People
The pen-pictures below are in alphabetical order
Actalpha is a group of exceptionally able people committed to your development and
success.
We believe passionately in the importance of personal growth and development.
Many of us have achieved considerable success in the corporate world, but ultimately
wanted to fulfil our own personal missions by offering our services directly to a wide
range of clients who could most benefit.
We understand people, personality and development at a deep level, but our backgrounds
are project and programme management and business management. What we teach to you
is what we have applied effectively ourselves.
From any Actalpha consultant you can expect:
Very wide business knowledge, backed up by post-graduate
qualification
A deep understanding of what makes people tick
Outstanding interpersonal and facilitation skills
Judy Allen
Judy Allen has a long association with the NHS and has
a background in nursing, counselling and adult education. She has been
involved in high profile research projects, in both medical and
pharmaceutical areas working with the Universities of Exeter, Birmingham and
Keele.
As a magistrate she worked locally to improve decision
making skills and implement change. At the same time she took part in action
research, conference planning and the development and delivery of training
at both regional and national level.
Judy has written and published extensively in all of
these areas. Most notably she researched and co-authored a book “Health
Care Communication using Personality type –Patients are Different” (
Allen J and Brock SA, Routledge 2000) which uses the Myers Briggs Type
Indicator® to provide valuable insights for health care professionals into
the areas of communication, teaching and learning, team working and personal
development. She has also published training materials based on this work.
Judy’s wide experience as a trainer ( and “trainer of
trainers”) and Masters Degree in Education have helped her to learn how to
both create materials and to draw on training and coaching skills as a basis
to encourage people to learn for themselves as opposed to “being taught”.
The
feedback from Judy’s courses has been
consistently excellent with such comments as:
“It has made me rethink how I
communicate with my staff and has given me more confidence in dealing with
more challenging individuals.”
“I now understand Myers-Briggs
for the first time and I see how I can apply it in my job.”
Merseyside Magistrates Court Committee
"Her
ability to provide compassion and clear direction was exceptional. She is a
real
find for you in the capacity as a program facilitator and coordinator."
Schumacher College
Judy
is married with one son who lives in Sydney, Australia and she and her
husband have recently moved to South Devon to enjoy the outdoors and local
culture.
Sally Burnside
Sally Burnside helps clients to deliver successful change. An effective
business
leader
and renowned people manager, she was latterly a partner and head of the
large People and Change Consulting practice
at Atos Origin (previously Atos KPMG), working in both public and private
sectors. She became a
consultant in 1997 after gaining
an MBA, following an early career in manufacturing and logistics.
Key areas of expertise:
-
Managing change through people, especially in IT environments
-
Coaching and mentoring business leaders
-
Measuring and improving intangibles such as culture and business
relationships, particularly in an IT environment
-
Developing teams
-
Managing mergers and acquisitions
-
Operational management
Examples of client delivery:
-
Led an
HR consultancy team in Resolution plc which designed and implemented a
vision with the executive team, carried out a cultural review between two
recently merged parts of Resolution, designed an HR acquisitions template
and project managed the people aspects of 2 major organisational changes
-
Designed
and taught change management training programmes to consultants and
clients
-
Led a
change leadership and process transformation assignment at Vodafone.
Through attention to skills transfer, performance measurements and follow
up coaching, improvements were sustained long after the assignment ended
-
Led
change management workstreams for IT enabled change programmes at clients
including Astra Zeneca, Transco, Irish Rail and MCI, from visioning to
benefits realisation
-
For
several clients both private and public sector, changed previously
adversarial relationships between IT departments and either the business
or outsourced suppliers, by understanding each others goals, agreeing
measures of relationship quality and using follow up coaching.
-
Designed
improved processes for benefits assessments for DWP
-
Designed
and ran away days for clients including Freshfields and Transco
-
Project
managed the merger between two divisions of a logistics company, including
organisational changes, site closures, IT integration and redundancies
-
Coached managers at several clients including Vodafone and VOSA
Sally and her husband
enjoy outdoor sports including sea kayaking, mountain biking and skiing.
Extra curricular work has included being a school governor and youth work.
Mike Cashman
 30-year career working with
changes enabled in many cases by information systems, with much of the last
20 years spent
in project and programme management. Founder of Actalpha.
Frequently called in to rescue a programme of change and to re-establish
senior management confidence in delivery of business results.
Example achievements:
- defining a scalable project management method based on PRINCE2, and
training 400 project managers and other staff in the use of this method.
- managing a previously out-of-control programme as a rescue operation
- introducing an effective competence management system for the team
introducing the most significant change to the UK rail network for the
last 100 years - the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)
- revising the quality management system for the National ERTMS
Programme team to ensure that the system was very usable and accessible
- initiating a major change programme for an outsourced service provided to the public
sector.
