Leadership Foundation

David was formerly a senior lecturer at the University of Surrey, where he was responsible for professional training and skills development in chemical engineering. While at Surrey, David also led a small research team conducting research in bioprocess engineering, distillation and membrane separations, and secured funding worth £1.1 million from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Hefce and the European Commission. David led the TRANSEND project (Hefce, Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL)) - this concerned the dissemination of good practice in skills development across engineering in higher education - and he was the inaugural recipient of the Frank Morton Medal for ‘Excellence in Teaching in Chemical Engineering’.

In addition, David was also an Esso Teaching Fellow, and the recipient of numerous awards and grants in teaching and training. David is now a management and personal skills development trainer, with particular expertise in leadership, team working and communication skills, as well as being an experienced facilitator.

David’s current training clients include the Royal Collection Enterprises Ltd (Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace), the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the University of Surrey and the University of Southampton.

In January 2006, David was appointed as the director of the Adair Leadership Foundation.

David is professor of management learning in the School of Management at the University of Surrey. He taught at the further education chalkface before moving on to the London Stock Exchange, where he ran a major initiative for securities industry training. At the University of Surrey he has managed many programmes, including a professional development programme for the further education sector and a masters programme in applied professional studies. He currently teaches research methods and action cases on the school’s MBA programme.

His research interests and publication record include leadership and management learning in and through the workplace, research methods, and e-learning, particularly in a work-related context. His book ‘Doing Research in the Real World’ is now a standard text in many university departments. He is currently writing a book on coaching.

Karen is a reader in the School of Electronics and Physical Sciences at the University of Surrey, where she has worked since 1995.

Karen is a highly experienced research leader, having published over 140 papers in refereed journals and presented at more than 80 international meetings. She is part of the management team for the Surrey Ion Beam Centre (IBC) and in this capacity has generated over £6.2 million to support research in the centre from a variety of funding sources, including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Wolfson Foundation. Karen is also actively involved with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In addition to her significant research experience, Karen is an experienced and active educator. She has extensive experience of teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Within her own school, Karen currently delivers modules at all levels from level 1 to level M. Training programmes also feature in her portfolio – she has delivered training courses in leadership and team working skills, as well as running the Surrey’s IBC training course.

Chris is a self-employed occupational psychologist. Previously, he was the head of psychology at Cubiks (2005-06) and prior to that a senior consultant to Water for Fish (2002-04) and Linkage International (1999-02). He combines a strong academic background with the practical experience of working as an HR manager in both the private and public sectors. Chris has undertaken training and consultancy assignments across Europe and in Asia. His main focus of work covers psychometric test development, leadership development, change management, culture climate assessment, and organisational healthiness.

Chris has an MSc in Organisational Psychology and a PhD. He has been a research fellow at both the University of Nottingham and Birkbeck, University of London, and is currently a special lecturer at Nottingham.

Shirley Wardell has been a leadership skills trainer since 1995. She is an owner-director of Evolve LEADTEAM Ltd, as well as the business development director of the Adair Leadership Foundation.

Shirley is also a senior Thinking Environment consultant and coach. The ‘Thinking Environment’ is a model of excellence for organisational relationships, change management and individual development. In addition to using this approach with commercial clients, Shirley has applied it successfully in higher education in disciplines, ranging from chemical engineering to the arts. Shirley also has expertise in John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership model, and is engaged in research into developing a coaching framework for leadership development based on this approach.

Shirley trains undergraduates and postgraduates in leadership skills at the University of Surrey and the University of Southampton. She contributes directly to leadership and coaching research projects conducted by the University of Surrey, School of Management. Shirley has also been a leadership trainer at the National School of Government since 1997, and has delivered courses for the Department for Education, the Department of Constitutional Affairs (now the Ministry of Justice) and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now the Department for Communities and Local Government). Her commercial clients include Andrew Page, BP, Robert Bosch Ltd., Blaupunkt, TMP World Wide/Monster, Best People in IT and Digital Steps.

Shirley has a diploma in performance coaching and is a member of the Association of Coaches, an associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a member of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management, as well as a Licentiate Teacher in Speech and Drama.