The Independent Minds

It is reassuring to know that anyone who arrives at my home to work on a gas appliance, boiler, cooker, or fire has been trained and has passed exams. That is because gas engineer is a regulated profession .  The list of regulated professions includes: Primary School Teacher Dental Hygienist Solicitor Social Worker Air Traffic Controller Farrier  Door Supervisor Missing from the extensiv...

In 1983 Elias van den Akker, popularly known as Al founded Ideal Schools in Glasgow. To celebrate forty years of successfully delivering professional education to the financial community, and his retirement Al joins Michael Millward, the managing director of Abeceder . Al explains how the student-centred approach to professional education provided at Ideal Schools helped the company to establish i...

In professional services, like legal, financial services, management consultancy, the client always comes first. It is the sort of commitment that means professionals must often work long hours. Family and other commitments take second place. So, what happens when a legal firm decides to find a way of working that will both enable their professional team to improve their work life balance without...

Michael Millward the founder of Abeceder and the host of The Independent Minds introduces the podcast. MIchael explains the reasons why he wanted to have a podcast about independent out of the box thinking, and how that fits with his approach to doing HR management.

Anthony Lewis a director of Tile Hill, a recruitment company and provider of interim management services explains to The Independent Minds host and managing director of Abeceder, Michael Millward what it takes to create a successful career as an interim manager. The interim manager market is changing, and demand for people with experience of creating and managing change is increasing over the long...

Everyone who is frustrated by the way recruitment and selection works should listen to this episode of The Independent Minds. Michael Millward founder of Abeceder meets Brandon Stevens the founder and CEO of Scoutr . If you are a job-hunter who is tired of sifting through countless job advertisements on yet more websites only to conclude that you are unlikely to ever find the job that will really...

In this episode of The Independent Minds, Michael Millward meets John McLachlan, co-author of ‘Real Leaders: a practical guide to the essential qualities of effective leadership’ looking at the three essential leadership traits that can’t be faked and how to ensure you have them? John explains that the single, most important, attribute of a good leader, is trustworthiness . But asks Michael But ho...

It is very easy to drop in to every day conversations words and phrases that have specific medical definitions. In some ways this might make us feel more comfortable, after all we have a word that sort of describes how we feel. Sometimes the words might help us explain to others how we feel. Burnout is one of these sorts of words. It is an authentic medical term that describes a specific set of me...

Most people have jobs that pay around average earnings, no surprise there! In this episode of The Independent Minds, host Michael Millward hears from Anthony Silver of Talent Recognition why so many people find it difficult to be happy and successful in their average pay job. Employees are unhappy at work and employers are failing to realise the productivity that happy employees could create becau...

Have you got it? You are not alone! Find out how to conquer Imposter Syndrome: in this episode of The Independent Minds.  Michael Millward meets Ian Child to find out how to conquer Imposter Syndrome. It’s estimated that around 70% of the population suffers from Imposter Syndrome. Albert Einstein, Serena Williams, Tom Hanks, and Lady Gaga are all famous sufferers. So, what is it and what can...

Michael Millward of Abeceder meets Peter Mohr, the founder of Simplifying Entrrepreneurship.com to discuss how Peter has built a career as a successful entrepreneur. They discuss how the roles of founder/entrepreneur and business manager differ in any type of organisation. Peter explains how being a founder/entrepreneur involves an acceptance of risks that business managers to not have to take on....

Michael Millward of Abeceder meets The Independent Mind Chris Thomason the author of Freaky Thinking: Thinking that delivers a dazzling difference.  Chris explains to Michael how the existing ways of structured thinking, that people adopt to solve problems and address challenges at work, often do not work. Their conversation then explores how a Freaky Thinking approach, one that is in line wi...

Thirty years of experience, research and reflection have given IT value expert David Jacobs, from MaxVal Consultancy a unique insight into what makes and what breaks the investment and implementation of any new IT solution. In this episode of The Independent Minds David explains to Michael Millward why things go wrong and gives a useful golfing metaphor to help any organisation avoid those pitfall...

Jon Skulemowski explains to Michael Millward how Armia Systems learnt to successfully lead an off-shore multicultural team of 300 people that facilitated expodential growth in the company. Jon and Michael discuss  the importance of building personal relationships with team members; being professional in every suituation;  understanding culture, and adapting behaviours and language to acc...

Kevin Palmieri joins The Independent Minds host Michael Millward to discuss the approach to achieving the best connection between work and life and vice versa that Kevin has developed. In an interesting conversation Michael and Kevin discover that despite the different perspectives they take, Michael as a HR professional and Kevin as a personal coach, to looking at what makes people successful in...

In this episode of The Independent Minds, Michael Millward is joined in conversation by Martin Johnson, the creator of BIG PICTURE and Founder @YourBigPic to discuss the 3 Laws of Engagement which Martin has developed.