well as regulatory bodies, and for international governmental organizations. Occupying some unusual niches, Nicholson McBride offer advice to many of its direct competitors, which is a sign that it is there to help everyone. There are many clients who are already highly successful who work with Nicholson McBride, as they would like to gain people management skills which must match their technical excellence. An example of some successful clients includes bankers, lawyers, economists, actuaries, Cabinet Ministers and senior government officers. Regarding the consultancy’s own corporate history in the 1980s, it led the way in developing