High-Performance Leaders Podcast

Sinclair James

The High-Performance Leaders Podcast explores what it takes to operate at the highest level of some of the world’s most high-pressure, technology-led organisations, and how they build cultures of sustained high performance while continuously evolving through technology to stay competitive.

Each episode brings together senior leaders to unpack their journey how they got to where they are today, what it takes to thrive in these environments, and how they approach hiring, leadership, and continuous improvement in complex, fast-moving industries.

It’s a show about real people, real performance, and what it takes to succeed at the top.

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8 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 1 hr 14 min
English

Episodes 8

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S1 · E7
Wednesday · 1 hr 9 min
How Private Equity Really Works and How to Prepare for Investors, With John Cordrey
John Cordrey is a Director at Foresight Group, which invests in UK and Irish SMEs. He joins James Plant to explain how private equity works in practice, including where the money comes from and how investors back a management team. John also talks through his own route into the industry, from PwC and Inflexion to founding a business of his own. The conversation also takes in the shift in investor appetite towards profitability, how AI is changing the way software businesses are valued, and John’s practical advice for founders preparing to raise capital or plan an exit. KEY MOMENTS 18:10 Where the money comes from: tax-efficient funds, regional funds and the British Business Bank 22:20 John's route from a Birmingham school to PwC, Inflexion and a business of his own 50:20 How AI is changing the way investors look at software businesses 56:19 How founders should prepare before talking to investors GUEST John Cordrey, Director https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncordrey/ GUEST COMPANY Foresight Group https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-group/home/ HOST James Plant https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames/ Sinclair James https://www.sinclairjames.co.uk/ High-Performance Leaders is sponsored by Sinclair James, an executive, interim and project staffing firm specialised in Construction, Property and Engineering. Produced by Vertical Drop.
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S1 · E7
October 14 · 1 hr 9 min
How Private Equity Really Works and How to Prepare for Investors, With John Cordrey
John Cordrey is a Director at Foresight Group, which invests in UK and Irish SMEs. He joins James Plant to explain how private equity works in practice, including where the money comes from and how investors back a management team. John also talks through his own route into the industry, from PwC and Inflexion to founding a business of his own. The conversation also takes in the shift in investor appetite towards profitability, how AI is changing the way software businesses are valued, and John’s practical advice for founders preparing to raise capital or plan an exit. KEY MOMENTS 18:10 Where the money comes from: tax-efficient funds, regional funds and the British Business Bank 22:20 John's route from a Birmingham school to PwC, Inflexion and a business of his own 50:20 How AI is changing the way investors look at software businesses 56:19 How founders should prepare before talking to investors GUEST John Cordrey, Director https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncordrey/ GUEST COMPANY Foresight Group https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-group/home/ HOST James Plant https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames/ Sinclair James https://www.sinclairjames.co.uk/ High-Performance Leaders is sponsored by Sinclair James, an executive, interim and project staffing firm specialised in Construction, Property and Engineering. Produced by Vertical Drop.
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S1 · E6
September 30 · 1 hr 16 min
Why ‘Become a Business Owner’ Might Be the Worst Advice You’ll Get: Matt Redwood
Matt Redwood, Vice President of Global Solutions and Consulting Group at Diebold Nixdorf, joins James Plant to challenge one of the more fashionable pieces of career advice in circulation: that everyone should go it alone and start a business. Drawing on nearly 15 years leading global teams across banking and retail technology, Matt makes the case for staying inside the corporate world, and thriving there, and explains why the people who progress fastest are usually the ones who stop comparing themselves to everyone else. The conversation also covers what AI genuinely means for the workforce, the real difference between outcome-driven and process-driven leadership, and why hard work behind closed doors matters more than how well you manage upwards. It's a grounded, occasionally blunt conversation about what operating at the top actually requires. FIVE KEY MOMENTS 02:16 How an engineering degree and a chance meeting in his final year of university set the direction for Matt's entire career 42:19 Why telling everyone to become a business owner can be the worst advice you could give someone 43:53 “The only person you're competing with is yourself,” and why comparison is the thing to drop first 54:23 Why it isn't AI that takes your job, but the people who use it 1:16:27 Why you'll never regret taking the leap, whatever the outcome GUEST Matt Redwood https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattredwood/ GUEST COMPANY Diebold Nixdorf https://www.linkedin.com/company/diebold/ HOST James Plant https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames/ HOST COMPANY Sinclair James https://www.sinclairjames.co.uk/ SPONSOR The podcast is sponsored by Sinclair James, an executive, interim and project staffing firm specialising in Construction, Property and Engineering. Produced by Vertical Drop.
