Find the direction
Something needs to change, but the right way forward is not yet clear.
I get to the heart of the situation and work out a direction the business can act on.
Paul Littlejohn · Strategic adviser
Every leader needs a wingman.
I work alongside owners and CEOs when something important in the business needs to be worked out, tested or moved forward.
I get to grips with the situation, form a view on what should happen and help turn it into action.
Independent judgement, alongside yours.
RAF fighter pilot. USMC F/A-18 instructor. Management consultant. COO.
Book a 30-minute callWhen to bring in a wingman
Four reasons to bring me in.
Bring me in when a situation is strategic, operational or both, and the answer is not obvious.
Pressure-test the thinking
You have a proposed direction but want independent rigour before you commit time, money or room to move.
I test the assumptions, evidence and consequences, then give you my view.
Turn direction into action
The direction is broadly clear. Progress is not.
I help establish the priorities, ownership and sequence needed to make it happen.
Stay alongside you
The situation keeps moving, and each change affects what comes next.
I stay alongside you. Because I already understand the picture, we can deal with what has changed without starting again.
The situations that justify bringing me in carry real consequences in time, money or room to move. Once the business has committed, changing course becomes harder.
Why Paul?
I have taken strategy all the way through to results.
I have spent nearly thirty years making decisions and delivering in complex organisations.
I have designed strategies, operating models and change programmes. I have led transformations, run operations involving more than 10,000 people and been accountable for commercial and operational results. I know the whole chain, from working out what should happen to making it work.
That experience was built on sixteen years as an RAF fighter pilot. On exchange with the United States Marine Corps, I flew the F/A-18 Hornet, instructed other fighter pilots and conducted carrier operations from USS Eisenhower.
Fast-jet operations taught me to get to grips with unfamiliar situations quickly, distinguish what matters from what merely demands attention and act without waiting for certainty.
You know your business. I know how to enter a complex situation, find what matters and turn an independent view into practical action.
Selected results
Selected results from Paul Littlejohn’s career
Savings delivered through consulting work for Europe’s largest tour operator
Operating costs reduced over three years at dnata Airside
Reduction in customer complaints within twelve months
Uplift in profit per sale in a UAE destination business
Revenue opportunity unlocked through digitisation
World-class experience
Organisations Paul has worked with
How we work together
Bring me the situation.
Most engagements begin with one important business situation, something that needs to be worked out, tested or moved forward.
Start with one important situation
Bring me one decision, direction or commitment that matters.
I get up to speed quickly, work directly with you and involve the people closest to the issue where useful.
You get my view, the reasoning behind it and a practical way forward, clear enough to act on before more time, money or effort is committed.
Ongoing advisory
An experienced operator who already knows the business.
The value builds because I do not need to be read in again when the picture changes.
I know the people, the assumptions behind earlier decisions and what you are trying to achieve. We can go straight to what has changed, what it affects and what needs to happen next.
That gives you an experienced operator who can be useful quickly and will tell you what I genuinely think.
In practice · An anonymised advisory engagement
Seven issues. Two that set the order.
A growing UAE aviation business was considering new revenue, partnerships, investment decisions and commercial channels. Too many decisions still returned to the CEO, while major commitments were being considered without a shared financial baseline.
First, establish the financial baseline.
Create one forward view of revenue, cost and cash, with clear decision gates for major commitments.
Second, move operational ownership away from the CEO.
Give the person leading aviation operations responsibility for the whole operating picture.
Seven competing priorities became an executable sequence: what happens now, what waits, what needs more evidence and what the CEO no longer needs to carry.
Other ways I work
I also teach the decision disciplines behind the work.
My advisory work applies my judgement directly to a leader’s situation. I also teach the decision disciplines behind it to individuals, teams and audiences.
Become Decisive
Learn the decision disciplines of fighter pilots.
At Mach 1, you cannot wait for certainty.
The situation is changing. The information is incomplete. Delaying a decision carries consequences of its own.
Fighter pilots are trained to make decisions in those conditions. They use disciplines that help them understand what is happening, decide what matters and act.
Become Decisive teaches those disciplines. You will learn how to make clear, deliberate decisions when time is short and the stakes are high, and how to adapt as the situation changes.
Explore Become DecisiveWorkshops and assessment
When important decisions stall or keep returning to the same people.
I teach teams four practical disciplines for seeing the situation clearly, deciding what matters, choosing the next move and testing the downside.
We apply them to decisions your people are facing now.
Book a 30-minute callSpeaking
A story they will remember. Judgement they can use.
I use the reality of fast-jet operations to put audiences inside consequential decisions: incomplete information, changing conditions and the need to act.
Then I bring it back to the decisions they face themselves.
Book a 30-minute callLet’s discuss the situation
Bring me the situation.
If you are carrying an important situation and experienced judgement could materially change what happens next, let’s discuss it.