Our principal consultants

Andrew Lawson

Andrew is the director and founder of Best Practice Consulting. He has extensive experience working with private and public sector organisations in a business consulting, change management, business mentoring and coaching, and training and facilitation capacity.

In 2002, Andrew took over the management of a struggling (almost bankrupt) dental practice in Canberra. In a one year period, he turned the business around to record a 45% increase in revenue and a 509% improvement in operating profit. He also applied strategies that reduced staff turnover from 55% per annum to 6% per annum. Over the next few years Andrew implemented a number of Best Practice processes, procedures and systems to create one of the most successful and profitable cosmetic dental practices in Australia. The practice was a benchmark for its type in Australia and it regularly received visitors from interstate who were keen to model our success.

Andrew's passion for sharing with others how to maximise their business potential, combined with his own experiences of realising dramatic business improvement, lead to the formation of Best Practice Consulting. Andrew has worked with a variety of organisations across a number of industries including: Dental, Medical, Legal, Telecommunications, Public Sector, Engineering, Recruitment, Training, Manufacturing, Marketing, IT, Logistics, Security, Building and Construction, and OH&S.

Andrew possesses a detailed understanding of the multitude of stakeholder, client, human resource, financial, development and management issues facing the private and public sector. He places a high importance on planning, client relationships, communication, the effective implementation of strategies and measurement of performance.

Prior to his practice management experience, Andrew spent eight years as a senior secondary school teacher at large private schools in NSW and ACT. His education background has facilitated the development of specialist training courses for clients.

Andrew's qualifications include:

- B.A, .Dip. Ed. (Macq.)
- Dip. PM
- Cert. IV TAA
- Dip. Mgt
- Accredited Bite-Sized Trainer
- Accredited DiSC Trainer

 

John Lawson

John is the co-founder of Best Practice Consulting and is a key asset in the practice. He has had an extensive career in senior marketing and management positions with a number of large multinational, fast moving consumer goods and medical products companies, including Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, and Hanimex-Fuji Corporation. He held positions as Marketing & Sales Director, Managing Director and CEO (Asia Pacific).

 

Following 30 years of corporate experience, John joined Coopers and Lybrand (now Pricewaterhouse Coopers) as the Senior Director within the Management Consultancy division with responsibilities for strategic planning, marketing and sales, customer relationship management and business improvement. During this time, he was seconded to the Board of Directors of Unilever plc in Indonesia for 3 years leading a number of major projects and a further 12 months with the Board of Directors of Unilever plc in China. After 8 years in this role with PwC Management Consulting division, he was appointed the firm's Australia-wide Business Development, Marketing and Communication Director covering all areas of PwC, including audit, tax, legal, finance and management consulting.

John's qualifications include:

- B.Econ (Syd)
- M.B.A. (NSW)
- Certified Practising Marketer (CPM)
- Certified Practising Accountant (CPA)

 

Our Senior Consultants

Helen Mitchell

Helen is a senior consultant and facilitator at Best Practice Consulting. She has extensive experience working within public and private sector organisations and has a strong project management background.

Prior to coming to Best Practice Consulting, Helen spent six years in the Australian Public service, where she undertook project management, policy development, budget management, human resource management functions and security advisory roles.

Helen also has extensive project experience in the private sector, including roles such as operations strategist and project manager for creative teams at Hutchison Telecommunications, E-Business Consultant at Com Tech Communications and Web Producer at Tech Talk Communications.

Helen's qualifications include:

- B.A. (Syd.)
- Accredited Bite-Sized Trainer
- Accredited DiSC Trainer

Our executive coaches

Jenny McKay

Jenny is a registered psychologist and has been coaching individuals within organisations since 2001.

Jenny brings tremendous energy, passion, focus and commitment to the coaching process. Through the identification of critical objectives and the overturning of barriers, she creates the platform for individuals to reach outcomes that are aligned with the organisation they operate in, as well as the life they want to live.

Jenny receives continual positive feedback from people she has coached. People have said that they have increased goal clarity, communication skills, leadership capability, problem solving capacity, strategic thinking and maximised their personal strengths through engaging Jenny as their Executive Coach.

Jenny has delivered a wide range of management and leadership coaching services for organisations including: ANZ, NAB, Grocon, St Hilliers, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, FAHCSIA, Department of Infrastructure, Vic Urban, Vic Roads, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, Toll, BankWest, Dow (Rohm & Haas), The Resilience Institute, GE Money, Rio Tinto, Sustainability, CBM and Allens Arthur Robinson.
Jenny is a member of the Australian Psychological Society and the International Coaching Federation.

Jenny's qualifications include:

- BA Psych (Uni. of Melb.)
- Grad Dip Psych (Uni. of Melb.)
- Certificate and advanced certificate in Evidence Based Coaching Psychology with Tony Grant and Michael Cavanagh - Institute of Coaching and Consulting Psychology
- Certificate in Relational Gestalt Therapy - continuing (4 year program)