Gourock Pier & the Clyde

Hailing from the West coast of Scotland, my life-long friend Joseph Martin Morrison-Meade and I both grew up in the small seaside town of Gourock. His life has been a bit of a ‘Do’. The sports-mad teenager gave up his electrical apprenticeship much to his step-father’s disappointment. Joe became an officer in the British army, graduated from university and subsequently went on to have a corporate career all of which took him from the USA to Shanghai and then Moscow. In 2010 after two years living the London dream he became ill and had time at home in Scotland to reflect on what he really wanted from life. An artistic and a spiritual calling was tempered with a social conscience. Drawing from personal experience he founded a not-for-profit organisation offering personal, social and emotional development to under privileged school-leavers. This debut novel ‘Hiding Under the Covers’ was awarded 2nd place in the Constable Trophy at the Scottish Association of Writers annual conference in 2007 and then gathered dust in a drawer. With help from Kim, Sinclair and Andy of ‘Indie Authors World’, it was rewritten, edited and published to make way for book two in the series. Book one was launched in Waterstones on Sauchiehall street November 2018. In December 2022 Joe was invited to discuss his debut novel at the Guadalajara book festival in Mexico. Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara (FIL) is the second largest book festival in the World next Frankfurt. After spending most of last year (2023) on the Royal Mile in Canongate, Edinburgh he moved back to Glasgow in January (2024). Joe is now enjoying living and exploring the East End of his favourite city. His long awaited Book two is coming soon.

Sue Ashcroft

I had the pleasure of meeting Joseph through the social enterprise community in Glasgow. I was instantly captivated by his personal and professional journey, which led to us collaborating on an extraordinarily successful and impactful project. His passion, expertise, and drive were essential to the success of the project, but it was his natural and personable leadership style that ensured cohesion between the eight other partners involved in the project. As the Lead Partner I benefited from Joseph's direct but approachable qualities that ensured we got the job done in a stressful environment with limited time and resources." 

Anthony Gerrard

Chief Executive, 

Bad Idea Organisation CIC

 KPN | SEC7: Anthony Gerrard from Bad Idea CIC (kibble.org) 

Jo & I have been students of Leadership since the 1980s. We both shared a journey that took us to the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst where we both earned our Commissions for the British Army and graduated together in the same Cadre. Sandhurst is a life-changing challenge for many, but Jo cruised through it due to his outstanding attention to detail, his preparation and high value personal skills. Our lives went in different directions for decades. But our ‘Comms’ were maintained, and I watched from a distance as he expanded his fascination with Behavioural Science on personal, social & corporate levels. 

My own work in frontline technical operations recently afforded me the opportunity to transition into teaching Leadership & Human Factors in High Consequence Environments. I asked Jo to coach me through that transition which he did with his usual calming wisdom. If  jo has two ‘Superpowers’, in my humble opinion they are: that he communicates well at all levels and also owns a knack for doing a deep dive into complicated matters and keeping it simple. Thanks Jo. Looking forward to what comes our way next.