It’s the questions you ask – not the answers you give

Amber Johnson is the founder of the Bright Threads Leadership Group, based in Chicago Illinois.

In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Amber helps host Michael Millward explore how the ideas of Appreciative Enquiry can be applied by leaders to improve the outcomes they achieve.

Amber starts by defining Appreciative Enquiry and explaining how this approach helps to bring different perspectives to a discussion.

As their conversation develops Michael and Amber discuss

• The origins of workplace power structures that make it difficult for people to ask questions
• The role of a leader as a provider
• How questions can decrease competition and increase collaboration
• How social culture impacts question asking
• The Power Distance concept
• Different ways of asking questions

Discover more about Amber and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest

We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening.

How can leaders use stillness to improve performance

Moving from Europe to North America gave Markus Neukom the opportunity to reflect on his career as an executive coach. He asked his clients what the most valuable aspect of working with him had been.

Their response was the sense of stillness that he created in meetings.

In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Markus explores with host Michael Millward what creating a sense of stillness means and how leaders can use stillness to enhance their work performance and work life balance.

Their conversation covers a wide range of topics including

• Stillness as a source of psychological safety
• How stress develops
• Societal expectations as a source of stress
• The importance of self-awareness

Discover more about Markus and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest

We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening.

How to Build a Personality Driven Media Company

It was an old high school friend Neil Patel, the founder of Answer the Public, who introduced AJ Kumar to the world of blogging and online marketing. AJ took that introduction and created, by working with Kimberly Snyder, and others a blueprint for creating a personality driven media company.

AJ launched his own company, The Limitless Company, and published Guru Inc.

In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds AJ explains to host Michael Millward the connection between the reverence that his culture has for spiritual gurus and the celebrity status that business gurus achieve in western culture.

Aj describes the different stages in achieving guru status, from expert to guru’s guru.

Using his experience AJ explains the different aspects of the personality driven media company blue print. Michael and AJ also discuss two of the most successful personality driven media companies, those based around Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart.

This is the podcast for any business person who wants to maximise the impact of their on-line presence.

Discover more about AJ and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

Purchase Guru Inc from Amazon

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest

We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening.

Working behind a bar taught Neil Rogers everything he needed to know about how to be successful in sales.

Neil Rogers gave up a successful corporate sales career to set-up Rogers Marketing and then he co-founded Positive Activity.

After a less than successful time in education Neil worked in the hospitality industry, mainly as a bar tender. His customers convinced him that he would make a good sales person. So, he returned to college and then embarked on a career in sales.

In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Neil explains to host Michael Millward how the lessons he learnt working behind a bar helped him to be successful both in education and in his sales career.

After hearing Jerry Murrell the founder of the Five Guys burger restaurant chain speak, Neil realised how his experience in hospitality had contributed to his career success.

Michael also started his adult career in hospitality and reflects with Neil on the lessons they both learnt from working in hospitality that helped them in their respective careers.

Tom Cruise who played a bartender in the hit movie Cocktail gets a mention.

Discover more about Neil and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

Purchase Bar Tips: Everything I Needed to Know in Sales I Learned Behind the Bar from Amazon

Neil recommends reading books by Anthony Robbins and Jim Rohn

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest

We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening

Learn how to master the art of problem-solving and creativity

The ability of a company to be creative in the way it solves problems has a direct impact on the level of success that company achieves. So why aren’t more companies and other organisations working harder at being more creative?

That is the question Nir Bashan, author of The Solution Mindset and Michael Millwarddiscuss in this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds.

Michael and Nir discuss

• How creativity is part of our DNA yet as we get older, we lose our creativity.
• How we can regain our creativity
• The role language plays in facilitating creativity
• The lack of creativity in creative industries
• Balancing creativity and analytics
• The most important stages in being creativity
• Being creative when your boss is not interested in creativity
• The creativity snowball
• How managers can effectively manage creativity

This is the podcast that empowers you to be more creative, and more successful for yourself, your team and your organisation.

Discover more about Nir and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

Books by Nir Bashan at Amazon

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest – We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening.

The most effective way to sell is by communicating the value of your proposition to your potential customer.

Luke Jorgenson started his sales career in commission only door to door sales. If you don’t learn quickly how to sell, you don’t eat.

Luke did learn to sell and as a result he dined well. He also learnt how to deal with a lot of rejection and worked out how to recognise people who were most likely to buy.

Nowadays, Luke is a sales coach.

In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Luke explains to host Michael Millward that the secret of his success was not his ability to sell, but his ability to engage in two way communication.

Michael and Luke discuss

• How selling door to door is taking the market to a totally cold customer.
• The importance of demonstrating your interest in how your potential customer lives and their challenges
• Understanding the causes of your customers problems not just the symptoms
• The role that educating your customers plays
• What putting the customer first really means
• Facilitating buying decisions
• Knowing when to walk away

This is the podcast explains how your sales team could sell more.

Discover more about Luke and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest

We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening.

Richard Ellis describes the connection between employee wellbeing and employee engagement

Richard Ellis is a New Zealand based corporate health coach who works with businesses of all kinds to impact their bottom-line profitability by connecting employee health and wellbeing to employee engagement.

In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Richard explains to host Michael Millward the work of a health coach.

They discuss how the medical health care industry is focused on treating acute illnesses, the social care system on chronic conditions once they have taken hold, and health coaches focus on preventing all kinds of health problems.

A fence at the top of the cliff instead of an ambulance at the bottom.

Richard explains how our health, good or bad is a consequence of the decisions we make about every aspect of our lives. His role is to provide the information so that people can make informed choices.

This often leads to sustainable behaviour change, that impacts work performance, enhances employee engagement, improves employee productivity, and increases profits.

This is the podcast to listen to when you have to build a business case for investment in health and wellbeing.

Discover more about Richard and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work - We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest

We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening.

Katie O’Malley explains the A.I.R. Coaching Framework

Katie O'Malley is the founder and principal coach at Chicago based (en)Courage Coaching.

As a coach Katie essentially listens for a living. Effective listening requires us to give our full attention to someone else. A task more difficult than many think.

But it is a skill that can be learnt by applying the A.I.R coaching framework that Katie has created.

In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Katie explains to host Michael Millward the different elements of the A.I.R. Coaching Framework and how A.I.R. repositions widely accepted approaches to coaching into a new context.

Michael and Katie discuss some of the frustrations of traditional approaches to coaching and how the change in mindset that the A.I.R. Framework facilitates in coaches creates a more productive experience for coachees.

Discover more about Katie and Michael at Abeceder.co.uk

Audience Offers – listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds

The Independent Minds is made on Zencastr, because as the all-in-one podcasting platform, Zencastr really does make creating content so easy.

Travel – With discounted membership of the Ultimate Travel Club, you can travel anywhere at trade prices.

Fit For Work We recommend The Annual Health Test from York Test; a 39-health marker Annual Health Test conducted by an experienced phlebotomist with hospital standard tests carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A secure Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and lifestyle guidance. Use our discount code MIND25.

Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote my referral code WPFNUQHU.

Being a Guest

We recommend the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests or if you have something interesting to say Matchmaker.fm is where great guests and great hosts are matched and great podcasts are hatched. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscriber.

Thank you for listening.