Speaking Business Podcast

In an increasingly chaotic and disruptive world of technology our guest today is one of 2019's 100 Global Leaders and a Top 10 Global Internet of Things innovator.  She doesn't just predict the future she engineers it. She has positively impacted the lives of over 1/3 of the world's population. 34 million citizens globally collaborate in her cutting-edge research. She is also appointed to the G20 as an expert advisor and has created a new plan for the Global Digital Economy please welcome web scientist and "cyberpreneur" Dr Jacqui Taylor. Bio Dr Jacqui Taylor one of 100 Global Leaders for 2019, as a top 10 Global Internet of Things innovator she doesn't just predict the future she engineers it using cutting edge web science research. She will clarify and demystify the future for you and spotlight the mega trends inspiring you to align your organisation to profit from the Internet of Things. As one of the original 250 Founders of the UK's Tech City it became clear to her In December 2016 that the combination o

Drawing upon 20 years' experience consulting on innovation pathways for billion-dollar blue chips, my guest this week provides road-tested insights on the technological and human innovations that will change the shape of business over the next five years.   As founder and CEO, she is the chief storyteller at GDR Creative Intelligence, a business futurist and strategy consultancy working with an impressive roster of brands - including Microsoft, P&G, The BBC, Tesco, Waitrose and Danone.   She fuses big picture context with carefully curated case studies from the world's leading technologists, designers, marketeers, architects and thought leaders to illustrate how new technologies and consumer behaviours will impact physical and digital commerce.   She says that "Innovation almost always starts with cross fertilisation." "Looking outside of your sector and geography at non-competitors is far more likely to lead to greater disruptive breakthroughs than can be achieved by chasing your competitors."  Please we

At this time, it strikes me that we have an opportunity to look at our lives and our businesses in a new way and maybe get creative about what the future can bring.  So, I thought it would be good to talk about creativity and get some techniques and advice from my guest this week, BAFTA award-winning comedy writer and creativity expert, Tim Reid. Bio Tim Reid is a multiple award-winning comedy writer, best known for co-creating and co-writing the BAFTA winning sitcom, CAR SHARE. As well as winning the BAFTA for Best Scripted Comedy, CAR SHARE also won Best Original Programme at the Broadcast Awards, 2016; Most Popular Comedy Series at the National Television Awards, 2016; and Best TV Entertainment Programme at the Television and Radio Industries Club Awards. In addition to being a successful comedy writer, Tim is a world class innovation expert, and he's passionate about combining these two skills to help businesses become as creative as comedians.  Tim has worked for some of the worlds most creative organisa

At the time of recording we have just heard in the UK that British Airways will be making 12,000 people redundant. Oasis, Warehouse and Carluccio's amongst other household names have gone into liquidation.  Our country is in its second month of lockdown and many businesses find themselves unable to trade and are doing their best to just keep themselves afloat. My guest this week is an expert in leading businesses through crisis so that they not only survive but grow.  During his career he has founded start-ups, driven turnarounds and led major brands.  He has built over 3 billion pounds of shareholder value. He's led transformational growth at 14 companies and now acts as Chairman to a number of growing businesses.  Let's get some timely advice from this week's business expert, Kevin Gaskell. Bio Kevin Gaskell is an extraordinary leader who led iconic brands Porsche, BMW and Lamborghini to unprecedented levels of success before creating global businesses from scratch. A corporate trailblazer, serial entrepren

My guest this week is coming back for a second visit, he is going to help us while we deal with the Coronavirus. He was Professor of Psychology at University College London for 26 years and is now Principal Psychologist at Stamford Associates, an asset management company  Like Noel Coward, he believes that work is more fun than fun and considers himself to be a well-adjusted workaholic. So today we are going to be talking about working from home, motivation, isolation, money worries and loneliness. Bio Adrian Furnham was Professor of Psychology at University College London from 1992 – 2018. He has lectured widely abroad and held scholarships and visiting professorships at, amongst others, the University of New South Wales, the University of the West Indies, the University of Hong Kong and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.  He has also been a Visiting Professor of Management at Henley Management College, Adjunct Professor of Management at the Norwegian School of Management (2009) and Honorary Professor at the U