- transforming the culture of a 400-person £200m programme so that there was a
business-driven plan, which was achieved
- interim management of a portfolio of projects, including rescue of a crucial project
- leading the definition of the Parcelforce ecommerce strategy ("best business
ecommerce web site", Digital Britain award)
- development of a uniquely realistic and practical project management training scheme
- introduction of workshop-based approaches to achieving consensus in public and private
sector businesses, and non-business environments (school, youth group etc)
- providing a customer-oriented technical service function with a distinctive
customer-focused culture which was recognised as excellent within the organisation
and within the industry
- leading development and implementation of a customer-placed despatching system over 2000
locations
- managing external suppliers to transform inadequate performance into reliable measured
consistent and sustained results nationwide
Post-graduate qualifications in management (Cranfield MBA), I.S., PRINCE2 project
management, programme management, management of risk, marketing and teaching; also qualified to administer the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI™) for
understanding personality-type. Unusual mix of rigorous planning skills with culture
change and personality development work.
Mike is married to Charlotte and they have four children and two
daughters-in-law - all the family
have taken part in Christian drama together. Other extracurricular interests have included
parenting training and marriage enrichment, counselling, youth work, and Third World
hunger awareness.
Dr Robina Chatham
 Dr
Robina Chatham qualified as both Mechanical Engineer and Neuroscientist. Her
career commenced within the shipbuilding industry, where she pioneered the
introduction of computing onto the shop floor. Robina subsequently followed
a career in IT, which culminated in the position of European IT Director for
a leading merchant bank. In 1996 Robina joined Cranfield School of
Management as a Lecturer in Management Information Systems.
Robina is now
director of her own training and consultancy practice, an Actalpha associate
and Visiting Fellow at Cranfield School of Management. She designs and
delivers bespoke workshops for clients and also undertakes one-to-one
coaching/mentoring. Her areas of expertise include:
-
Personal development - self
understanding/awareness and emotional intelligence
-
Developing political acumen – dealing
with conflict and achieving win-win outcomes
-
Influencing and negotiation skills
-
Leadership and motivation skills
-
Interpersonal relationships and
relationship management
-
Reputation and impression management -
increasing your personal power and impact
-
Managing stress – in self and others
-
Team building and what it takes to become
a high performing team
-
Managing change – the human element
-
Placing IT on the strategic agenda
-
Understanding and getting close to your
customers
-
Marketing IT services
What others have
said:
-
“Robina’s work was a
tremendous find for us….it was the best course we had ever been on, and
some said it had changed their lives!” -
Peter Elcock, Chief Operating Officer,
Barclays Plc
-
“A stunning
experience….was probably the most life-changing week I've ever had: I hope
I can build on it!” -
Tony Piper, IT Director, Pinnacle Insurance Plc
-
“It is without doubt
the most beneficial and enlightening week of my working career, I have
learnt a tremendous amount that will benefit me for the rest of my working
life.” - Rodney
Eaglesfield, Group Leader, Accenture
Robina is qualified
to administer MBTI Step I and II, FIRO-B and the Thomas International PPA
system. She has authored a book; “Corporate Politics for IT Managers: How to
get Streetwise”, published by Butterworth Heinemann as part of their
“Computer Weekly Professional Series” and in the words of Judith Scott,
Chief Executive, British Computer Society “If a fraction of those who
read the book do something positive with the ideas presented the state of UK
plc will be for ever enriched.”
Robina lives in the
country with her partner John and four legged family comprising two cats,
two horses and five alpacas.
Graham Clark
 First career as a manufacturing manager in medium/heavy engineering
companies. Moved to Cranfield School of Management in 1986, where he combines teaching
operations management and tutoring personal development programmes.
Example achievements:
- Delivering complex power station projects within tight deadlines
- Implementing computerised production control systems
- Co-author of three books; Customer Service and Support, Inspired Customer Service, and
Service Operations Management
- Director of Cranfield Executive MBA programme (1992- 95)
- Designed and delivered a wide range of service management programmes both as part of the
Cranfield executive education portfolio and customised to a wide range of organisations
including financial services, leisure companies, an airline, engineering companies and
telecommunications companies
- Helped a water company develop its first customer service strategy
- Advised the Audit Practice Board in developing quality standards
- Assisted the executive team of a professional service organisation in developing a
customer focused culture
Developed and taught operations strategy component of Cranfield MBA programme
- Course Director of "personal development in the outdoors"; an elective on the
MBA programme
- Member of the consultant team on the group relations programme for executive MBAs
- Consulted to telecommunications company in implementing the change from a functional to
a process organisation
- Researching services management for high-tech companies and leadership in call/contact
centre operations
- First degree in Mechanical Engineering, followed by a masters degree in management. Also
qualified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI™) and Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation (FIRO-B).
