Ian Russell

Speaker-Author-Advisor

Ian Russell is a natural storyteller and a compelling speaker who draws on the experiences gained, and mistakes made, in a hugely successful 30-year global career. The author of two bestselling books, ‘The Upside of Being Myself and other leadership stories’ and ‘The Other End of the Telescope’ Ian’s unique blend of irreverent humour, experience-led insight and candor creates a refreshing and energizing impact with any audience. Reviewers have variously described Ian as ‘…sounding like the bastard love-child of Jeremy Clarkson and Malcolm Gladwell, raised by Jack Welch’, and accused him of creating ‘…the wisdom of 25 years of hindsight, distilled into one potent antidote for the Kool Aid being consumed by most businesses as they attempt to face a new world order in which all the old corporate rules no longer hold sway.’ On both of these charges, Ian is happy to plead guilty. Previously an experienced global CEO with a proven track record in leading strategic turnarounds, Ian is now largely focused on working with private equity firms and founder-owned businesses at Board level to improve their performance. Ian currently chairs 4 organisations including a hedge fund an FMCG business, a fintech, and a not-for-profit school, in between which he manages to find the time to ride his horses and drink some wine. Thankfully not always at the same time. Ian is a successful keynote speaker, and travels extensively to talk to leadership teams and organisations about how to frame their strategy so that things actually get done!