My guest this week has been with us before but I've brought him back as at the time of recording this episode, we are going through a lockdown situation.  We are trapped at home with our families and our loved ones and this man has experienced this for himself for a long period of time. He is an entrepreneur and adventurer, he believes in challenging conventional thinking on how leaders and teams become truly effective and create extraordinary results. His toughest challenge by far was building his family team to sail around the world: with his wife and three children aged 9, 7 and 2.  Today he is going to share with us what he learned in those 2 years that can help us in our time of lock down. My guest is Caspar Craven. Bio From entrepreneur, to corporate team management, to yachtsman, Caspar Craven has over 30 years' experience in building teams to make things happen. After University, he spent 8 years in the corporate world – first as a Chartered Accountant and then as an Investment Banker at KPMG. In 2000

My guest this week has appeared with us before sharing her expertise to compete against the odds.  Today she is back to talk about Mental Toughness.  She is going to share with us how and why developing confidence, resilience, commitment and focus is critical in today's challenging business and personal environment. Motorsport and TV fans know her as the first and only woman to drive a World Rally Car. Let's welcome back this week's guest and good friend Penny Mallory. Bio Motorsport and TV fans know her as the first and only woman to drive a World Rally Car. Penny knows how to compete and beat the odds, but she also knows top performance requires even more than sacrifice and maximum commitment. It also takes heart, insight and the courage to keep going and the refusal to quit. She gets it, because she's lived it. As a leading authority in Mental Toughness, Penny has perfected the art of Psychologically-Powered Performance. Her interactive, challenging and transformational insight into how and why developing

My guest this week is a performance coach who specialises in supporting leaders to build personal resilience.  For the last fifteen years he has worked at the interface of leadership and wellbeing with some of the biggest brands in the world. His passion is to support leaders to play the 'inner game' of life better, so it enables them to lead themselves, their teams and their families.  At this time of crisis, I think we might all learn a few things so let's give a warm Speaking Business welcome to Charlie Cannon. Bio Charlie Cannon – Helping leaders, teams and organisations build resilience so that they can embrace change and sustain performance in a disruptive and uncertain world. Charlie is a much sought after performance enhancement coach who has helped leaders, teams and global organisations build resilience thus enabling them not only to embrace change in an uncertain disruptive world, but able to sustain high levels of performance and thrive no matter what the world throws at them. For the last fift

This week I've delved into the archives again.  This particular speaker is a bit of a clever chap.  He has actually done 3 main stage TED talks and has got a brain the size of a planet.  When he speaks, he says "I want the audience to go away knowing less after I've spoken than they did before I spoke".  At first, I thought this was crazy, but he's a very clever man and what he is saying is that people need to be asking better questions, so when they come away from hearing him, they will be asking better questions because better questions lead to better answers and in this time of this uncertainty, that is so important. My guest is neuroscientist, Beau Lotto. Beau Lotto's aim is to use the principles of perception to enable individuals and organisations to adapt to an increasingly uncertain world.   Dr. Beau Lotto is a Professor of Neuroscience, author and entrepreneur. He is a three-time main stage TED speaker (with over 7,000,000 views). He is author of two books: Why We See What We Do', and 'Deviate: The S

My guest this week has done so much that it would take the entire podcast episode just to read his CV, so I've picked a few highlights He is Emeritus Professor of World Competitiveness, at IMD business school and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.  He is the Founder, of the World Competitiveness Center, and publisher of the Annual World Competitiveness Yearbooks ranking the competitiveness of nations.  Author of two bestselling books published in several languages: Top Class Competitors - How Nations, Firms, and Individuals Succeed in the New World of Competitiveness Are you a Tiger, a Cat or a Dinosaur? He is the Former Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and the Davos Annual meetings. My guest is Professor Stéphane Garelli. BIO Stéphane Garelli – a world authority on competitiveness – has pioneered research and the theory in this field. Professor Emeritus at IMD (Institute of Management Development) Lausanne, where he has founded the World Competitiveness Center, he is also Professor Emeri