Holds an advanced certificate in psychodynamic counselling.
Graham is committed to the development of others and enjoys the challenge of working
with teams to assist them in developing effective strategies whilst helping them
understand what must be done differently in order to implement these strategies
successfully.
He is married with three sons aged 25, 22, & 13. He is a school governor and a
parish councillor. He has served on the leadership team of a number of Christian
organisations. He enjoys playing tennis and golf, reading history, and a wide range of
music.
Judith Flacke
 Twenty years in the voluntary sector with a breadth of experience from small
and local charities to household names. Current assignments include part time Chief
Executive of an international development NGO and Associate Consultant for the Charities
Aid Foundation.
Example achievements
- leading development of an innovative marketing and income-generating direct mail
programme for a leading UK charity
- implemented effective nation-wide team development strategy
- creation of a marketing strategy for a business critical volunteer acquisition programme
- supporting re-structuring of a geographically dispersed agency
- providing advice and analysis of comparative data regarding agency cost-effectiveness
"Judith Flacke has an inherent ability to get to the root of the problem and
suggest solutions that are both achievable and cost effective. Her interpersonal skills
are excellent and allow her to relate easily with all levels."
Catherine Wilson, Manager, Consulting & Development, Charities Aid Foundation
Post graduate qualifications in management (Cranfield MBA) and Marketing
(DipM).
Judith is able to conduct business in French.
Extra-curricular interests have included sailing, Hospital Radio and gardening.
Doug Henderson
 Doug Henderson is an Actalpha
associate and the Senior Partner of DHA Management Development, a training and development
business he started in the spring of 1991.
Doug has been involved in training and development for over 20 years. He has a
particular interest in the use of an outdoor environment and the ways in which it can be
used to both enhance and embed training messages. He has found this to be of particular
benefit for teamwork and individuals' personal development. The outdoor arena provides a
uncluttered backdrop against which to observe individual and the team's performance.
Doug has built up a breadth of experience in the training world through his involvement
with a number of different organisations. During the last 10 years he has been involved in
the design and deliver of specific training packages aimed at improving a range of
managerial competences. This has led him to work with all levels of management from
managing director and board level to 1st line supervisory.
Doug and his teams have also been involved in the facilitation of business meetings to
keep conversations on track, ensure key issues do not get missed and help achieve clear
outcomes
Included among the clients with whom he has worked are
- Associated Newspapers,
- BNFL,
- Caterpillar,
- Commercial Union,
- Cranfield School of Management,
- Ford Motor Co,
- Henley Management College,
- Perkins Engines
and a number of independent Management Consultants.
Aside from his training work Doug enjoys the outdoors for pleasure and
relaxation. He also enjoys reading, listening to music and trying to keep up
to date with modern computer technology. He is married with 2 daughters
A qualified solicitor with an MBA from Cranfield School of Management,
Helen Johnson has more than thirteen years’ practical experience of
commercial law, political and external relations, public policy development
and regulatory issues, advocacy and campaigning.
Formerly Head of Public Affairs at pharmaceutical company Roche, Helen
has built a successful communications, advocacy and campaigning practice
acting for a diverse range of clients including commercial organisations,
charities, NGOs and communications agencies. Helen is passionate about
encouraging clients to think about how they communicate and engage with
their multiple stakeholder audiences - shareholders, employees, the media,
decision-makers and government - in order to manage those relationships
effectively and derive maximum benefit from them.
Example achievements
- Sole management responsibility for devising, developing and
implementing Roche’s first government relations strategy and tactical
external affairs plan, interacting with politicians, special advisers,
government departments, NHS audiences, patient representative and advocacy
organisations, professional bodies and industry associations.
- Project-managing a six-week health promotion and educational roadshow
around the country consisting of schools activities, visits to major
shopping centres, charitable initiatives, media and local community
activities and seminars in 8 cities. This initiative received a
Pharmaceutical Marketing Communiqué Award in 2001
- Devising and implementing media, parliamentary and other policy
campaigns on a variety of issues from pensions reform, healthcare funding
and cancer services to welfare reform and disability rights
- Undertaking strategic analysis and audits of stakeholder groups and
key policy issues impacting on client’s products and business areas;
provide analysis and interpretation of government policy, legal and
regulatory developments;
- Advising clients on how to Influence and help shape the development of
policy, legislation and policy outcomes, whilst ensuring that their
specific interests and concerns are understood and actively represented
within that debate
- Devising and running coaching seminars and training workshops for
clients on a variety of topics including customer service techniques,
disciplinary procedures and preparing parties for quasi-legal appeal
hearings.
