IoD Surrey and Berkshire recognise Armed Forces Week Sandhurst - the home of British Army leadership
Members from IoD Surrey and Berkshire gathered at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) on Friday 20 June, 2025 to recognise Armed Forces week with a splendid black-tie dinner.
The event was another in the successful series of quarterly ‘Directors Business Book Club’ dinners, with authors invited to share their views on business themes of interest to IoD members. The grounds of the Royal Military Academy straddle the Surrey-Berkshire border, making it such a memorable location on a perfect summer evening.
John Kerner, the organising IoD ambassador, set the tone over reception drinks by briefly introducing the role and history of the Academy, the iconic Old College building, and the Lord Room dedicated to the first Academy Sergeant Major. The privacy of the Lord Room was the perfect for members and guests to connect over a delicious three course dinner with matched wines, pausing midway to listen to Neil Jurd.
Neil Jurd is the best-selling author of ‘The Leadership Book’ and founder of the leadership training company ‘Leader-Connect.’ He is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership, honorary teaching Fellow of Manchester University Leadership School and was awarded the OBE in 2021 for leadership development work. He is also a former Army officer and RMAS Instructor – so the perfect guest speaker for the occasion.
His speech revolved around the two core tenets of leadership taught to every Officer Cadet at Sandhurst, which he continues through his work with private, public and third-sector organisations. These he said were “the need for leaders to create the time and space to think” and “the importance of humility in leadership.”
He went on to cover “the importance of leaders genuinely caring for others within an organisation” and that “being a leader doesn’t mean that you are more deserving than others in your organisation or team,” plus much, much more.
The biggest takeaway (apart from the latest edition of his book) was the importance of how leaders communicate in what they say and do. Neil linked this to the simplicity of the Sandhurst motto “Serve to Lead”. Three clear and simple words that remind us to serve the people we lead and the purposes we work towards.
The IoD is an Armed Forces Covenant signatory and Defence Employer Recognition Scheme gold-award organisation. Armed Forces week is dedicated to showing support and appreciation for the entire Armed Forces community and the IoD is proud to count servicemen and women, military veterans, and members of the Reserve Forces among our members and employees.
Content produced by John Kerner for IoD online publication week commencing 23 June 2025, to coincide with Armed Forces week.
About the author
John is an accomplished Director, experienced across Defence, Transport, Logistics and Highways sectors at UK strategic and operational levels. His passion and purpose lie in leveraging knowledge, skills and expertise to help Boards, Programmes and Projects make better decisions towards a more sustainable future. A better future through the intelligent application of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) enablers. He pursues this as a portfolio career through D7 Advisers Ltd.