My guest this week is Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, award-winning comedian and author. She survived the hedonistic sixties with the inevitable round of clubbing, fashion and drugs; then she made the most of the seventies, travelling to over sixty countries whilst running a travel business. But it was the eighties that tested her to her limits. Battling depression, bankruptcy, addiction and suicide attempts, She found the strength to confront her need to change gender and achieve harmony with herself. Today she is on a mission to create transformational change for leaders by developing a Fearless Mindset.  My guest is Shelley Bridgman. Bio There are speakers who have led a conventional life then there are those with a hinterland and Shelley Bridgman is certainly is among the latter. Shelley is a Transformational Change & Thought Diversity expert, Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, Trainer, & Author. She has become a media commentator specialising in psychotherapy & psychology, with appearances on

My guest is a futurist, philosopher, and a leading expert in futurism and emerging technologies. He is a populariser, commentator, and influencer of all things futuristic. He is the host of the techno-philosophy YouTube series FUTURISTIC NOW and is listed in the top twenty must-watch futurism shows on YouTube. He has spoken at NASA's Johnson Space Centre, Boston University, The London Business School, and 2016 International Judicial Symposium in Korea held by the Supreme Court of Korea.  He has appeared on CBS This Morning, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Yahoo news, and many other TV shows and news outlets around the world in his quest to popularise futurism.  My guest is Gray Scott. Bio Gray Scott is a futurist, techno-philosopher and one of the world's leading experts in the field of emerging technology. Gray has appeared on Discovery Channel Canada, History Channel, CBS This Morning, FOX News, Cheddar News, Yahoo News, as well as in several documentaries including The Future of Work and Death. Gray's

Sir Chris Hoy MBE, multiple world and Olympic champion track cyclist, is one of Great Britain's most successful Olympic athletes, with six gold medals and one silver. Chris retired from competitive cycling in 2013 and his achievements throughout his career make him Scotland's most successful Olympian, the first Briton since 1908 to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games, and one of the most successful Olympic male cyclists of all time. In June 2016 Chris added to his record list of achievements when he finished the world's most demanding motorsport endurance race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, on his debut. Following his retirement Chris successfully launched a range of kid's bikes, HOY bikes, as well as publishing a series of children's books – Flying Fergus. Chris is now a main stay amongst sporting commentary and punditry in the UK having been an integral part of the BBC's team covering the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2018 European Championships and the Tour de

Claire Young was made famous by her role as the highly driven runner up of series four of 'The Apprentice' where was dubbed a 'Rottweiler' by Lord Sugar for her tenacious approach in the boardroom and drive not to quit. She beat 40,000 candidates to reach the final and this experience inspired Claire to set up 'School Speakers an award-winning business. It is the UK's No 1 speaking agency working alongside schools, colleges and universities across the world to provide talks to students and staff. She also works within the media as a journalist & radio presenter in addition to advising the government on a range of projects supporting young people and women. She studied Equine Science at the University of Bristol and remains a keen rider with her Irish Sports horse.  She has won several business awards and combines her busy career with being a mum to her young daughter Eva. In January 2018 she become a Leadership Fellow of St George's House, Windsor Castle. Bio Claire Young was made famous by her role as th

I've delved back into the archives this week to bring you a very special lady. She is in fact the first and only woman to drive a world rally car.  She's got an amazing mindset and in today's competitive world when only the best will do, she has perfected the art of Psychologically-Powered performance to bring out the very best in us.  I'm bringing you again the wonderful Penny Mallory. Penny tells us how from an early age she wanted to become a rally driver, how this led her into presenting and why speaking is such a passion. She talks about her love for boxing and how techniques used by Muhammad Ali inspired her to get into the boxing ring at the age of 42. Penny also admits to how many points she has on her driving licence!! Bio Motorsport and TV fans know Penny Mallory as the first and only woman to drive a World Rally Car. Penny knows how to compete and beat the odds, but she also knows top performance requires even more than sacrifice and maximum commitment. It also takes heart, insight and the courage

