John Lidstone

About the Author

John Barrie Joseph Lidstone was born in 1929 In Wiltshire.  The death of his father only a few months later; his mother’s subsequent determination to provide for her family; and at times sadistically tough schooling, set the scene for his later life.  (Not least beginning his lifelong dalliance with the ‘great and the good’ as his mother managed the clubhouse at Wentworth for many years).

As a youngster in wartime, John’s enrolment in the Local Defence Volunteers as a messenger boy was later to convince him of the stoic and humorous truths of the comedy series Dad’s Army. Coming of age, he served his National Service in the RAF, before he ‘ambled’ into teaching as a young man with a post at Repton School.  Economic realities, however, soon led him to embark on a career in industry.  He moved from the country to London in 1952 and was immediately thrown into a startlingly different world as the lodger of the actor Patrick Waddington, where his daily life was punctuated by the host of colourful characters that visited the house, including Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson, Noel Coward and Ivor Novello.  

John cut his teeth in business in the 1950s working for the Shell Group.  Discovering a commonsense talent for marketing, training and communications, he quickly advanced and in the mid-60s helped to form and develop Marketing Improvement Group - one of the most successful marketing consultancy and training companies in Europe.

Throughout his career, his analytical wit, understanding and expertise has established John as an expert in the field of marketing and communications, much sought after by business, government and organisations as an adviser and popular speaker.  In the course of his working life he has published 16 best-selling books on business.  Five of these titles have gone to second editions and one to seven reprints.  Two were also made into award-winning films by Rank and Video Arts.  His work for Government has twice included advising Select Committees on Reform of the Honours System - a subject about which he is passionate and on which he gave the Churchill Lecture in 1998.

In addition to business, John has twice stood for Parliamentary candidacy for the Conservative Party and served a number of national and local organisations.  In all these capacities, he has travelled the world, met and worked with a great many famous and influential businessmen, politicians and celebrities.  His anecdotal bank has been securely credited over the years by these and many others along the way, which has only added to his popularity as a speaker and broadcaster.  And finally, he has - in his own words - plumbed the depths of an elephantine memory - to write his long-requested memoirs How Did You Know All These People?

At heart, John remains a family man, devoted to Primrose - his wife and best friend of 63 years - and daughter Susie and her family. He lives in Fleet, Hampshire in what might laughingly be termed ‘retirement’, still frequently called upon to advise, and enjoying many invitations to speak, alongside his lifelong passion for golf.   

John’s life is perhaps underlined by his fascination for ‘What Makes People Tick’, a subject in which he has, by now, gained some considerable understanding!

Professional Career in Brief

  • National Service RAF 1947-48
  • English master Repton School 1949-52
  • Shell-Mex and BP and Associated companies 1952-62
  • Deputy MD Vicon Agricultural Machinery Ltd 1962-63
  • Director and General Manager Marketing Selections Ltd 1969-72
  • Marketing Improvements Group plc: Joined 1965, Director 1968, Director and General Manager 1972-74, Deputy MD 1974-88, Deputy Chairman 1988-89, Non-Executive Director 1989-93

Non-Executive Directorships

  • Kalamazoo plc 1986-91
  • North Hampshire Trust Co Ltd 1986-93
  • St Nicholas' School Fleet Educational Trust Ltd 1982-90 and 1995-96

Memberships

  • Chemical & Allied Products Industry Training Board 1975-79
  • UK Management Consultancies Association 1978-88 (Chairman 1986-87)
  • National Inter-Active Video Centre 1988-90
  • National Executive Committee CIM 1985-90
  • Ct of Assts Guild of Management Consultants 1993-99
  • BAFTA
  • Society of Authors
  • Freeman City of London
  • Liveryman Worshipful Company of Marketors
  • FCMC, FCMI, FInstD, FCIM

Other Achievements

  • Films and Video technical adviser and script writer : The Persuaders (1975), Negotiating Profitable Sales (1979), Training Salesmen on the Job (1981) - won highest award for creative excellence at US Industrial Film Festival 1982, Marketing for Managers (1985), Marketing Today (1985), Reaching Agreement (1987) and Interviewing (1988)
  • Marketing Editor Pharmaceutical Times 1994-2006
  • Voted top speaker on marketing in Europe 1974
  • Dartnell lecture tours USA 1978-82
  • Senior visiting lecturer University of Surrey 1990-2003
  • Editor The Lidstorian 1985-88


How Did You Know all these people?

JOHN LIDSTONE’S FASCINATING MEMOIR OF HIS EVENTFUL LIFE IN BUSINESS & PUBLIC SERVICE - BUY HERE


Publications

Books

  • Training Salesmen on the Job (1975, 2 edn 1986)
  • Recruiting and Selecting Successful Salesmen (1976, 2 edn 1983)
  • Negotiating Profitable Sales (1977, made into two part film by Video Arts 1979)
  • Motivating your Sales Force (1978, 2 edn 1995)
  • Making Effective Presentations (1985)
  • The Sales Presentation (jtly, 1985)
  • Profitable Selling (1986)
  • Marketing Planning for the Pharmaceutical Industry (1987, 2 edn 1999)
  • Manual of Sales Negotiation (1991)
  • Manual of Marketing (for University of Surrey, 1991)
  • Beyond the Pay-Packet (1992)
  • Face the Press (1992)
  • Presentation and Media Relations Planning for the Pharmaceutical Industry (2003)
  • How Did You Know All These People (2013)

Contributed Chapters to :

  • The Best of Dilemma & Decision (1985)
  • Marketing in the Service Industries (1985)
  • Marketing Handbook (3 edn 1989)
  • Gower Book of Management Skills (2 edn 1992)
  • The Director's Manual (1992 and 1995)
  • The Marketing Book (3 edn 1994)
  • Ivanhoe Guide to Management Consultants (1994)
  • International Encyclopedia of Business and Management (1996)

Other Publications

  • Author of the 1998 Churchill Society Christmas Lecture `The Reform of the Honours System
  • Expert evidence included in House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee 2004 report: 'A Matter of Honour: Reforming the Honours System'

Articles included in The Times and Sunday Times, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, FT, The Observer, Long Range Planning, International Management, Management Today, Marketing, Marketing Week, Evening Standard, The Independent, Yorkshire Post, Forbes Magazine

  • If it’s just unbridled lust, then go away for a dirty weekend and get it out of your system

    The Vicar of Grantchester

  • The most diabolical game ever devised by man!

    Harold Macmillan speaking to John about Winston Churchill's aversion to golf

  • You will drive with me to the station, it will save me having to pay your expenses.

    Paul Getty

  • I only wish John Lidstone's book had been available to me many years ago. It would have saved me the myriad boobs I have made over the years.

    John Harvey-Jones

  • You don't learn to sail on a smooth sea. You don't learn to ride on a lazy horse. You don't learn to sell with a popular product.

    Kemmons Wilson (Founder of Holiday Inns)

  • Thank God you never became an MP!

    Primrose Lidstone