The Voice Of Leadership
Precision communications for the innovative, the influential, and the visionary.
Are you a mission-driven leader whose communications must further your organisation’s strategic objectives, resonate with your audiences, and project your own unique ‘voice’?
'It’s lonely at the top.’
It’s even lonelier if your mission-critical, strategic objectives are being impeded by communications that aren’t hitting the target.
Maybe your current comms support just isn’t across your underlying strategy. Or the communications they’re producing for you aren’t truly compelling or convincing to your highly specific audience/s. Or the pieces they’re serving you up aren’t reflective of your own unique "voice”.
Whatever the issue, you’re just not feeling the full force of your passion projected through the communiques you’re issuing or the presentations you’re delivering.
You Deserve the Best in Communications Craftsmanship
As a leader, you not only deserve the best communication craftsmanship, you need it. Achieving your desired objective with each strategic communique pushes deals over the line, gains the buy-in of your targeted audiences, and cements and nurtures your own leadership cache. It also furthers your overall organisational mission.
If the objectives of your corporate mission simply aren’t projecting out to the broader stakeholder universe, or cascading down through the layers of the organisation – whether because of theme, content, composition, or tone – I can help.
I'm Jordan Kelly
For the past two decades, I’ve been hired by CEOs from multiple sectors to produce strategy and key content to help their business development teams win mission-critical, big-ticket B2G and B2B contracts and accounts.
I’ve developed the blueprints that have guided some of Australasia’s largest civil infrastructure megaproject bids, steering large teams of subject matter experts in the formulation of winning content for these highly competitive, must-win productions. That work has also included producing the themes and content for the all-important bidder shortlistee presentations.
In my earlier years, I was a speechwriter to New Zealand’s Governor General, was retained to provide marcoms and executive PR services for several of Australia’s largest household FMCG brands, and – between then and now – have written more than 20 specialist books. I’ve “ghost-written” speeches, presentations, CEOs’ and Chairpersons’ inputs to Annual Reports, executives’ biographies, and even their most important personal correspondence. I’ve also trained senior executives in business writing skills and in media relations.
If those are skills and a track record you’d value, let’s work together to clarify your very specific communications objectives. Then leave it with me to ensure your utmost confidence in the impact of the mission-critical communiques you’ll be issuing or delivering.
Experience the true power and persuasion of communications crafted in your own audience-specific, authentic voice.
Just some of the corporate elite I've had the privilege to call my clients:
The Voice of Leadership
Latest News, reviews & Interviews
'Remarkable Talent As A Strategic Writer'
“Jordan Kelly recently provided guidance of extraordinarily high quality to Oracle in the planning and production of an important strategic communication project.
“Her sharpness of mind, objectivity and lateral thinking skills were the perfect resources to help us clarify and convey the competitive strengths of our solution.
“Consolidating the benefits of her facilitation skills is her remarkable talent as a strategic writer. This ensured we effectively communicated the superiority of the Oracle solution.”
Cheenu Srinivasan
Director – Planning & Operations
Oracle Corporation
'A Well-Defined & Targeted Bid Strategy & Bid Writing Coaching Program'
“Jordan was engaged by Abigroup Contractors to independently review historical bids, suggest document improvements and enhance its pre-bid smarts.
“Through a well-defined and targeted coaching program, skilfully articulated by Jordan, our bid staff gained an invaluable appreciation of the strategic importance of well-researched proposals, in-depth questioning, and forming a deeper understanding of our clients’ value criteria.
“For those companies or individuals serious about the need for their staff to actually think and so improve the ‘non-cost’ and ‘quality elements’ of their relationship contract bid submissions, I recommend Jordan to you.”
Steve Abson
General Manager – Northern Region
Abigroup Contractors (Australia)
'THE RESULTS OF JORDAN’S CV PROCESS & PRODUCTS EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS AGAIN'
“I worked with Jordan in 2012 on a $100m tender and I recruited her again for a separate company’s tender in 2017.
“Jordan used strategic review and comprehensive interviewing techniques to extract key information from our senior nominated staff. In each case, this process provided a concise Curriculum Vitae script tailored specifically to the tender. It was thanks to these scripts that our people were best represented as the experienced face of the company, and as such were shortlisted in an extremely specialised field.
“The process Jordan employed was very involved, and the resulting work and subsequent results exceeded expectations.”
