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.

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.