Inspiring Leadership with Jonathan Bowman-Perks MBE

Air Vice-Marshal (Retd) Sean Bell FRAeS CDir BSc,

Sean Bell’s first career was in the Royal Air Force where he served for nearly 3 decades before pursuing the next chapter of his professional life with a portfolio career.

Sean could fly before he could drive – selected for a Flying Scholarship when still at school, Sean secured his Private Pilot’s Licence several weeks before he could drive, which has forever mystified his Mum! This early experience of solo flying proved addictive, with RAF sponsorship through University (Imperial College, London) leading to being selected for pilot training at RAF Cranwell.

Having completed flying courses on Jet Provost Mk5A and Hawk jet trainers, Sean served as an instructor at RAF Cranwell before completing the Tactical Weapons Training course at RAF Chivenor and being selected to fly the Harrier fighter jet.

On completion of the Harrier Operational Conversion Unit Sean flew Harrier fighter jets from land and sea and eventually commanded the oldest Squadron in the RAF – Number 1 (Fighter) Squadron based at RAF Wittering. Sean also commanded Joint Force Harrier – the inaugural initiative to combine RAF and Royal Navy Harriers at RAF Cottesmore. During his service career Sean deployed on numerous operations over Bosnia, Sarajevo, Kosovo and Iraq, and completed 3 tours (nearly 2 years) service in Afghanistan during the UK’s 2 decade-long conflict in the region.

Sean also served in a number of staff appointments in procurement and in the Ministry of Defence, culminating in being appointed the Head of Capability (Theatre Airspace) with responsibility for a multi-£Bn budget including Typhoon fighter jet capability. Sean left the RAF in late 2012 in the rank of Air Vice-Marshal.

Since leaving the Service Sean has pursued a portfolio career. This has included providing defence consultancy services to national and international clients, being Exec and Non-Exec chairman of small defence enterprises and also being a keynote speaker at a number of defence events in support of Team UK. Sean also retains some security clearances in his (unpaid) role as a Talking Head for the UK Ministry of Defence, and since 2022 Sean has been providing military analysis for a wide range of national and international media organisations – including SKY News and BBC - in their coverage of the increasing array of global conflicts. Sean is also the founder of RedMatrix media – a small digital enterprise - and is co-host of the Air and Space Power Association podcast “The High Ground”.

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Former British Army commando officer. Former Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. Former MP for Plymouth Moor View. Author of We Were Warriors and No Way to Run a Country.

About Johnny

Johnny Mercer grew up as one of eight siblings in a strict religious environment and attended boarding school from the age of seven. Gaining a full scholarship to Eastbourne College, he then joined the UK Military after 9/11. Serving in the UK Commandos, he served in Afghanistan in 2006, 2008 to 2009, and 2010.

Unwilling to accept the UK’s treatment of its combat veterans, Johnny ran for Parliament in 2015, becoming a government minister in 2019 and a cabinet minister in 2022. During his time in office he served under five prime ministers. He established the UK’s first Office for Veterans’ Affairs, taking spending on veterans to record levels, and introduced legislation to protect their rights.

In 2024 Johnny entered the private sector, working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, before taking a job in sovereign AI infrastructure, where he is now Head of Government Relations at Rhaelm.

Leading under fire

With 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, Johnny served as a Joint Fires Controller in northern Helmand, calling in artillery and air strikes close to his own troops. He lost friends there, and has written honestly about fear and its cost.

An outsider in Westminster

Johnny had never voted before he stood for Parliament, yet he held Plymouth Moor View for nine years. In 2021 he left government over the protection of Northern Ireland veterans, and the cause stayed the same each time he returned.

What he built

Beyond the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, his tenure saw Op FORTITUDE for homeless veterans and Op PROSPER for veterans seeking work. He has also spoken openly about living with OCD since childhood, which has shaped his campaigning on mental health.

The writer

His first book, We Were Warriors (2017), became a Sunday Times bestseller. His new memoir, No Way to Run a Country, published by Pan Macmillan on 24 September 2026, tells the story of nine years in Parliament under five prime ministers.

Still serving

Johnny remains a senior adviser to AfghanEvac, pressing Britain to honour its debt to the Afghan commandos who fought alongside British forces. The uniform has gone. The sense of duty has not.

In this episode

Johnny and Jonathan share an Army background, and it shows. They talk about courage when you are frightened yourself, turning promises into action, loyalty under pressure, and what is left when the rank and the title are gone.