Tim Herlihy
Operations Manager
Contract Services Australasia Pty Ltd
'OUR FIRST MAIN ROADS SHORTLISTING IN 3 YEARS! THANKS, JORDAN.'
“Hi Jordan,
“Taking your recommendations we approached the bid from a new perspective and it has paid quick dividends.
“So thank you for your help and I look forward to applying the strategies from 'Think and Win Bids' during the tender phase.”
Joseph-Paul Rossi
Business Development Manager
York Civil Pty Ltd
'Thrilled with Your Contribution' to Winning Defence Bid
“Jordan, thank you so very much.
“Your contribution to our winning bid was greatly appreciated. We are all thrilled here at the win with the New Zealand Defence Force.
“Again, our thanks.”
TelstraClear
New Zealand
JK Bid Critiquing 'Breaks Insular Group-Think'
“In the high stakes, ultra-competitive infrastructure services market, true insight and strategic excellence are invaluable in achieving success.
“Jordan practices what she preaches, and has the ability to provide an independent and insightful critique of the kind that can break the insular group-think that major bid teams can self-create.
“I can recommend Jordan as an advisor to teams looking to check and challenge themselves and their strategies for success before finding out the hard way.”
Rod Naylor
General Manager
Veolia Water North America (New York)
' . . . Clever and Incisive Questioning . . . '
“Jordan Kelly has a totally unique ability to walk into a company and, with clever and incisive questioning, identify the smartest and most relevant competitive strengths on which to build its key marketing productions and sales documentation.
“She’s sharp; sharp enough that I’m glad she’s working with us and not our competitors.”
Building Industry
Marketing Manager
(Household Brand Name and Largest Player in its Sector) Sydney, Australia
'Her Bid Strategy Coaching Changed the Whole Way We Approach Clients'
“Our weekend workshop by Jordan Kelly helped me see the bid evaluation process from the client’s perspective. I now cringe when I look back on some of the bids and client communications I have sent in the past. Her unique perspective was exactly what I was looking for, for our sales and marketing team and all the participants were very impressed with both the content and the delivery.
“I can honestly say that the concepts that Jordan uses have already become part of the way we work and interact with our clients, not only in the realm of a bid, but also in day-to-day interactions. Whilst not for the faint-hearted, Jordan’s workshop lead us through the bid strategy formulation process in a way which completely changed the way we approach our clients. She does this, not by formulas or templates, but by a complete paradigm shift, which truly changes ingrained behaviours.
“Thanks, Jordan, for what should become a pivotal moment in the history of our company.
“PS: It is amazing! Even with general customer correspondence, you have managed to instil a deep-set change in the way I am communicating with my customers.”
Nicholas Dal Sasso
General Manager
Ecotech Pty Ltd (Environmental Monitoring)
'She Has A Great Coaching Style'
“The skill sets she teaches are highly relevant to our business. They can make a huge difference in converting opportunities into prospects, or even creating opportunities in the first place. She has a great coaching style, and whenever resistance arose she handled it well in my view.
“She also showed us how to weave some of her own magic through our writing, to create continuity, relevance and a compelling, readable style. I picked up some great ideas, techniques and principles in these sessions, which I’ll be putting into practice immediately.”
Alliance project manager and bid leader
Alliance Network International Pty Ltd
Queensland
'A Provocative, Challenging & Totally Dedicated Teacher'
“Jordan is a provocative, challenging and totally dedicated teacher. She is relentless in her pursuit of success on her client’s behalf. This is a very good thing for any organisation that wants to improve its proficiency in business-critical proposals and RFT responses.
“Jordan will accept nothing less than the best output in any area of performance, from preliminary research through to end-product, and the quality of her coaching in all of those areas is such that each member actually does achieve to the very best of their ability, which increases every time she works with us.”
Simon Ormes
Business Development Manager (North Queensland Division)
Abigroup Contractors
'Skilful Strategy Facilitation & First-Class Bid Writing'
“I’ve worked with Jordan for six years on many different projects and many different objectives, and I heartily endorse both her skills and her service levels.
“I am always surprised at the challenging briefs Jordan is able to execute. She can take a market sector or subject area that is completely unfamiliar to her and generate smart, insightful and implementable strategies.
“Her strategy formulation skills are complemented by her skilful facilitation, her first-class writing skills, and by the fact that she delivers on time, every time.”
