John Smythe

After co-founding the communication consultancy Smythe Dorward Lambert in 1989, John went on to co-found Engage for Change in 2004

Engage for Change specialises in helping management teams engage themselves and their people in developing business strategy, operational improvement and organisational change with over 50 organisations including Jaguar Land Rover, the BBC, Total UK, BA, parts of UK government, the EU commission, global pharma companies, PWC, Freshfields Druckhaus Deringer, Stewarts Law (UK’s leading litigation law firm), DLA Piper, M&S, Arcelor Mittal, SAP, RBS, Aviva, NYSE Euronext, C&A, and Microsoft.

John is a seasoned facilitator of conflicted groups and a speaker on the dynamics of engagement around the world. His specialism lies in the design of creative interventions, as well as advising how to coach groups and individuals at all levels to enable them to participate in dispersed decision forming. Having extensively written on these subjects in his three books, he now has another on the way on the secrets of women entrepreneurs (with co-author Ruth Saunders, an expert in involving top teams in strategic marketing). He is also working on a book for children, The Tails of Harry Fox, based on stories he told to his now 18-year-daughter Coco. He has on-the-ground experience across Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Africa and Scandinavia. He advises start-ups and post start-ups on turning the bear traps ahead into opportunities.