James Hunt

Associate

"Sometimes work can be tough and challenging, but when there is great leadership, empowerment, capability and inspiration, tough becomes satisfying and growth fulfilling. I get a real kick out of helping people and organisations get more from their working environment. For those who have experienced and provided great leadership, and been part of high performing teams, there is a joy and sense of achievement that is hard to beat. I believe every employee is entitled to feel this way, and I love working alongside organisations to ensure it happens."

James has been buried in large infrastructure projects for nearly 20 years, having been thrown in the deep end as a Risk Analyst on the East London Line Extension Project in 2005, a brave transition from his previous existence playing rugby full time.  As a big picture thinker with a highly attuned sense for human behaviour and emotions, it didn’t take long for him to recognise the broader underlying and institutionalised beliefs that were preventing projects from producing better outcomes for both employees and clients.  This seemingly inevitable descent into protectionist and defensive behaviours at the expense of collaborative behaviours that deliver better outcomes for all parties has become a driving force in his career ever since.

A turning point in his career was the Waterview Connection Project.  Delivered by the Well Connected Alliance, James was exposed to the most productive, high trust and collaborative project he had seen and he has been a keen advocate for collaborative approaches to project delivery ever since. Since then, James has held senior leadership roles in a number of projects, organisations, and Alliances as both a client and contractor, before establishing his own consultancy in 2021.  James specialises in leadership coaching, commercial advisory, project controls, strategy, building teams, culture, and connecting an organisation to its purpose. His super power is a deep sense of empathy that enables him to navigate significant complexity in project, team and individual functionality.