Steve Abson
Chief Operating Officer
Ostwald Bros Queensland
'Results-Driven Megaproject Bidding Strategist'
“Jordan is a results-driven megaproject bidding strategist and a serious thinking author. She combines those two very valuable skills to produce pragmatic, insightful advice for those who read her books.
“She’s candid, focused and erudite in her works, and interested in the application of her strategic intelligence to the science of winning bids in the international construction sector.
“She has been able to capture her insightful thinking in a way that provides meaningful and practical assistance to her readers.
“Further, her broad field of authorship is testament to her skills.”
Dr Bill Young
President
Asia Pacific Federation of Project Management
Hong Kong
Assistance with TeleGrid's Strategic Planning Process
“Thank you for your input and assistance with the development of TeleGrid’s strategic planning process. We found your knowledge and insight into the marketing process interesting and stimulating.
“Your quick grasp of the issues facing TeleGrid and your suggestions for change, based on your obviously sound experience, were both useful and achievable.”
Amal Hanna
Manager – TeleGrid
TransGrid Sydney, Australia
'Jordan Kelly's is the Very Best Brain You Could Hire'
“If you require a strategic thinker who can apply a laser sharp and incisive line of questioning, who can cut through jargon and clutter like a knife, and who can rapidly pull all the elements of the ‘big picture’ into one cohesive strategy, then Jordan Kelly’s is the very best brain you could hire.
“Jordan has a distinctive, fresh, smart style that greatly focuses the thought processes of an organisation’s own business development team. I for one have found hers to be a far more productive approach than the standard ‘methodologies’ employed by so many consultants.
“The benefits of this style include not only the production of winning bids but also a very effective transfer of her skills to those executives fortunate to be part of the strategy sessions she so deftly facilitates.”
Steven Di Pietro
Managing Director
Shop’n’Chek Australasia
'Integral Role in Our Contract Win'
“Jordan, you played an integral role in our management team’s success in winning the $100 million Emergency Alerting System contract with the Victorian Government.
“We knew without doubt that we had the superior offering . . . and you made sure that the fit between our ability and the client’s needs was immediately recognised by the evaluation committee.
“You have an inherent ability to see exactly what intelligence needs to be acquired in a complex and critical tender process, and you have an equally impressive ability as a strategic planning facilitator.
“We thank you for your efforts on our behalf.”
Wesley Dart
Commercial Manager
LSE Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd
'A Great Jump Start to Bidding PPP Projects'
“I have worked with Jordan to develop a coaching program for companies and individuals wishing to improve their knowledge of the bidding process for PPP projects.
“Drawing on her considerable experience, Jordan skilfully captured and structured the raw content I provided, then complemented it with her own research and Intellectual Property, to create a coaching program which provides a great jump start into a fascinating industry.”
James Mitchell
Independent Project Director
Public Private Partnerships
Australia
'Absolutely Integral Member of Our Bid Team & Asset to Our Operation'
“Jordan Kelly has worked with our team on a variety of tenders, and a variety of tender types.
“We are a small, tight-knit team, comprising everything from our Executive PA, to our Construction and Project Managers, our Estimators, our Business Development Manager, and myself, North Queensland Manager.
“What has been particularly gratifying and valuable about her involvement with our team, is that, while she lead us, taught us, and co-managed our activities with us, she was at the same time one of us. She was an absolutely integral member of our team.
“Although her mandate was to work with us on the production of our RFP responses, every aspect of her work with us actually became a coaching session and a learning experience in its own right. The residual value of her bid work with us has been immense in that regard. We simply don’t do things the same way any more, and in every part of our business development work and bidding activities we now find ourselves guided by the principles she has progressively instilled in us.
“Her involvement with us continues to be an asset to our operation.”
Gary Innes
North Queensland Manager
Abigroup Contractors
'Strategy for A Very Large & Crucial Bid'
“Alliance Network International recently contracted with Jordan Kelly to assist us with developing an overall strategy and putting together a tender for a very large bid that was crucial to the long-term growth of our business.
“Jordan lead us down a strategic assessment path that formed an essential part of the overall document development process. She guided our executive team through many fascinating and highly productive processes to achieve a truly strategic bid, at every level; a bid that has demonstrated to us that a winning strategy is also able to bring objectivity and reason to a price-focused client.
