A major commitment lies ahead
Expansion, investment, a partnership or a change in direction. The decision needs a sound picture of the opportunity and the downside before money and reputation are committed.
Paul Littlejohn Strategic adviser to owners and CEOs
Senior advice for the decisions that shape your business.
I work with owners and CEOs on major strategic and operating problems where money, risk and reputation are at stake.
I bring senior operating and consulting experience to establish what is happening, recommend a course and help turn it into action the business can carry.
Paul Littlejohn · Dubai, UAE
Experience behind the advice
USD 250Moperating budget at dnata Airside Operations
10,000+staff in the 24/7 operation Paul led
USD 6.11Mannual costs removed through an 18-month dnata change programme
When to bring me in
Some decisions carry more than one kind of consequence.
An investment, a struggling operation or a change in direction can affect performance, people and the trust others place in the business. I work with leaders when the issue matters enough to warrant an experienced outside view.
The operation is not delivering
Costs are rising, service is slipping or growth is not reaching the bottom line. Local fixes have not reached the cause.
Change is moving, but results are not
Work is under way across functions, yet progress is hard to see and the intended commercial result remains out of reach.
The same decisions keep returning
Capable people are working hard, but priorities shift and too much still comes back to the owner or CEO.
Strategic advisory
The advice stays close to the business.
The work starts with the actual issue. I get to know the people and the operation, test what is being assumed, and give a recommendation that can be acted on. The engagement can be focused on one decision or continue as the business changes.
Ongoing advisory
An experienced adviser who already knows the business.
I work alongside an owner or CEO across a continuing run of strategic and operating decisions. We keep the picture current, examine significant commitments and return to what the business actually needs to do next.
Cadence, access and scope are agreed for the relationship.
Independent review
One consequential issue. A clear recommendation.
I establish the operating picture, speak to the people closest to it, test the assumptions and set out the course I recommend, with practical priorities and next moves.
Defined consulting work
When the decision has to become delivery.
I take on a defined piece of strategy, transformation or operational work when the business needs experienced attention through implementation.
Advisory in practice
01 / TourismFrom too many priorities to a plan the business could deliver.
A Middle Eastern tourism provider had ambitious growth plans, but too many priorities and no single view of what had to happen next. I worked with the founder to decide what mattered, turn it into business deliverables and give the team a practical way to track implementation.
The work
Strategy sessions, a shared decision and delivery dashboard, clear ownership and milestones, and advice throughout implementation.
The result
Agreed priorities for the year, defined deliverables and a booking system linked directly to revenue growth.
The practitioner behind Wingman
I have had to make the call, lead the work and answer for the result.
After sixteen years in RAF fast-jet operations, I moved into management consulting, transformation and senior operating leadership in the Gulf. I have led a 24/7 operation of more than 10,000 people with a USD 250 million budget and held responsibility across a 17-country business.
That range matters because the question in front of a leader rarely stays neatly inside one function. Financial performance, operations, people and delivery affect one another.
USD 15.6Moperating costs reduced over three years at dnata Airside Operations
40%uplift in profit per sale in a UAE destination business
95%reduction in customer complaints within twelve months across a 17-country business
Selected results from Paul's earlier consulting and operating roles. They describe experience, not promised outcomes from an advisory engagement.
The thinking behind the work
When you are ahead, you choose.
When you are behind, you react.
I call this Staying Ahead of the Jet. It is the idea behind my forthcoming book and the four disciplines I teach.
A consequential decision starts before the choice is made and continues after it. You need a clear picture, an outcome worth pursuing, a next move you can justify and a view of the downside you can carry. Then you look again as reality changes.
That thinking informs my advisory work. The actual work is shaped by the business in front of us.
Other ways to work with Paul
The same thinking, used in different ways.
Advisory is the work I do alongside an owner or CEO. I also speak, teach and host The Mission for groups who want to encounter and apply the ideas in another setting.
For an audience
Speaking
A talk on how leaders retain enough clarity and room to choose as pressure rises.
Invite Paul to speakFor a leadership group
Training
Practical work using four disciplines of judgement on decisions the group actually faces.
Enquire about trainingFor a private team
The Mission
A complete fighter-squadron day in Dubai for four to six people, with a shared mission and debrief.
Explore The MissionStart with the issue
What is the decision or problem your business cannot leave unresolved?
If it carries real commercial or operating consequences, let us talk about what is happening and whether I can help.
Book a conversation [email protected]