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S1 · E5
September 16 · 1 hr 34 min
From Race Engineer to Technical Director: Jody Egginton on 30 Years in F1
Jody Egginton has spent three decades in Formula 1 engineering, from an unplanned first break at a small F1 team to leading Scuderia Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri and now Red Bull Advanced Technologies. In this episode of High-Performance Leaders, Egginton talks to host James Plant about the phone call that pulled him away from a graduate job, the reality of building a Formula 1 team from almost nothing, and the risk-taking, resourcefulness and openness that have shaped how he leads engineering teams under pressure. It's an inside account of what three decades in one of sport's toughest feedback loops actually teaches you about performance. FIVE KEY MOMENTS 00:06:02: The phone call from Mike Gascoigne that ended his graduate engineering job 00:16:04: Markus Winkelhock's shock rise from last on the grid to leading at the 2007 Nürburgring Grand Prix 01:00:29: The decision to stop developing the 2018 car and gamble the budget on 2019 01:12:54: Reliving the closing laps of Abu Dhabi 2021 from the pit wall HOST James Plant linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames GUEST Jody Egginton Engineering Director, Red Bull Advanced Technologies linkedin.com/in/jody-egginton-5a639927 linkedin.com/company/red-bull-racing HOST COMPANY Sinclair James linkedin.com/company/sinclair-james SPONSOR High-Performance Leaders is sponsored by Sinclair James, an executive, interim and project staffing firm specialising in Construction, Property and Engineering. sinclairjames.co.uk PRODUCTION Produced by Vertical Drop. vertical-drop.com
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S1 · E4
September 2 · 1 hr 25 min
Andrew Sammut-Alessi Returns: Formula 1 Lessons for Business Transformatio
Andrew Sammut-Alessi, who spent twenty-plus years across Formula 1 with Red Bull, Aston Martin and M-Sport, returns to High-Performance Leaders for a second conversation, this time focused on business transformation. He and James Plant unpack how F1 teams structure change, why counting improvements in minutes rather than headlines drives real capacity, and why Toto Wolff treats every failure as a process problem rather than a people one. The conversation also turns to recruitment, including the aptitude-testing approach Andrew introduced at Red Bull to screen thousands of applicants without opening a single CV. For leaders trying to bring high-performance thinking into their own organisation, it's a practical look at what actually changes, and what doesn't. KEY MOMENTS 00:02:00: What “transformation” actually means inside a Formula 1 team 00:14:00: Why Andrew measures process improvements in minutes, not headlines 00:17:00: Toto Wolff's rule: fix the process, not the people 00:30:00: Deciding between incremental change and starting again from scratch 01:05:00: How Red Bull's aptitude testing replaced CVs for thousands of applicants GUEST Andrew Sammut-Alessi linkedin.com/in/andrew-sammut-alessi instagram.com/f1andysinsights HOST James Plant linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames HOST COMPANY Sinclair James linkedin.com/company/sinclair-james SPONSOR High-Performance Leaders is sponsored by Sinclair James, an executive, interim and project staffing firm specialising in Construction, Property and Engineering. sinclairjames.co.uk PRODUCTION Produced by Vertical Drop.
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S1 · E3
August 19 · 1 hr 11 min
Dominic Littleford: Leading a Technical Team Through Housebuilding's Toughest Years
In this episode, host James Plant sits down with Dominic Littleford, Technical Director at Cala Group, to unpack his career journey from a chance start in architecture to leading technical teams across some of the UK's biggest housebuilders. Having held senior technical roles at Crest Nicholson and Taylor Wimpey before joining Cala Group, Dominic brings a grounded, opportunity-led perspective to a career built almost entirely without a fixed plan. He shares how a childhood misunderstanding first pointed him towards architecture, how he's learned to see his ADHD as a genuine asset under pressure, and what it actually takes to lead a technical team through one of the toughest stretches the housing market's had in years. This is a candid, practical conversation on leading through discomfort, delivering difficult news to a team, and staying level-headed when the pressure doesn't let up. Key Moments: 01:38: A Childhood Misunderstanding: How an eight-year-old's guess about his dad's job sent Dominic into architecture, and eventually into housebuilding. 40:35: Leading Through a Tough Market: What it actually takes to keep a technical team motivated when there's very little good news to deliver. 53:00: ADHD as an Asset: Why Dominic sees his diagnosis as a genuine advantage under pressure, not something to manage around. 01:06:00: Advice for a Career Without a Plan: What Dominic would tell his younger self about caring deeply without letting the job take over. New episodes of the High-Performance Leaders Podcast drop regularly, pulling back the curtain on how senior leaders build cultures of sustained capability in complex, fast-moving industries. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. High-Performance Leaders is supported by Sinclair James, the executive, interim and project staffing firm specialising in Construction, Property and Engineering. Connect with Dominic Littleford: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominic-littleford-46548b28/ Cala Group: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cala-group-limited/ Connect with James Plant: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames/ Sinclair James: https://www.sinclairjames.co.uk/ Produced by Vertical Drop: https://www.vertical-drop.com/ Disclaimer: The views expressed by Dominic Littleford in this episode are his own and do not represent the views of his current or previous employers, including Cala Group.