- Devising, implementing and delivering programmes of employee and staff
initiatives (including newsletters and competitions) designed to generate
employee enthusiasm and participation in particular projects and corporate
campaigns
- Leading, managing and co-ordinating the activities of five internal
project subgroups: external PR and communications, employee
communications, corporate hospitality, commercial opportunities and
exhibition design
- Design and production of media dossiers, corporate briefing packs,
staff newsletters, press releases, media briefing materials and
communications toolkits
- Designing, coordinating and executing bespoke government relations and
advocacy workshops, case studies and practical training sessions for
clients’ senior executives, PR teams, marketing functions and key
opinion-leaders
Helen’s other interests include music and travel, playing the piano
(badly!) and astronomy.
Dr Carol Parkes
 Carol Parkes trained in medicine and had a
20 year career in the NHS, having specialised in public health medicine and
epidemiology. She has worked at many different organisations from hospitals
and primary care trusts to strategic health authorities, with the last ten
years in consultant posts. She has
gained considerable experience in senior management, policy development and
implementation, board-level strategy and leadership development. This has
equipped her with an extremely useful
range of transferable skills that are relevant to both the public and
private sectors.
Alongside
her medical career Carol has had an ongoing fascination and interest in
people development and how organisations can benefit from this and she is
trained to Masters level in this field. Using this portfolio of skills and
experience, she is now a full-time freelance consultant, trainer and coach.
Example recent achievements include:
·
She produced a
clinical leadership development strategy for all the NHS organisations in
firstly Kent and then Surrey and Sussex and co-developed a clinical
leadership development programme in Surrey and Sussex.
·
Carol reviewed the
literature on what motivates doctors, nurses and other clinical staff and
how they might best work with management. This resulted in her developing a
clinical engagement strategy for implementation across Surrey and Sussex.
·
She is experienced
in training and coaching groups and
individuals (including senior medical managers, GPs, nurses, public health
clinicians, medical educators, private industry senior executives) in
personal development and leadership, such as:
o
Understanding
personal style and diversity
o
Communication
skills and influencing skills
o
Team working and
decision-making
o
Basic NLP skills
made easy
o
Personal and
performance coaching
o
Work-life balance,
life planning and alternative time management
·
Carol set up and
chairs a national group looking at the appropriate use of the MBTI
instrument in personal and team effectiveness in the NHS and clinical
education.
Carol
has an MSc in Organisational Behaviour and is a trained neurolinguistic
programming (NLP) practitioner and coach. She is qualified to use the Myers
Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for Step I and Step II and in MBTI Flexcare
communication and influencing skills. She is also trained to use the Firo
Element B instrument and is currently training to use an indicator of
Emotional Intelligence in individuals and teams.
Carol enjoys living in
a beautiful part of the Sussex countryside.
Steve Reynolds
 After 15 years of managing projects in the IT industry, Steve returned to
training and joined the Unisys Corporate University. He delivered courses for most of the
schools and managed the Project Management, Business, Finance and Marketing Schools for
Europe. He was particularly keen to develop key people to be part time faculty, enabling
many consultants and managers to deliver training and provide coaching in their specialist
areas.
- Project managed a Central Government system implementation and set up ongoing support.
This UNIX system contained the largest database in Europe to use the Ingres
technology.
- Implemented a Social Care, Personnel and Oracle Financials system for a County Council
Social Services department to provide 1600 users with real time case management, reducing
delays to a minimum.
- Project managed the implementation and bespoke development of Oracle Payroll under
PRINCE for the MoD. This project was commissioned to replace a legacy system for payroll
with multi job occupancy for 5,000 employees.
As well as Project Management and Consultancy skills, Steve is particularly interested
in developing people's ability to be more effective. By introducing people to such tools
as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI™) ,
Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) and NLP techniques, he enables them to learn
and develop excellence in Consultancy, Leadership, Team Working, Coaching and Mentoring.
- Developed and delivered a series of 1-day communication and value based goals workshops
for a large multinational. This created high levels of team spirit and working approaches
within and across teams to overcome morale and staff retention issues.
- Tailored and ran a series of feedback and coaching workshops for the Senior Management
Team of a UK IT company, enabling high team-motivation and a culture of openness to
develop.
- Recruited, trained and coached 45 Project Managers to deliver the Unisys Project
Management curriculum in Europe to train others for IPMA certification.
Steve focuses on developing leaders and team members to be the very best they can be at
work and play.
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