Dusting Off Thunderbolts: a quest for the heart of leadership

A sought-after speaker on the global stage, Sir John Jones has worked with a wide range of clients, from educators to industrialists, sports coaches to entrepreneurs, bankers to builders, and health professionals to politicians. He believes passionately that everyone is a teacher and a learner, a leader and a follower, and that it is not just those who can manage, administer and organise who prevail, but those who do so with vision, imagination and humanity.

While headteacher of three secondary schools over a period of 17 years, Sir John was asked to join the government's Policy Action Team for Neighbourhood Renewal at the Social Exclusion Unit. He was a member of the Headteachers' National Focus Group on Truancy and Exclusion, the Excellence in Cities project at the Department for Education, and the National Remodelling Team. He worked for the Leadership Development Unit at the National College for School Leadership and was a non-executive director at Aintree Hospitals Trust.

A research fellow at Lancaster University, Sir John worked part-time at the Centre for Educational Leadership at Manchester University, where he presented on a range of programmes, as well as designing and delivering a master's course at Liverpool University focused on the leadership of change. He was awarded an honorary PhD by Bournemouth University in recognition of his work in education.

Sir John has written two books: the best-selling The Magic-Weaving Business and Truancy and Exclusion: a teacher's guide. He co-authored Winning the H Factor: the secrets of happy schools. He is a season ticket holder for his beloved Everton Football Club, where he chairs the trust board of the club's charity, Everton in the Community, and is chair of governors at the Everton Free School and Football College. Sir John is vice-chair of governors at Bolton St Catherine's Academy, a patron of Vantage Academy Trust, a patron of Values-Based Education and chancellor of Sefton Children's University.