Lightning Oak
Perceptive challenge, deliberate influence
Two sides of the same role. The challenge that needs to be heard, and the influence that makes it land. For a board, that means the hard point is raised while the decision is still open, and made in a way that brings people with it.
James Walker is an independent board chair and non-executive director, with an executive career leading internal audit teams at Credit Suisse and UBS. Boards and investors can bring him in to find out whether what they are told holds up, and whether the organisation can deliver what it says. Founders and chief executives can bring him in to be ready for those questions before anyone asks them.
Through Lightning Oak, his practice, he offers due diligence to investors before and after a deal, and to companies getting ready to be backed. He can lead an internal audit function as its fractional or interim head, or advise the head of audit and the audit committee chair. He also holds board and committee seats of his own, takes on new chair and non-executive roles, and advises leaders on the decisions in front of them.
About
Where his judgement comes from
James has sat in three of the seats a board relies on to know it is being told the truth. He has led the audit that reports to the committee, sat on the audit and risk committees that receive it, and chairs a board of his own. Sitting in all three has shown him what each needs from the others, and taught him to stay objective and say plainly what he sees.
Services
When to bring James in
An independent view is most useful early, while it can still influence what happens next. Each service below starts from a moment like that: a decision to test, a deal before or after completion, an internal audit function that needs leading or advice, or a board appointment to make. Start with the one closest to where you are now.
Board Advisory
A chair, chief executive or founder can test a difficult decision with James, away from the organisation and well before it reaches the board. A board can also ask him for a candid review of how it performs. Leaders new to a senior role, aiming for one, or wanting an outside view come to him for mentoring and coaching.
Due Diligence (Pre-Investment and Post-Deal)
An investor or family office with a time-pressured deal gets a senior view of how the business runs in practice, before the decision and through the months after completion. A company preparing to be backed can have the same view before investors look.
Risk, Governance and Internal Audit
An audit committee chair can bring James in to lead internal audit on a fractional or interim basis, or to advise the committee and its head of audit. A chief executive or finance director can ask him to review or build their risk and governance arrangements.
Non-Executive Director and Board Chair
A founder appointing a first independent chair, an investor, or a nomination committee and the search firm working for it can meet James. He chairs a board, has sat on audit and risk committees and on finance committees, and reads the papers for what they leave out.
Career
The organisations behind his experience
James built his judgement in global banking and uses it today on the boards he sits on and the companies he advises. Having worked inside such different organisations, he can often see a problem from more than one side.
Executive career
Banks where his internal audit career has taken him across retail banking, private banking, wealth management, asset management and investment banking.
Board and committee seats
The boards he sits on today: the company he chairs, an NHS trust and its charity, and two charities where he is a trustee.
Board advisory
Founder-led companies whose boards he advises as they grow, including on how they govern their use of artificial intelligence.
Approach
How he works with people
A first conversation with James is usually about the problem rather than simply focusing on the service. He listens to the people involved and checks he has understood them before he offers a view, and he works that way throughout an engagement.
Saying what he will look at
Before any work starts, he tells the people involved what he will look at and why. Nobody should meet a hard message for the first time in a report.
Honest about who can help
If someone else is better placed to help, he says so plainly and points the way to trusted professionals, even when that means the work goes elsewhere.
Raising things as they emerge
He takes what he finds to the people it affects as it comes up, within what the engagement allows. On a deal, the investor who commissioned the work decides what reaches the management team, and James agrees that at the start.
Testimonials
People who know his work
Anyone deciding whether to bring James in will want to hear from people who have seen his work at first hand. The voices here come from his executive career and from boards and committees he has served on, and each speaks to a different side of how he works.
“James communicates by deconstructing complexity to clear and compelling messages that build trust and influence direction.”
“James offers thoughtful, fact based input that helps improve decisions and he has a skill for cutting through the noise to focus on the key issues.”
“James combines a broad, well-rounded knowledge base with a calm, organised approach, even in the most demanding situations.”
“James added valuable insight to the Audit and Risk Committee in his role as an independent member.”
“James was an exceptional leader both before and after the Credit Suisse-UBS merger, consistently demonstrating vision, integrity, and composure through every stage of change.”
Names and references are available once the fit is clear.
Insights
Writing for the profession
James writes for professional bodies and industry publications read by people who sit on boards or lead finance and audit teams. He also speaks at conferences and has been quoted in the press. These pieces are a quick way to see how he thinks before meeting him.
Fractional chief auditors
Why a fractional chief auditor is a sound operating model for organisations where full-time does not fit, and why it only works with a direct line to the audit committee.
AI buck stops with boards
Why accountability for artificial intelligence rests with the board, and why controls that assume a person makes the decision need a harder look once the technology makes it.
Governance meetings: ten critical considerations
For chairs and company secretaries: where governance meetings most often fall down, and why internal audit is well placed to see the same failure repeat across an organisation.
An easy first conversation
If someone has recommended James, or one of the moments above sounds familiar, the next step is a conversation. A short email or call is the easiest way to start, and advisors with a client in mind are just as welcome. There is no fee for it.