I have had the pleasure to work with James since 2008. I first met James in his role as a Senior Account Director in the print and multi-media industry as he led, managed and coached a sales team to phenomenal results against a rapid downturn in both the economy and performance of the company he represented. James was able to ‘buck’ the downward trend by developing and implementing highly effective sales strategies and by being able to lead and drive his sales faculty through his engaging and highly inclusive and consultative style.
Having worked alongside James I can attest to his ability to navigate rough waters by keeping it real and making it simple for his troupes to follow. Whilst James is a mature strategist he is a master tactician and knows the importance of keeping strategies simple and ensuring that tactics and supporting initiatives are linked and aligned to the greater strategies both business and sales wise.
James has gained his business and commercial acumen through the breadth and width of his industry experiences – he has worked across multiple industries and at various levels of engagement. He has also worked across the whole spectrum of business sizes – from the global enterprise through to the Small Medium Enterprise and across federal, state and local governments. This breadth of experience gives James the insights to businesses and allows him to see performance barriers very quickly. He has a keen eye for detail and he is especially effective in aligning the sales engine to the business. His focus is always upstream and he is a master in assisting business owners to get better control of their own growth and destiny.
I use James as a thinking partner for me as I regularly bounce ideas off him – as a coach he listens and empowers me by giving me choice. If you are looking for someone to know you and your business and then craft strategies and executables that relate to you and your market then James is a consultant I would highly recommend. He doesn’t give you a theoretical or superficial model to support you he works inside your business by immersing himself into your ecosystem and providing workable, relevant and contextualised solutions to whatever the barriers to success are.
James provides me 3 key success factors – he is a mirror – where he reflects my own business back to me allowing me to see the reality, he is a window – providing me a view of the outside world and keeping me abreast of best practice and parallel learnings and he is a door – where he opens up my world and allows me to enter my own market with a great deal more crispness and focus.
Tim Greenhill
MANAGING DIRECTOR, IMPACT MANAGEMENT
It is with great pleasure that I am recommending James Kirkwood of Kirkwood Consulting Group. I have worked with James over the past 8 months and I can say that he has definitely helped me move my Real Estate Career forward.
Initially I was very impressed by his professional and personal approach and I felt comfortable opening up to him about the challenges associated with the Real Estate Business here in Whistler.
James not only made great suggestions for changes, he was able to explain his reasons for the changes. He dramatically increased the level of technical expertise within our group. He was sensitive to the group dynamic whilst providing direction when it came to structural arrangements among the team. He was always available and ready to provide advice and assistance wherever needed.
If you are looking for a consultant to help you effect some changes that will have a positive impact on your company, I believe James Kirkwood of Kirkwood Consulting Group would be a fantastic choice.
Lindsay Graham
ASSOCIATE BROKER AT THE WHISTLER REAL ESTATE CO.
James was instrumental in suggesting new, exciting and mutually beneficial opportunities for our team. I had the opportunity to work closely with James over the course of 2014 and really enjoyed collaborating with him on administrative tasks to help our team track business, which was something we had not really done before.
I really appreciated James’ patience in working with our team of 3 very strong and opinionated women and his willingness to be available whenever needed to field questions, concerns or be a sounding board for ideas for change.
James’ ability to have unbiased views and opinions and present these to our team in a positive and proactive manner really impressed me and encouraged me to take a stand for the opportunities I had in my career and be a stand for change.
There were challenges during James’ time with our team, however he never let the tears, raised voices or personal conflicts affect his ultimate goal and vision for our team. He was very clear from the beginning on the direction he felt best for our team and he stood by it.
Whether you are part of a team that is big or small or if you are an individual looking for career guidance James is a great business professional that I have no question in recommending. James’ ideas and experience will give anyone who works with him something positive to walk away with.
Thank you for all of your support.
Alicia Moore
LISTING COORDINATOR AT THORNHILL REAL ESTATE GROUP