Nick Jans Australian Defence College, Australia
Nicholas Jans, PhD, OAMProfessional philosophy: “There’s nothing as practical as a good theory”
Nick describes himself as a soldier, a scholar and a management consultant, since much of his professional practice has encompassed all three roles.
He served in the Australian Regular Army in field artillery, training, and personnel policy development, including active service in Vietnam in 1968-69. He left the Army in 1986 for a consultancy and academic career but retains his association with the military as a consultant and a reservist Brigadier.
His scholarly interests include the sociology of the military career, including the motives to serve, the Reserves in the contemporary military, diversity issues in the military, the nature and description of “soft capability”, and leadership. He recently completed a study of military strategic leadership (“The Chiefs: A Study in Strategic Leadership”) and he hopes soon to publish a book on Australian military leadership and the lessons that can be learned by leaders in other fields.
As a resident of Marysville, he and his wife Judy were deeply engaged in community recovery and regeneration after the Black Saturday bushfires in February 2009, for which he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours List.