“The extremely effective techniques used for drilling down into the individual areas of the tender, identifying the perfect strategy to underpin each and then putting it all together in a document that easily flowed from section to section to provide an overall ‘big picture’ is a tribute to both her strategy and her writing skills.
“An additional and unexpected benefit was the learning we received through her teaching ability and her valuable knowledge transfer focus throughout this whole process. The bid development processes that Jordan has led us through will be used in our future tenders.”
John Major
Managing Director
Alliance Network International Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia
'Challenged Me to Think About What I Was Really Writing'
“Thanks for your inspiration, support and hard work on the bid.
“I personally enjoyed working with you and wanted to thank you for challenging me to really think about what I was writing.”
Uldis Clarson
Bid Manager
(Sydney, Australia) Parsons Brinckerhoff
Tender Documentation for Overseas Rail Project
“Jordan provided Bombardier Transportation with support to spearhead our tender response strategy for a multi-million dollar overseas rail project.
“For an engineering organisation, more product-focused than ‘market’-focused, Jordan showed the tender team another way to present the tender that was creative, customer-focused, and ensured we stayed on target consistently throughout the tender documentation.
“Jordan has a great feel for a customer’s needs and aspirations, through thorough research of background material to personal contact strategy.
“Jordan demonstrated a keen sense of what mattered to the customer, and her prose in the key front piece, the Executive Summary, was appropriate, emphatic and balanced.
“I recommend Jordan to others open to a new way of expression in the difficult world of tendering.”
Alan Burns
Director – Sales and Marketing
Bombardier Transportation Australia
(Formerly Adtranz, Bombardier is the world's largest manufacturer of railcars)
'Best Possible Non-Price Inputs to A Winning Bid'
“Jordan does considerable research into the non-price attributes section of a tender to ensure it is project-specific (non-generic) and relevant.
“This serves to ensure the best possible non-price adjustments are made to the tendered price to achieve a winning bid.”
Tim Grammer
Senior Engineer
Fletcher Construction New Zealand
'Raised the Morale of the Bid Team . . . Personable & Stimulating'
“I first worked with Jordan when I was with a small technically-oriented company bidding for a major Government project. She quickly realised that we lacked the ‘big picture’ on how to present ourselves and our proposal to the many and varied stakeholders who would contribute to the final decision.
“Her strategic thinking led us well outside our normal comfort zone, but she was able to convince us that her approach was the most likely to win over the doubters and the risk-averse.
“Along the way she wrote much professional and excellent copy, and greatly raised the morale of the bid team (who were ultimately successful).
“I strongly recommend Jordan for her ability to think creatively but clearly, and to communicate the results in a personable and stimulating manner.”
John Lush
Principal Consultant
John Lush & Associates
Technology Project Managers, Australia
'Re-defined Our Value Proposition'
“We called Jordan in because the increasing pace of mergers and acquisitions within the IT and Communications industry was beginning to see Allaw lose vital relationship continuity with our large corporate clients. This was eroding a significant part of our long-standing business base.
“It was important not only to reposition our services with the identified new key partners within those client organisations (clients such as NCR, HP-Compaq, Nortel Networks) but also to re-define our value proposition, in order to strengthen our relationship with them.
“Jordan played an essential role in helping us define our offering, along with its strategic and competitive strengths. Importantly, she also helped us align these with the clients’ needs in such a manner that we became their only sensible choice of service provider.”
Walter Schwalbe
Director of Business Development
Allaw Pty Ltd (Vendor Warranty Service)
Sydney, Australia
'You Are Obviously A Very Talented Strategic Writer'
“I have received the final copy of my new-business proposal. Just to let you know that I am very happy with this document. I do feel very fortunate that our paths crossed as you have produced something on my behalf which will provide me with a distinct competitive edge.
“You have made this process very simple; you are obviously a very talented strategic writer and your ability to quickly understand my business needs has been very impressive. Thank you also for your quick turnaround time and the very professional service you have provided to me.”
Robyn Norman
General Manager – Compulsory Third Party
QBE Insurance Group Australia
'Conveyed Our Message Clearly & Succinctly'
“Jordan has helped us immensely in conveying our message clearly and succinctly.
“When it comes to sharing the story, she has an amazing ability to script it.”
Paul Crowley
Vice President – South Pacific
Eagle Global Logistics (Aust.)