No Way to Run a Country is available now from Pan Macmillan.

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Karen Coventry is the Chief Executive Officer of Special Olympics Ireland, where she leads one of Ireland's most impactful sporting and social inclusion organisations. Passionate about the transformative power of sport, Karen is dedicated to creating opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to thrive, develop confidence, build relationships and reach their full potential.

As CEO, Karen oversees the strategic direction and day-to-day leadership of Special Olympics Ireland, working alongside athletes, families, volunteers, coaches, staff, partners and supporters across the country. Her focus is on ensuring that every athlete has access to high-quality sporting opportunities while advancing a broader vision of inclusion, dignity and belonging for people with intellectual disabilities throughout Irish society.

Karen's leadership philosophy is rooted in purpose, collaboration and impact. She believes that the strongest organisations are built on a clear mission, authentic relationships and a deep understanding of the communities they serve. Throughout her career, she has successfully led teams through periods of growth, change and transformation, always with a strong emphasis on people, culture and impact.

At Special Olympics Ireland, Karen has championed initiatives that strengthen athlete participation, volunteer engagement, organisational sustainability and strategic partnerships. She is a strong advocate for listening to the voices of athletes, families and volunteers ensuring that their experiences help shape organisational priorities and decision making. Her commitment to inclusive leadership has helped reinforce Special Olympics Ireland's reputation as a trusted and respected movement that changes lives both on and off the playing field.

Karen is also deeply committed to developing future leaders and fostering high-performing teams. She believes that leadership is not about position or title, but about creating environments where people feel empowered to contribute, grow and make a difference. This perspective informs her approach to organisational development, stakeholder engagement and the cultivation of a values-driven culture. She believes that sustainable change happens when organisations remain connected to the people they serve and are prepared to learn, adapt and innovate.

A respected voice within the non-profit and sporting sectors, Karen regularly engages with government bodies, national governing bodies of sport, corporate partners and community organisations to advance awareness, inclusion and opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities.

Throughout her work, Karen has witnessed the extraordinary resilience, determination and talent of Special Olympics athletes. These experiences continue to inspire her leadership and reinforce her belief that sport is one of society's most powerful tools for breaking down barriers, challenging perceptions and building more inclusive communities.

Through her leadership of Special Olympics Ireland, Karen continues to work toward a future where people with intellectual disabilities are fully included in every aspect of community life and where sport serves as a catalyst for confidence, connection and lasting positive change.

Karen welcomes conversations with individuals, organisations and businesses interested in volunteering, donating or partnering with Special Olympics Ireland to support athletes and build more inclusive communities.

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Steve Byrne leads one of the most distinctive businesses in global travel. Not call centres. Not high-street shops. People. As CEO of Travel Counsellors, he leads a community of more than 4,000 independent travel entrepreneurs connected through its platform and supported by over 400 support team colleagues across seven countries.  

His own start was humble. His first job was a paper round. Through sixth form he sold kitchens and beds in the evenings and at weekends. That early apprenticeship in graft and face-to-face selling shaped a leader who has always understood a simple truth. Trust is earned one customer at a time. 

Steve joined Travel Counsellors in 2004 as Managing Director, joining an already successful and distinctive business. In 2014 he led a management buyout backed by Equistone Partners. In September 2016 he became CEO. Two years later he led a secondary acquisition with Vitruvian Partners. Steve’s focus has been on helping the business continue to grow and evolve while building on the culture of care and personal relationships at its heart. 

The defining test came with COVID when the global travel industry effectively came to a standstill. For Steve, it was the clearest test of whether the values the business talked about would hold when circumstances were at their toughest. The company focused on supporting its people and looking after customers through extraordinary uncertainty, helping them navigate cancellations, changes and refunds at a time when trusted, personal advice mattered more than ever. The business subsequently emerged strongly from the pandemic. It topped MoneySavingExpert's customer care survey and returned to 65% growth above pre-pandemic levels. For Steve, the way the community responded remains one of the proudest chapters of his leadership. 

The track record reflects that consistency. The company has received 25,000 Trustpilot reviews and has won numerous awards and accolades over its 30-year journey, including most recently the 2026 King’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation and the Customer Loyalty Award at the 2025 Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards. 

Steve sees leadership as a privilege rather than a position. His approach is grounded in taking responsibility, remaining open to learning and creating the conditions for others to succeed. He believes in combining high challenge with high support, and in ensuring that growth never comes at the expense of care. 

