T C Kelly
Tom was featured by The Conference Board for excellence in executive development. He is the Managing Partner of Kelly Associates. Recent and existing clients include the Chairman and board of Groupe Danone, the global heads of Danone Waters (Evian/Volvic/Bonafont) and Danone Dairy, WhiteWave Foods (Alpro) & Dannon USA, Lactalis & Stonyfield USA, the head of Kraft Biscuits China, USA & Canada, the CEO’s and senior partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Clifford Chance Eastern Europe, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Presidents of AXA Investment and Levi Strauss & Co. Europe, the MD’s of Saatchi and Saatchi, Selfridges, National Australia Bank Europe and Commerz Banks, members of the board of WHSmith, senior executives at Shell, senior diplomats at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Chairman of Unilever Russia, British Petroleum’s Head of Global Learning, the Director of Executive Development at Lloyds TSB, the Director of Learning at NatWest Bank, a BBC Trustee, the Permanent Secretary heading the UK’s Department of Employment and Learning and the Chairman of Jubilee 2000.
Transforming the effectiveness of individuals, teams, departments and whole organizations is his primary focus. He was a co-founder and Director of Sheppard Moscow Ltd, a leading consultancy in Organization and Leadership Development. He guest lectured in the departments of clinical psychology at Hebrew University, Jerusalem and Gothenburg University, Sweden whilst training professionals in personal and group development.
Specific Focus
Developing the AI business accelerator product grows out of his work with top executives which is strategic, behavioural and personal, enhancing performance, leadership style, balance of life and well being. Within two coaching sessions executives report positive change that is confirmed by colleagues. For example, he recently helped a global FMCG company grow exponentially within two years by diagnosing the organization and coaching the top executives to respond to its needs. And he helped an investment bank improve performance by diagnosing the needs of the financial analysts as well as their clients while coaching the executives to react appropriately. A 50% increase in the bank’s European ranking (Extel survey) from 12th, a position held for seven years, to 6th place occurred after one year of coaching and organization development interventions.
Combining coaching with team development has been a feature of his work. For example, coaching key members of the board of Kraft China during a team development intervention helped improve effectiveness and camaraderie while quadrupling growth.
Qualifications
He trained with Dr Colin Sheppard, founder of the first Organization Development departments at Royal Dutch Shell in assessing markets, growing revenues, enhancing customer satisfaction, cost and time reduction, managing change and resistance, network building, diagnostic surveying, open systems theory, action learning, consulting skills, positive power and influence, negotiation and presentation skills. His MA in Psychology concentrated on humanistic education, coaching and experiential learning. He trained with Dr. Laura Perls the founder of the Gestalt school of personal development and Dr. William Schutz the founder of team dynamic and Firo-B psychometric approaches. He co-authored the The Complete Guide to Fitness and Well Being (Viking/Penguin, New York) after research on well being which he applies in treating executive stress. He contributed to Blackwells Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology (Basil Blackwell, Oxford) after research on building effective relationships.
Approach to Coaching, Team, Departmental and Organizational Development
“I enjoy the work because it is personal yet pragmatic combining a depth of focus with a breadth of practical and strategic options that get results. Some clients describe the work as the most important development opportunity of their careers having enhanced overall satisfaction and effectiveness. Others say they are able to influence and motivate staff far more effectively; that skilled feedback and work on strengths and weaknesses is crucial; or stepping “out of the box” of old assumptions and taking a fresh approach to work and life is the key. Through an authentic relationship, individuals, teams and departments are helped to fully understand where they are now and what will further their development. It is a privilege to support extremely capable people and organisations to develop more quickly and exceed their growth targets.”
Inigo Lapwood
Inigo studied for a BSC in Philosophy and Psychology at Oxford, graduating in 2018. In the psychology component of his degree he focussed on the computational modelling of brain functions using biologically plausible neural networks. Working as a research assistant in the Crossmodal senses lab, he worked on Bayesian models of sensory integration, and, as part of his final honours papers, developed a computational model of error correction as a unitary explanation for the symptoms of schizophrenia.
In the Philosophy component of his degree, he focussed on the philosophy of logic and language, engaging particularly with Frege, Russell and Wittgenstein. Much of his subsequent work in natural language processing has been informed by these authors’ insights.
As an AI developer, these two areas of academic interest have been united. With a keen interest in linguistics and hands-on experience with computational modelling, Inigo specialises in creating bespoke neural networks to resolve complex natural language analysis problems.
Recent Career
Since graduating, Inigo has predominantly worked as an AI developer and consultant. Recent contracts include creating a data analysis package for Hivemind ltd to create structured corporate training programs, consulting for Arcopo ltd on implementing AI analysis in an iphone app, and working pro-bono as a developer during the Covid 19 pandemic to help create a system linking vulnerable people with local services. Since 2019 he has been working with YourStaffKnow as co-founder and lead developer, a role in which he is particularly happy.
For the last few years Inigo has also successfully helmed a small marine services business based in Canary Wharf. Under Inigo’s careful stewardship the business has managed an exceptional mean growth of 120%, year on year, for the past 8 years. His experiences running a business have left him sensitive to some of the issues that can occur within hierarchical structures. The information needed to unlock growth and identify and resolve potential problems often remains trapped within the structure. His work with YourStaffKnow provides a technological solution to help emancipate that vital information for other companies.
In his free time he enjoys fixing diesel engines.
Filip Kegels
Filip worked for Danone Group for over 30 years in many different positions and geographical regions. Danone is a major worldwide food and beverages player with more than 27bn Euros annual sales and is the major yogurt and fresh dairy producer in the world.
Although he started his career in sales and marketing first in France and then the Netherlands, he moved to Eastern Europe in the 90’s after the Iron Curtain fell. He launched Danone in Bulgaria (the homeland of yogurt) through a take-over of a local state-owned company resulting in a totally reinvented and reorganised business.
He built Danone in Russia in three separate stages. First, setting foundations by building a brand, sales and distribution network and growing a pool of talent. Next, building the right local manufacturing and sourcing platforms while expanding the business in the CIS region. Finally, initiating and executing the merger with a very strong local player to become one of the major F&B companies and the market leader in Russia and CIS with 3bn Euros turnover.
Recent Career Developments
More recently, Filip has been managing the fresh dairy business in Africa, Middle East and Asia covering more than 15 countries and partnerships (including joint ventures) from China, Japan and South Korea to India and Israel to North, West and South Africa shaping winning strategies in these regions.
He has been extending his consulting and coaching activities, focusing on providing high level leadership coaching for executives and executive teams, consultancy on global strategy, branding and consumer connection as well as successful new business integration.
Filip has also been growing his non-executive activities, proving to be a sparring partner and sounding board in boards that are eager to get outside FMCG expertise. His appointments include:
- Group Cherkizovo, the biggest integrated meat and poultry processing in Russia
- La Lorraine Russia, one of the biggest fresh and frozen bakery players in Europe
- DRUMS Foods India, the fastest growing high value dairy company in India
- LN Knits, sustainable fashion business in Belgium
In joining YourStaffKnow, Filip recognises the importance of a strong connection between top and middle management in order to keep the pulse of the organisation and its challenges, as well as to unleash the huge potential of empowering the right people on the right battles.