THE PREPARED MIND

“Fortune favours the prepared mind.”

Louis Pasteur
expertise

“An absolutely brilliant performance by the finest senior strategic mind I have ever encountered.”

Lt Gen K. Dayton, United States Security Coordinator to US Secretaries of State Rice and Clinton

“John is an inspirational communicator whom I found myself quoting twice within an hour of hearing him speak.”

Venetia Hoare, partner and board member, Hoare’s Bank

“I strongly recommend John who worked with senior management to instill a culture of ‘The Prepared Mind’.”

Ulf Henriksson, CEO Dematic Group

“In a short space of time we examined and improved the plan against a well thought through and challenging scenario and managed to embed the thought process for dealing with such incidents within our senior team.”

Bill Moore CBE, CEO The Portman Estate

“I thought your opening talk was absolutely brilliant. People pay good money for after dinner speakers like you and your examples were excellent, really relevant and well-thought through.”

Mary-Jane Elliott, managing partner, Consilium Strategic Communications

“The most comprehensive policy document on risk that I’ve seen.”

Alex Martin, director, Aktis Strategy Ltd

“A super event with the objective of participative learning achieved thanks to your skilled and practical guidance.”

John Gollifer, general manager, The Investor Relations Society

“The good relations John developed with Saudi and US colleagues proved invaluable. John’s warmth and unique style go down well in this part of the world.”

Sir Derek Plumbly, British ambassador to Riyadh

“Leadership is one of the pillars of our organization and John’s interactive talk greatly inspired the four hundred young future leaders present.”

Catherine Donovan, director of international affairs, Round Square International

“An extremely thought-provoking and insightful risk and governance simulation – essential knowledge for future business leaders”

Michael Parker, teaching fellow, University of Surrey

“A superb exploration of the subjects of leadership, good governance, risk and compliance.”

Paul Moxey, professor, London South Bank University

“The Prepared Mind team provided us with a plan and two first-rate scenario workshops that enabled us to enhance our preparedness to deal with potentially damaging situations emanating from a variety of causes.”

Family office CEO, internationally famous industrialist

“Your talk was of great value for our institution and has been very much appreciated by the senior staff team.”

Andreas Meyer, co-president & co-chairman, Swiss Academy of Childhood Disability

“John has earned high praise from the Kuwaitis - he has achieved success by a careful blend of drive, initiative and a real understanding of how to foment change.”

Major General Drewry, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy), MoD London
expertise

Reduced risk, better business.

Transformation

Strategy

Fragile state development

Leadership and governance

Preparedness and crisis management

Media and stakeholder engagement

Risk mitigation

Security sector reform

“An absolutely brilliant performance by the finest senior strategic mind I have ever encountered.”

Lt Gen K. Dayton, United States Security Coordinator to US Secretaries of State Rice and Clinton
CLIENTS
The Prepared Mind is a unique series of interactive workshops and talks, offering advice, mentoring and scenario-based exercises to help organisations, businesses and individuals tackle risk.

Sessions can be delivered as plans and talks, papers and recommendations, with follow-up actions to help you prepare and deal with the unexpected.

“The good relations John developed with Saudi and US colleagues proved invaluable. John’s warmth and unique style go down well in this part of the world.”

Sir Derek Plumbly, British ambassador to Riyadh
CONCEPT
CONCEPT

Leadership, governance and risk solutions

Leadership advisory

Governance, accountability & compliance

Intellectual property

Due diligence

Market orientation & culture

Plans

Audits

Risk assessments

Risk registers

Supply chain assurance

Plans

Audits

Workshops

Travel security & safety

Country expertise

Cyber protection

Physical protection

Business continuity

Crisis advisory and resolution

Read the full Story
ABOUT
ABOUT

Decades of crisis resolution

John Deverell, CBE

Founder and author of The Prepared Mind

Many corporate leaders consider John’s crisis preparedness plans and workshops to be the best in the business. His Army posts included Director Defence Diplomacy in the Ministry of Defence, divisional commander responsible for supporting a third of the British Army, commander of an SAS squadron and operations officer of the Special Boat Service. As deputy to the US director of the Iraq Survey Group he was instrumental in disproving the pre-war intelligence on WMD and was the first British government servant since the end of the British Mandate to be based in the Palestinian Territories. Her Majesty appointed him OBE and later CBE for his leadership in particularly challenging situations.

John then spent two years on the Executive Leadership Team of Invensys plc, a FTSE 100 multinational engineering and IT company. He was responsible to the CEO for the company’s security and business continuity globally. After a further two years in a senior role with M:Communications, for whom he developed client reputation and crisis management solutions, he established CulturesConnect Ltd in 2013.

Based on his four decades of handling conflicts and crises around the world, John writes and leads seminars on the Prepared Mind approach.

John has appeared many times on TV and radio, commenting on strategy, risk and leadership. He has an MPhil from the University of Cambridge in International Relations and a diploma in Negotiation and Mediation from the University of Kent. He holds pro bono appointments related to the church, the Middle East and disabled ex-servicemen. He continues to work part time for the British government at home and abroad.

“John is an inspirational communicator whom I found myself quoting twice within an hour of hearing him speak.”

Venetia Hoare, partner and board member, Hoare’s Bank
contact

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