Steve’s experience reflects a tension familiar to many leaders. He runs a PE-backed technology platform business with hard commercial targets while seeking to keep a human, values-led culture at its centre. His focus has been on helping an established, successful business grow and evolve, investing in data and technology while protecting the culture, care and human connection that make it distinctive. For CEOs navigating the pressures of growth, technological innovation and leading at scale, Steve brings practical experience of leading a high-performing business through significant growth and change without losing sight of its people, purpose or values. 

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Sir Simon Gass is a Senior Adviser to SC Strategy, a London-based geopolitical strategy company.

Simon had a long career as a British diplomat and national security expert. While in the British Foreign Office, his appointments included Ambassador to Greece (2004-2009), Ambassador to Iran (2009-2011) and NATO’s Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan (2011-12).

As the Foreign Office’s Political Director (2013-2016) Simon led policy on the Middle East, Russia, Africa, South and Central Asia, the United Nations and other international institutions. During this period, he led the UK team at the prolonged E3+3 negotiations which resulted in the Iran Nuclear Agreement – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - in July 2015.

After leaving the Foreign Office, Simon became Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2018.

From 2019 to 2023 Simon was appointed Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Adviser on Intelligence to successive British Prime Ministers. He was responsible for providing the Prime Minister and National Security Council with strategic assessments on the full range of national security issues.

Simon is also a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. He is a frequent media commentator on international affairs.

Website: https://jonathanperks.com/podcasts/

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Ofir Drori – founding Director of The EAGLE Network 

Ofir Drori has experience of two decades in fighting wildlife crime and corruption in Africa. He created the EAGLE network, operating in seven African countries, that brought about more than 3,000 arrests and subsequent prosecutions and imprisonments of major wildlife traffickers. It has been instrumental in clamping down on criminal syndicates and kingpins. EAGLE is fighting corruption to get the wildlife law into application and carries undercover investigations, organizes and supervises arrest operations and follows up court cases including private prosecution on behalf of the state. It won seven prestigious awards for innovation in the conservation field and enforcement results. He is the author of the book “The Last Great Ape”. 

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For this episode, we are joined by Baroness Eaton DBE DL, whose career in public service spans more than four decades. Beginning her professional life as a schoolteacher, she was elected to Bradford Metropolitan District Council in 1986 and became the council's first female leader in 2000. She later made history again as the first female Chair of the Local Government Association, representing councils across England during a period marked by the Icelandic banking collapse and heightened scrutiny of children's services.

Awarded an OBE in 2003, a DBE in 2010, and created a life peer as Baroness Eaton of Cottingley later that year, she has served as a Deputy Lieutenant for West Yorkshire since 2008 and has spent sixteen years in the House of Lords. From the classroom to local government leadership and national public service, Baroness Eaton's journey offers a unique perspective on leadership, resilience, and public life

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Wayne brings 25+ years in senior leadership roles, culminating with two assignments as President for the APAC region in publicMNCs with healthcare focus (CooperVision, GN Hearing). ​

His substantial service in the prescription pharmaceutical industry culminated with senior leadership roles at Sanofi and Janssen-Cilag (J&J). He has led teams of up to 600 direct employees, and revenues of up to US$600m. Businesses under Wayne’s leadership have delivered exceptionally strong returns with fast revenue growth and market share gains. ​

Wayne has deep experience throughout the APAC region, having been in APAC leadership roles since 2006. He has lived and worked in both China and Singapore, and now operates from Singapore and Sydney. He has had significant exposure to the Boards of public MNCs as well as serving as a member of Global Leadership Teams.​

Wayne is degree qualified in both Law and Commerce / Marketing from UNSW. He has previously founded and ran his own business, during which he delivered comprehensive leadership programs to a multitude of large and diverse businesses in both Australia and Asia including National Australia Bank, Sanofi and Schering-Plough. He is DiSC certified, has a Cert IV in Workplaceand Business Coaching and is a member of the ICF. He is an avid world adventure traveller, marathon runner (10 completed marathons) and has studied and performed in improvised theatre.​

After exiting the corporate world mid 2022, Wayne founded engage4performance Pty Ltd where he combined long held passions (executive coaching and development, speaking) with new endeavours including podcasting (Hard Yards in Leadership) and writing (4 short leaderships books thus far and more on the way). He also is an avid volunteer with Asia Mentors Circle where he devotes significant time to mentoring Asian leaders toward global senior roles.​

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