Trained as an anthropologist, Jonathan worked for several years as a mediator in neighborhood conflicts in London, founded the UK’s first community mediation service, and was the founding Secretary of the European Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution. After taking a mid-career MBA he moved into management education at Lancaster University, where he directed MBA and other programs for British Airways and other major companies. He co-founded, with Henry Mintzberg and others a new approach to management education, the International Masters in Practicing Management. This takes place in six countries around the world and has been the springboard for several subsequent innovations in helping practicing mangers to improve the way they manage. Jonathan also played a significant role in the so-called “critical management” movement, launching influential MPhil and PhD programs and contributing to the development of specialist conferences and interest groups. He has published articles in Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Leadership, Management Learning, Academy of Management Learning and Education, and in many more practice-oriented outlets, including a regular column in Exeter’s Leadership Matters. His 2005 book Nelson: Leadership Lessons from the Great Commander was published in time for the bicentenary of Trafalgar and is the basis of a popular series of lectures and workshops. In 2007 he will publish Key Concepts in Leadership studies and Foundations in Leadership: Articles in Celebration of John Adair. He is currently conducting research into the distribution of leadership in higher education, which emphasizes aspects of identity, structure and style.

Other on-going research includes the study of change and continuity in large organizations and the processes by which leadership is legitimized in minority communities. Jonathan advises several companies, international agencies and government departments on their leadership-related issues. As director of the Centre for Leadership Studies he works with a first-rate team of researchers, teachers, and consultants collectively making a significant impact on both the understanding and practice of leadership.