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S1 · E2
August 5 · 1 hr 8 min
From Help Desk to CIO: Leading Real Tech Change With Barry Smith
In this episode, host James Plant sits down with Barry Smith, former Chief Information Officer at Skanska UK, to unpack his remarkable career journey from an IT help desk in the late 1990s to leading board-level technology change across major global firms. Having held senior leadership roles at WS Atkins, Foster + Partners, and Skanska UK, Barry brings a grounded, people-first perspective to digital transformation. He shares how mentorship shaped his career roadmap, why a rejection for lacking ERP experience ultimately led to him delivering multi-million pound ERP programmes, and what it truly takes to align complex systems with core business goals. This is a candid, highly practical conversation on translating complex tech into plain English, avoiding costly transformation pitfalls, navigating AI opportunities across back-office and front-office operations, and the power of creating trust-driven team cultures. Key Highlights 06:42 – The Skanska Rejection & The ERP Irony: How being turned down for lacking ERP experience paved the way to delivering Skanska's largest transformation programmes. 26:00 – Speaking "Boardroom" English: Why technical jargon loses the room and how CIOs must act as translators to get multi-million pound sign-offs. 29:20 – Why Multi-Million Pound Tech Transformations Fail: The open-heart surgery of replacing core systems—and why failures are about people and data, not software. 43:40 – Practical AI Beyond the Hype: Moving past FOMO to deploy real productivity tools, process automation, and autonomous AI agents. New episodes of the High-Performance Leaders Podcast drop regularly, pulling back the curtain on how senior leaders build cultures of sustained capability in complex, fast-moving industries. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Connect with the Guest • Barry Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-smith-b2b31032/ Connect with the Host & Sinclair James • James Plant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames • Sinclair James Website: https://www.sinclairjames.co.uk/ Production Partnership • Produced by Vertical Drop: https://vertical-drop.com/
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S1 · E1
July 8 · 58 min
Inside F1's High-Pressure Culture: No PR, Just Real Performance with Andrew Sammut-Alessi
Welcome to the premiere episode of the High-Performance Leaders Podcast. In this episode, host James Plant sits down with Andrew Sammut-Alessi, a senior leader who has spent more than 20 years operating at the absolute pinnacle of global motorsport. From his early days in aerodynamic engineering with Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology, through to his recent role as Head of Technical Operations at the Aston Martin Formula One Team, Andrew has been inside the rooms where World Championships are won. This isn't the polished PR version of F1 you see on television. This is a raw, unscripted look at what it actually takes to lead complex technical operations, deliver high-stakes programmes, and manage elite teams under extreme pressure where the smallest margins dictate success. Timestamps 00:00 – Episode Intro & Andrew's Background 01:35 – Getting into F1: A Competitive Drive Inspired by Family 05:00 – Starting at M-Sport & Shifting from Electronics to Aerodynamics 06:55 – Cultivating a Culture of Proactivity: The Power of Volunteering 09:15 – Moving to F1: Financial Freedom & Unrestricted Testing in the 2000s 11:20 – Persistence Pays Off: Getting into F1 on the Third Attempt 13:30 – Transitioning from a Broad Skillset to Razor-Sharp Specialisation 17:50 – WRC vs. F1: The Mind-Boggling Shift in Budgets & Performance 19:30 – Behind the Television Screen: The Hidden Scale of Factory Operations 25:10 – The Route to Launch: 3 Life Cycle Phases of a Formula 1 Car 27:10 – The Winter Grind: Pushing Staff to the Absolute Limits 29:10 – External Targets: Driving Pure Competition Outside the Factory 31:30 – No-Blame Culture: Navigating a Performance Crisis Without Finger-Pointing 38:25 – Psychological Safety: Winning and Maintaining the Momentum 44:00 – The Cost Cap Era: Efficiency, Sacrifices, and Baked-In Infrastructure 51:25 – The Utilitarian Mindset: Why Corporate Teams Need to Pull in One Direction New episodes of the High-Performance Leaders Podcast drop regularly, pulling back the curtain on how senior leaders build cultures of sustained capability in complex, fast-moving industries. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Connect with the Guest • Andrew Sammut-Alessi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-sammut-alessi/ Connect with the Host & Sinclair James • James Plant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-plant-sinclairjames/ • Sinclair James Website: https://www.sinclairjames.co.uk/ Production Partnership • Produced by Vertical Drop: https://vertical-drop.com/
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