Simon Johnson
ARTICLES
Browse the wide range of topical and in-depth articles penned by Simon Johnson on the subjects of business development, strategy and governance in the charity sector and sports and leisure industry. This section is regularly updated, so be sure to check back for new material.
These articles are often shared on social media, and comments, reactions and thoughts are welcome. Also attached are archive articles from Simon’s previous roles, setting out the range and depth of Simon’s thought leadership.
Women on Boards – Where There is a Will There is a Way
Introduction Last month, a post of mine on Linkedin generated some positive feedback. Women in Sport had published a paper calling for it to be mandatory for all sports boards to have a 50:50 gender [...]
Why Can’t Large, Incumbent Organisations Innovate?
This is a transcript of a presentation given to MBA students at London Business School on 2nd October 2024 Introduction I think large, incumbent organisations can and do innovate and I want to show examples [...]
Winning the 2018 World Cup Bid would have transformed our Economy
It is coming up to 14 years since FIFA’s Executive Committee decided that Russia, rather than England, should host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Much has been written about the Bid. The corruption at FIFA [...]
We Few. We Happy Few – An Article from May 2020
I had the honour of being one of just 50 spectators allowed into Wembley Stadium yesterday to watch the Coral Challenge Cup Final 2020. This is a brief account of a unique and historic day. [...]
A Lecture on Leadership by Consent Given at Lancaster University in May 2024
This is a transcript of a lecture that I gave on Leadership by Consent at Lancaster University School of Management in May 2024 as part of the Entrepreneur in Residence "Fireside Chats" Lecture Series [...]
The Night the European Cup Stayed at My House
It's True - The European Cup Stayed at My House It seems scarcely believable. But the European Cup- that famous trophy awarded to the winners of the UEFA Champions League- spent one night in May [...]
The Role of Sleep in Good Decision Making
"Let me sleep on it". In my experience of business, there is no decision, of any scale, urgency or importance, that would not benefit from having taken the extra thinking time afforded by a night [...]
How Would Anyone Have Known I Was Ever There?
I was reminded this week of an episode of "Fawlty Towers" called "The Kipper and the Corpse", in which Basil Fawlty spends the episode trying to hide from his other guests the fact that a [...]
How I Pass the Time when Travelling
As I am a Chair and NED, I no longer have an office to go to and work from home mainly. But that means that I do a lot of travelling to meetings and to [...]