Empowerment, Trust & Delegation: Lieutenant General James Bashall CB CBE & Jonathan Bowman-Perks: Inspiring leadership interview

Lieutenant General James Bashall CB CBE – Commander Home Command and Clipper Round the World Sailor James Bashall brings a huge amount of leadership experience to this programme. He has spent much of his British Army career on operations – 12 tours in all; and over 5 years overseas on operational service.

Following 9/11 he took command of  the Second Battalion the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) and led them on 3 successive operational tours to Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Iraq in the space of 2.5 years. He then commanded a Mechanised Brigade in Basra during the most dangerous and violent period of the Iraq campaign. He also led a Joint Task Force into Libya in the early days of the Spring Uprising in order to extract UK citizens trapped by the civil war.

He lives by the code of empowerment, trust and delegation. And his principal leadership tip is to know your people; and to understand what makes them tick as human beings, recognising that we are all different. He believes deeply in leading by example and being seen by those you command. He worries too many senior leaders over use social media; and have lost the touch of visiting in person to communicate directly.

Following 34 years service, Lieutenant General  James Bashall retired from the Regular Army in October 2018. As a young officer he commissioned into the Parachute Regiment and served with the Regiment’s 2nd and 3rd battalions. During his career Lieutenant General  Bashall commanded the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, the 1st Mechanised Brigade, and the 1st (UK) Armoured Division, deploying to Germany, Afghanistan, South Armagh, Iraq and Libya to name a few. He later held positions as Chief of Staff at Permanent Joint Headquarters, and Director Personnel at Army Headquarters. His final post was Commander Home Command, overseeing the Army’s main support elements from training and recruitment to soldier welfare. He has become the National President of the Royal British Legion.