For leaders tired of being the bottleneck in their own business
Jimmy Burroughes is an ex-British Army officer and corporate GM who helps the people running operations-heavy businesses get decisions back to the right level.
Audiences leave with one thing they will stop doing on Monday morning.
Nearly 3,500
Leaders coached
10+
Countries
4.92 / 5
Rated by leaders
2025 · 2026
Global Recognition Award
Sessions Built on What Keeps Your Audience Up at Night
Each talk opens with a problem your leaders will recognise straight away, and ends with one thing they can act on the next morning. Every session is built on the award-winning Simplify to Amplify® method and tuned to your audience, sector and event goals.
“Why does everything still land on my desk?”
Stop Being the Help Desk
Getting decisions back to the people who should make them, starting with the question that changes everything: what do you suggest?
They leave with
Three decisions to hand back
“My managers are flat out. So why isn’t anything moving?”
Busy Is Not a Strategy
Firefighting, back-to-back meetings and work that never gets done. What to stop, slow down or swap.
They leave with
What to stop doing on Monday
“I promoted my best operator and lost my best operator.”
The Promotion Trap
Why great doers become bottlenecks, and the shift from fisherman to amplifier.
They leave with
A way to spot it in their own team
“I can’t take a week off without the phone ringing.”
Take the Week Off
Building a leadership team that can run the place without you, with clear decision limits and named cover.
They leave with
A hand-off plan for one area
“We spent a fortune on leadership training. What changed?”
Training Didn’t Stick. Now What?
Why most development fades by Friday, and how to tell a skills gap from a system problem.
They leave with
A test for their next programme
“I’m running on empty, and so is my team.”
Running Hot
Spotting burnout before it walks out of the door, from the author of Beat Burnout, Ignite Performance.
They leave with
The five early warning signs
Or a Custom Talk, Built Around Your Needs
Have a specific challenge, theme or outcome in mind? Jimmy will design a session aligned with the Simplify to Amplify® method and the exact conversation your leaders need to have, tuned to your industry, audience and event goals.
What the Work Produces
Not a feedback form filled in on the day. These results were scored by the managers’ own bosses, ninety days later, at a 1,500-person New Zealand food manufacturing business.
15%
fewer escalations reaching the exec
~4 hrs
a week back per manager
40%
more decisions settled at the right level
8.75/10
bosses would fund another group
Across participants overall: 92.5% would recommend, net promoter score 67.
Simplify to Amplify®
The three stages every overloaded leader moves through, and the memorable picture your audience takes home.
The Village Fisherman
Up before everyone, out in all weathers, catching every fish personally. Heroic, and the reason nothing scales.
The Icebreaker
Clearing the path for the team instead of doing their work, so decisions start moving without them.
The Amplifier
Multiplying what the team can do. The business runs, and the leader finally leads.
Operator Credibility, a Method That Scales, and Results Scored by the Bosses
Jimmy started as a British Army officer, where he learned that ambiguity gets people killed. As a GM of an eight-figure business he learned it does something almost as costly: it wears good managers out. He founded JBL High Performance in 2017 to fix the system around them.
His talks are practical, direct and built for leaders who are tired of theory that does not survive Monday morning.
Behaviour That Changed Beyond the Programme
“Within six weeks, we saw a measurable reduction in escalations and around four hours reclaimed weekly per leader.”
“Within three weeks, my managers stopped pulling me into decisions they could make themselves.”
“We have tried three different providers. JBL is the only one where behaviour actually changed beyond the programme.”
“The first investment that reduced workload instead of adding to it.”
Formats
- Keynote - 30 to 60 minutes
- Half-day workshop - Interactive, tools-based
- Panel or fireside - Moderated or expert contributor
- Virtual - 60 to 90 minutes, all platforms
- Podcast guest - Remote-ready audio and video
A strong fit for
- CEO and founder peer groups
- Manufacturing, logistics and construction associations
- HR and L&D conferences
- Leadership offsites
- Chamber and industry events
Keynotes and workshops start from $8,000. Final fee depends on format, location, and duration.
Book Jimmy for Your EventPrefer to Hear Jimmy in Conversation?
Jimmy hosts The High Performance Leader, ranked in the top 10% of podcasts globally, and appears as a guest on shows worldwide covering leadership, burnout and high performance. Browse the conversations, or invite Jimmy on your own show.