Leaders rarely fail because they lack a strategy
They fail when culture and systems don’t support execution.
John helps CEOs, boards, and senior leadership teams improve performance and culture with greater accountability, practical roadmaps, and leadership behaviours that make change stick.
Build a fit-for-purpose culture
Build alignment across senior teams
Create transformation roadmaps leaders can actually run
Improve execution through clear decision rules and accountability
Defining early advisory engagement
Three Mile Island
“Culture becomes visible when pressure is high—and consequences are real.”
John R. Childress
In 1980, John was asked to support the new CEO and leadership team at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility following the 1979 accident.
The work focused on accountability, communications, trust, and one shared goal: Safety. A new safety culture helped build the conditions for collaborative decisions and more reliable performance. Those changes helped make Three Mile Island one of the safest and most productive nuclear plants in the world.
That experience shaped the core of John’s work ever since. It’s why John treats culture as a measurable system—not a slogan.
Experience and leadership - A brief timeline
John is a pioneer in strategy execution, culture change, and senior team alignment.
His work spans turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, deregulated industries, and complex transformation in global organisations.
1978
Co-founds Senn-Delaney
John co-founded Senn-Delaney, one of the first firms dedicated to culture change, leadership development, and senior team alignment.
1980
Three Mile Island
John supported the new CEO and leadership team at Three Mile Island following the 1979 accident, shaping his lifelong focus on culture under pressure.
1985
Building post-breakup cultures
John’s consulting teams supported several of the newly formed Bell regional operating companies in building cultures fit for competition after the 1984 break-up of the Bell Telephone monopoly.
1999
Publishes first culture book
He published The Secret of a Winning Culture, capturing practical lessons on culture, leadership, and performance.
2000
Expands independent advisory work
After serving as President & CEO for 23 years, John stepped down from Senn-Delaney and focused on advising CEOs and senior teams through transformation, M&A, and strategy execution.
2019
Co-founds PYXIS
John co-founded PYXIS Culture Technologies to help boards and senior leaders measure and manage culture risk with analytics.
2026
Culture 4.0
Culture 4.0 published, presenting a modern approach to culture as an interconnected organisational ecosystem.
1994
Opened Senn-Delaney London
John opened the London office of Senn-Delaney and advised numerous companies, includng British Gas, Jaguar, London Electricity.
1995
Building teamwork at Ford SA
Advised Ford of South Africa on building a culture of teamwork among management and employees.
Culture is an ecosystem
Use data to identify and mitigate risk.
Clarity beats noise
People act faster when priorities are explicit.
Alignment enables speed
Senior teams win when they decide together.
Culture impacts performance
Improve culture, improve performance.
Trusted by leadership teams at:
“ John Childress effectively tied together Strategy Execution and Corporate Culture so we could better understand the critical importance of how they reinforce each other. ”
Eric Rogers, Head of Strategy Execution
T D Williamson, Inc.
“ During our time together, he observed me in my role as the leader of a large organization, constantly coaching me and pointing out opportunities for leadership improvement. This guidance and coaching was invaluable to me during the successful business turnaround. ”
Raymond Osgood, Executive Managing Director
ANZ, CNH Industrial
“ John’s advice and insights were instrumental in the successful acquisition integration of two aerospace firms with product synergies but big cultural challenges. ”
Frank Tempesta, President
Textron Systems Co.