Jim is the only speaker to have developed a unique model for personal success in sales and business – The Ten Rules for Taming Tigers - and then to have proved it in response to an audience challenge. He put his life on the line using only the Ten Rules to become a licensed jockey in just 12 months from being an overweight, smoking, drinking non-rider. He continues to challenge himself – daily – just as hard as he suggests the audience might.

Jim’s trademarks are inspiration, energy, great humour, challenging calls to action, solid, practical tips, and meticulous preparation to re-enforce the messages of the day and to match the culture of the organisation and the level of the audience. In addition, sales audiences are always delighted to see him because he brings great inside tips to most events from the yards of Lambourn where he lives, writes and rides.

He speaks with the subtlety of a good coach and distracts the audience’s minds with laughter before teasing them and daring them to examine and challenge their own behaviours, attitudes and the fears that currently hold them or their teams back.

Jim speaks from a position of experience, authority and credibility:

• As CEO of Change and Communication Gurus Optimise (with a client list including Apple, BT, AstraZeneca, Legal and General, Vodafone and Compass Group) he has run change and leadership communications programs around the world.
• He coaches various senior industry leaders and successful sales teams.
• He has considerable personal achievements behind him in sales
• At the Age of 37 he quit drinking and smoking, lost two and a half stone and gained his flat jockey’s licence (rated 3rd most dangerous sport in the world) in 12 months.
• Before founding Optimise, Jim was a City M and A lawyer and then International Legal Counsel with global IT Solutions and Services giant ICL (now Fujitsu).

Jim speaks frequently on the following areas:

• Inspirational/Motivational Keynote and call to action – Taming Tigers,
• Gaining The Mental Edge in Sales,
• Building Winning Teams,
• Taking the leap into leadership – Taming the Leadership Tiger,
• Leading Change,
• Engaging the Organisation,
• Leadership Communication,

"I have worked with Jim on stage at three high-profile Barclaycard leaders' conferences. Not only is he engaging, challenging, inspiring and very funny but he delivers a practical, compelling model for achieving results which he has risked his life on the racecourse to prove."
Gary Hoffman, Exec Director of Barclays PLC, Chairman of Barclays UK Banking and Barclaycard

Your Key Note presentation was spot on and linked perfectly. You managed to bring across a strong inspiring message, packaged in a story that was also a lot of fun
Elke Anders, Lead Organiser, HP Software Universe (Closing Keynote) Nice 2005

"You did an outstanding job closing our European Sales Kickoff in Barcelona, you delivered a faultless performance, capturing our imagination with your racing analogies and using humour to engage with a pan-European audience. The '10 rules for taming tigers' resonated with our people”
Jo-Anne Miller, HR Director, Sun MicroSystems / StorageTek, Barcelona 2006

His books, The Ten Rules for Taming Tigers and The Year of the Racehorse are both due out this year.

Taming Tigers

“How to tame tigers" was the high point of our kick-off this year, Optimise not only lifted the day but gave the team's self-belief a lift too!”

Colin Freeman
Business Leader
BT Global Financial Markets

As Chair of the HR Forum I just wanted to write and tell you how much I enjoyed your session on Taming Tigers at our Conference on Tuesday. I know you and Claire and Natasha had spent time considering how best to approach a tricky brief and I think the end result was really valuable for the audience. It was positive, engaging, energetic and could be pretty life enhancing stuff. To deliver it with such humour and power and only really using one slide was fantastic - really impressive.

Thank you for an uplifting session.
I am taming my tigers from now on!

Caroline Samuel
Hill and Knowlton

Thank you so much for speaking at the PRCA’s conference today. Your use of metaphor and analogy, I believe, meant that each person was able to take something away that was personal to them and apply it to any aspect of their life. We are very grateful for your input to the conference. Many thanks once again and we hope to see you again soon.

PS – the quadrants are pinned to my wall – Thank you!

Flora Hamilton
Director
The Public Relations Consultants’ Association

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