Jonathan McMahon, former chief operating office at St James’s Place, has written a book on the Coronavirus pandemic and how with purposeful leadership the 2020s does not need to be a “decade of crises or lost opportunities.”

The book draws on his experience of leadership during the financial crisis to offer guidance on how leaders need to do to learn the lessons of previous crises and “not dodge the difficult choices.”

Mr McMahon stood down as COO after six years in October 2019. He remains chairman of SJP’s acquisition in Dublin, Harvest Financial Services.

In May 2020, he founded his own companies, Green Arbour Consulting, a financial and business consultancy, Well Human and 145 Studios.

Prior to joining St James’s Place Mr McMahon worked at the Financial Services Authority, Deloitte, and the Promontory Financial Group.

Mr McMahon said: “To many, the financial crisis of 2008 is already ancient history. Yet it was just 12 years ago and its effects are present today. Like the pandemic, it threatened to reverse hard-won economic gains and political stability, and the 2010s proved a turbulent decade.

“Yet Ireland and many other countries across the world ultimately came through the mayhem, though it was a close run thing. I was at the eye of the storm and the first lesson I learned was that we have to attend to the real, underlying causes of crises, not expediently dodge the difficult choices. That is our responsibility again in the 2020s.”

The book “PostPandemic: Twelve Lessons in Crisis Management” can be purchased on Amazon and from bookshops.

• Mr McMahon's website can be accessed here: https://www.jonathanmcmahon.co.uk