Leading
with James Ashton
Client: Leading with James Ashton
Sector: Business
Audience Vertical: Leadership
Format: Series
Services: Full Production | Distribution | Consultation
James Ashton has been a financial journalist for more than 20 years. He writes and speaks about the economy, business, leadership and technology and trains people on how to present themselves in the media. He was a City Editor and Executive Editor at the Evening Standard and Independent titles and before that City Editor at the Sunday Times.
In 2019 he set his sights on a new medium though and with our help launched his “Leading” series to sit down and have candid conversations with some of the UK’s biggest business leaders on what makes them tick.
Read about how we work together below.
Objective
When James came to us with the idea of a business podcast he knew exactly who he wanted to target, an audience of people interested in what makes a great leader, how do their days run, how do they inspire and who do they learn from. This was going to be a business podcast targeted at business men and women but also anyone interested in the style, psychology and nuance of how great managers lead large organisations.
Creative
The concept and brief was clear but the delivery was different. We wanted to differentiate between the many 1 on 1 business podcasts out there and create more of a round table discussion so the format was decided, James would sit down with two leaders from large organisations and discuss their history, their style and their thoughts but this would also encourage sharing between big bosses. What can the boss of Deloitte learn from the boss of Teenage Cancer Trust? Who would have thought that those that lead O2 and the English National Opera would share management styles.
Outcomes
Alex and the Distorted team added a professional sheen to my podcast from day one. Not only have they been reliable, friendly and flexible, they’ve offered useful advice on reaching and keeping listeners, which in this competitive market has been invaluable.
James Ashton - Journalist, Author and now Podcast Host
Differentiating from what else was on the market we carved a niche for James and even the feedback from guests was so positive as bosses from different sectors never usually get the opportunity to sit down together. The show is now in its' 4th season and going strong, speaking to a huge array of people in the business world and opening doors for James that would have been shut.
The show reaches listeners in over 50 countries and has had tens of thousands of downloads attracting sponsorship from the business world. It has also been featured in The Times and Evening Standard.
James has also written two books in the last year, one which features some of the interviews recorded as part of the podcast. The Nine Types of Leader: How the Leaders of Tomorrow Can Learn from The Leaders of Today out in paperback from Kogan Page.