Available to book
Mike Jones
Transform strategy execution with Mike Jones, speaker, organisational psychologist, and strategy advisor. Mike works with CEOs and senior teams to bridge strategy-reality gaps, lead effectively through complexity, and eliminate strategy theatre, delivering proven insights for clients including Network Rail, the NHS, and Amazon.
Mike Jones is a strategy advisor, organisational psychologist, and former British Army officer who helps senior leaders close the gap between strategy and reality in complex, high-stakes environments. After leading soldiers on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and training future officers at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Mike left the Army with a medical discharge and complex PTSD—and a hard-won scepticism of tidy plans. That experience, of watching elegant strategies collapse on contact with chaos, became the foundation of his work.
As founder of LBI Consulting, Mike works with CEOs, boards, and senior teams in organisations including Network Rail, the NHS, Amazon, and England Rugby. His focus: helping leaders move beyond "strategy theatre"—the endless decks, slogans, and off-sites that look impressive but fail to change anything—toward organisations that can adapt while they act. Drawing on complexity science, systems thinking, and military doctrine like mission command, Mike challenges the orthodoxy that strategy is about control and prediction.
Instead, he helps leaders build structures where information flows freely, authority moves to where the knowledge is, and decisions survive contact with the real world. Mike hosts the Strategy Meets Reality podcast and writes for a growing international audience of senior leaders through his Substack and LBI Consulting insights series. His forthcoming book, When Strategy Meets Reality, will be published later this year. Mike speaks with candour, cuts through corporate nonsense, and brings hard-won lessons from war, trauma, and organisational life to help leaders think differently about strategy itself.
Topics, sessions and talks
In this talk, Mike Jones reveals that most strategies fail not due to poor execution, but because they are designed for an unrealistic world. Drawing on his military leadership experience and work with complex organisations, he highlights how traditional planning often leads to ineffective strategies. Mike advocates for viewing strategy as a dynamic process of orientation, decision-making, and adaptation. Attendees will learn how to create strategies that withstand real-world challenges and drive effective decision-making.
Mike Jones discusses how traditional organisational structures hinder agility by centralising control, leading to paralysis in fast-paced environments. He advocates for decentralising authority, empowering the individuals closest to the challenges to make decisions while remaining aligned with organisational goals. By applying principles from complexity theory and military practices, Mike emphasises the importance of clear intent at the top and freedom of action at the edge. Attendees will learn how to foster disciplined adaptability for successful transformation in their organisations.
In this keynote, Mike Jones addresses the common call for clarity in boardrooms and strategy reviews. He argues that an excessive focus on clarity can lead to strategic self-harm, creating fragility rather than alignment. Mike introduces the concept of strategic ambiguity as a disciplined capability, allowing organisations to remain agile while maintaining coherence. Attendees will learn how to balance clarity of intent with flexibility in methods, enabling them to respond effectively to dynamic environments.
In his talk, Mike Jones challenges traditional leadership models that rely on predictable cause and effect. He emphasises that such assumptions lead to fragile organisations. Drawing from complexity science and his own experiences, Mike presents a new approach to leadership focused on fostering conditions for intelligent action rather than controlling every decision. Attendees will learn how to lead effectively in uncertain environments, recognising that those closest to the work often possess the most valuable insights.
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frequently asked questions
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To book Mike Jones, email mike.jones@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Mike's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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