Michael James is a national leader in cultivating strategy and culture to optimise business outcomes. He has a unique and pragmatic way of fast-tracking superior team performance and cultural alignment to business strategy.
Through his unique approach and insightful advice, he has enabled various senior executives and boards to make important leadership and cultural transitions to their business across key industrial sectors such as Mining, Transport, Engineering, Construction, Hospitality, and Professional Services.
As an advisory board chair, executive leadership coach and advisor, he has a unique perspective of how to effect change in corporates and SMEs and the various tools that can foster healthy growth and successful performance.
01.
NED Board Chair INFINITUM PARTNERS
(Appointed 2022), contemporary, innovative, town planning and advisory firm, regional & SE QLD.
02.
Advisor to RACV Leisure Group
(Appointed 2019), member based, national hospitality business.
03.
Advisory Board Chair to Firerite Services
(Appointed 2023), fire protection installations, products & services advisory firm to the construction industry.
04.
NED Board Chair AUSPAT Infrastructure Surveyors
(Appointed 2024), infrastructure surveying, data modelling and spatial experts for construction and engineering services across Australia.
05.
Advisory Board Chair to POWE Architects
(Appointed 2014), architectural advisory and project management organisation.
06.
Advisory Board Chair to O2 Landscape Architects
(Appointed 2019), contemporary, innovative landscape architect firm, regional & SE QLD.
07.
Shadow Catalyst Aurora Marketing
(Appointed 2024), tenders, bids, proposal submissions, and alliance coaching for Construction, Transport and Professional Service organisations in Australia. Shadow Catalysts – Aurora Marketing
08.
Leadership Coach to a Lithium Miner
(Appointed 2024), explorer, developer, miner of Lithium Deposits in Brazil, head office Perth, WA.
- Board Advisor, NATIONWIDE (2019 – 2022), national towing & transport organisation.
- Board Director, Tennis QLD (2016 – 2022), member-based sporting organisation.
- Non-Executive Chair, GEOIMAGE (2015-2019), geospatial consulting & satellite imagery organisation.
- Non-Executive Chair, JENSEN BOWERS (2010-2019), property advisory, surveying and town planning organisation.
- Non-Executive Chair, GREEN GROUP (2016 – 2018), Property Investment and Management group, regional shopping centres and retirement villages.
- Advisory Board Chair, Corporate Body Systems (2014 – 2016), property body corporate organisation.
- Board Advisor, BADGE Constructions (2010 – 2016), commercial & industrial design & construction, national organisation.
- Corporate Advisor to AGPAL and QIP (2012 – 2015), national health services accreditation organisation.
- Non-Executive Chair, CORE Architects (2009 – 2011), architecture organisation.
- Corporate Advisor to PLACE Design Group (2008 – 2011), urban development, design & planning organisation.
- CEO of Napier & Blakeley – national professional services firm, quantity surveyors & tax depreciation specialists.
- Senior Executive Cardno (ASX listed): 2007 – 2008.
- Senior Executive QR (QLD Rail – GOC): 2001 – 2004.
- Senior Executive Orica (ASX listed): 1996 – 2000.
Evolve is specifically focused on delivering small to medium businesses coaching and mentoring advice.
It was founded in 2004 by Michael James, with established alliances with several other complimentary firms, to help small to medium businesses to corporatise and reach new heights by achieving clarity, purpose, and effecting real behavioural change in executives and business owners.
It was founded on the belief that sudden transformation is not the way to make lasting change in a business: although it can deliver change quickly, Michael’s experience is that the results are not lasting. That is why your business cannot just transform overnight. It needs to grow, mature, and evolve into its next stage.
Since its inception, Evolve has enabled various business owners of small to medium businesses to commercialise their business and create exit strategies for themselves to go onto to realising their ambitions.
To us, evolution means change that is constant and permanent, rather than quick and temporary. It is strategic, it’s time-consuming, and it takes hard work, but it also delivers lasting results that can revolutionise the way SME businesses operate.
Evolve HAS WORKED ALONGSIDE
This is coaching within a group workshop environment where participants learn from each other and critical peer conversations are conducted. It is often complimented with individual coaching to accelerate how participants can further improve the way they work with their peers.
Team based coaching focuses on building higher levels of trust amongst team members, mastering dissent and having difficult conversations, and committing to a joint vision and strategy, clear accountability and shared ownership, and attention to joint results.
Group workshops are highly engaging, designed to build on the experience of participants and what’s required in an organisational strategy.
A thorough diagnostic assessment can often uncover what is enabling and what is hindering performance of both individual leaders and leadership teams.
Various tools are used to assess the current and desired behaviours of individuals and leadership teams as well as the context in which these leaders are performing. Our experienced consultants use the following to provide unique insights to assess leadership and cultural gaps in addition to interviews and observations of regular team meetings:
- Leadership Circle ProfileTM
- Collective Leadership AssessmentTM
- Clifton Strengths Finder
- DISC profiling
- Lifestyles inventory
- Leadership Impact
- Organisational Culture Inventory
- Organisational Effectiveness Inventory
Our leadership and cultural assessments enable us to provide a highly effective, tailored leadership development programs for individual leaders and leadership teams.