With honours degrees from Glasgow University – in modern languages (French and German) and psychology – David Drennan started off life as a teacher. His first job in industry was as an industrial relations manager with the Chrysler car company in Linwood, Scotland. That was indeed a baptism of fire, but invaluable experience.
He then joined Inbucon International Consultants, first as a consultant, later becoming Consultant Manager. During six years there, he undertook a wide range of assignments in industries as varied as grocery distribution, car components, whisky, papermaking, metal fabrication, electronics, computer systems, engineering and the docks.
Eventually he joined the Mars Group, where he became Personnel Director. Having encouraged closer co-operation between business and universities, he was later invited to become Special Professor of Management at Nottingham University. At that point, he founded the consultancy Good People Management Ltd., later establishing branches in Ireland, Austria and South Africa.
The company’s work first specialised in implementing major change programmes within companies, which led to the publication of David Drennan’s first book Transforming Company Culture. Subsequent work involved helping many different companies introduce world class practices into their operations, one client later winning the title of ‘Best Factory in Britain’. International experience in this area later resulted in David’s second book The 12 Ladders to World Class Performance. Subsequent books include The Magic of the OK Box and Winning The Executive Job Race.