People First, Always: How Values Shape Leadership, Culture and Performance

Leadership isn't about titles or authority.
It's about how you treat people, especially when it's difficult.

People First, Always is a practical leadership guide built on real-world experience, from military service to building and scaling a national organisation.

Mike's journey began on the streets of Newton Heath and took him through the Royal Engineers, serving as a Bomb Disposal specialist supporting 3 Commando Brigade. There, he learned what leadership really looks like under pressure, where decisions matter, values are tested, and people come first.

After leaving the military, Mike saw a gap in education: young people needed more than academic results - they needed confidence, resilience, and character. With just a £10,000 bank loan and a belief in doing things differently, he founded Commando Joe's.

What followed was a journey through:

• Building a national organisation from the ground up
• Working with thousands of schools across the UK
• Employing hundreds of veterans
• Supporting over a million young people each year
• Appearing on BBC Dragons' Den
• Navigating investment and private equity
• The youngest person to receive an OBE in the sector
• Successfully exiting the business to scale further

But success came with hard lessons.

This book goes beyond the highlights to explore the realities of leadership, from culture to contracts, purpose to profit, and the personal cost of growth.