World citizen
James Bampfield was born in 1964 in UK, but has lived with his family in Belgium for fourteen years. He had a classic British upbringing, including private school where he excelled both academically and in sport. From there he won a scholarship to Cambridge University. After graduating, he travelled round the world living in various European countries, West Africa, Australia, the US and Japan. Since 1998 he has been working as consultant and facilitator for multinationals, KMO’s, NOGO’s and government agencies. Much of what he has learnt on the way is now distilled into his book ‘The Discipline of Pleasure.’
Curious
From an early age James was skeptical and extremely inquisitive. He was fascinated by the big questions in life: Is this all, what I see around me? Is this the best that humanity can do? What is our purpose on this planet? etc. By his seventeenth birthday, he was already meditating and even had an Indian guru. Despite a busy student life, he was a keen participant in therapeutic and self-development workshops. During his ten-year travels round the world, he was particularly interested in experiencing other cultures. He learnt how to survive out in the world and took many risks, landing in countries where he knew nobody, had little money and was forced to make contact with others. This ‘school of life’ was just as important to him as all the exclusive schools he had attended. He also began to give workshops focusing on self-development.
Quinx
When he was thirty-three, James wanted to re-enter mainstream society and went back to university to study facilitation and organizational development. He is the co-founder of Quinx. He has helped hundreds of people and teams in personal and organizational change in multi-nationals, NGO’s and KMO’s, such as Johnson and Johnson, Colruyt, Torfs, JBC, Durabrik, Friends of the Earth, etc.
The ‘CEO Council’
James is a believer in peer-to-peer learning and Quinx launched an initiative called ‘Councils’. They brought CEO’s together from different companies both to share their expertise with each other and also to discover a deeper sense of mission, seeking to create a better quality of life both for their companies and society at large. The CEO Council with which he has been working for the last 6 years comprises CEO’s such as Wouter Torfs, Frans Colruyt, Bart Claes and other top leaders who are values-driven and committed to ‘conscious capitalism’.
Lessons for Life
The essential thread that runs through all James’ work is the same as the thread that runs through his life: “Look deeper, discover who you really are as individual or as organization. Be authentic, take risks, learn and evolve. Look for deeper meaning in your life and become a force for good in the world. In his free time, apart from sport, James devotes much of his time to his other passions – spiritual practice and writing. He has distilled much of what he has learnt in his life into a book called ‘The Discipline of Pleasure’.