- April 2022 – Present - Mindpower Training and Resilience
- June 1989 – March 2022 - Royal Fleet Auxiliary
- August 1978 – April 1989 - Royal Navy
Ian joined the Royal Navy aged 16 and served for ten years, primarily on front-line vessels with a period of six years on counter-terrorism operational tours involving land and sea-based operations.
On leaving the RN Ian joined the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the Navy’s afloat support fleet, in a Communications role. He moved up the rating rank structure to Chief Petty Officer and in 2000 was selected to become an Officer. During a period of service spanning over thirty years Ian has experienced the full range of ranks and responsibilities within his specialisation up to Head of Department. He has extensive lived experience of leading and managing people from a range of backgrounds and in a broad spectrum of situations.
In May 2017 Ian was selected to be the inaugurate RFA member of the Royal Navy’s Learning and Development Organisation (LDO) Operations team. The role of this small team is to take all the elements of Learning, Personal Development and Resettlement to the front line across the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The role widened during his tenure to encompass all aspects of Human Capability Development (HCD).
As part of the HCD role Ian was responsible for delivering training courses at Level 3 and Level 5 in Coaching and Mentoring and in Leadership. He qualified as a performance coach in 2018 and has continued to develop in this area, gaining a Level 5 Diploma in 2020 and qualifying to deliver the RN’s advanced coaching and mentoring courses. Ian was part of the small team responsible for developing RN policy on coaching and coach training. He also developed leadership and personal resilience training courses for the RFA which gained Chartered Management Institute accreditation in 2020. To date Ian has trained and supported the development of over 400 delegates in coaching, mentoring, leadership and Management.
The introduction of Mental Health Awareness training for the RFA was driven largely by Ian’s feedback and proposals to the management board. The transformative effect of the training for people and the RFA has been a genuine organisational success.
On retiring from RFA in March 2022 Ian launched Mindpower Training and Resilience in order to continue working in the personal development area. He also continues to operate as a personal and performance coach. Ian joined Freedom Training and Consultancy Ltd in April 2022 on a consultancy basis.
When not working, Ian enjoys mountaineering and sea kayaking and is an accredited Expedition Assessor for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which gives him the opportunity to share in the challenges and successes of young people completing their wild country ventures.
Ian lives in rural Aberdeenshire and has been married to Linda for forty years.