My guest this week describes himself as a very ordinary person - in fact, even more ordinary than everyone else.  For his first job, he was a geography high-school teacher, but he was so low in confidence, his kids misbehaved very badly.  He then chose to try and learn how to live a better life. He left the classroom, flew to Siberia with his bicycle, and spent three years cycling home to London, via Papua New Guinea, Australia and Afghanistan. After that, he went on other adventures, including cycling across America on a tandem with his wife and walking the length of China.  National Geographic has made two television series about his journeys, and he's the author of two books. He now lives in Hong Kong - he speaks all over the world, but especially at events in the Asia Pacific Region.  Through his experiences, he has discovered a new outlook on life - but he says he is still very ordinary.   Please welcome adventurer and author Rob Lilwall.  Recorded on:  21st November 2019 Bio Rob Lilwall is an adventurer

My guest this week came to the world's attention in January 1991, when he was captured by the Iraqis and his bruised and battered face became a potent symbol of Saddam Hussein's ruthless aggression. His war was not at all as he expected – it became a seven-week ordeal of torture and interrogation testing him to the absolute limit and bringing him close to death. During his RAF career he flew Tornado GR1 on various squadrons and then, within the MoD, led programmes on leadership, safety and human error in aviation. He has written two best-selling books and a documentary; 'Tornado Down', which was Independent Documentary of the Year and a BAFTA Award Nominee. He retired from the RAF as a Squadron Leader and now focuses on helping senior teams and Boards by providing business critical development, consulting and coaching – through a leadership lens. Let's give a huge Speaking Business welcome to this week's guest John Peters Recorded on:  18th December 2019 Bio Fighter pilot, businessman and business adviser.  J

My guest this dedicates his life to connecting people with their own ideas. He does this via his award-winning ideas company 7billionideas, which he founded in 2012 and which operates in both the education and the corporate sector.  He made the leap from the corporate world to become an entrepreneur after spending the best part of a decade working for the technology giant IBM.  He truly believes that every single person on this planet has an amazing imagination and can change the world.  Please welcome my guest this week, entrepreneur, author and speaker, David Harkin. Recorded on:  12th December 2019 Bio David J Harkin inspires organisations in adopting a mindset of relentless innovation and intrapreneurship through a people centric bottoms-up approach for radical in-house innovation and growth. David has had the privilege of speaking globally to audiences for the last 5 years. He is an entrepreneur, proud Tedx speaker and author who dedicates his life to connecting people with their own ideas. He does this

This week I've gone back to the archives again because there are some jewels in there.  Here is one of the early episodes, my guest was Caspar Craven, who is an entrepreneur and adventurer. Caspar has had oodles of experience, building teams and organisations, creating high growth strategies for business.  He's also an award-winning yachter.  He combined his business skills (leadership and teambuilding) and yachting skills when he took his family on his toughest challenge by far making them into a team to sail around the world, he, his wife and three children, then aged 9, 7, and 2. There were so many amazing lessons for business, for teams, for families, for relationships, about leadership, growth, work/life balance and working out what your true colours are. Caspar tells us about his first business at the age of 14 selling crabs by the sea, his amazing adventure sailing around the world with his family. What he discovered about home schooling his children and sharing the lessons he learnt on his adventure t

My guest this week is unusual; he is a businessperson working in energy transition who also writes books for general audiences. His next book will be published in January 2020 and will provide a short guide to each sector of the economy and what needs to be done to completely decarbonise. He was, until recently, chair of a rapidly growing electric vehicle charging company which was then sold to the French energy multinational Engie. He has a variety of angel investments in electricity generation and energy efficiency.  He speaks frequently to business and general audiences across Europe on all things relating to climate change and energy transition. And he practices what he preaches, he takes the train. It is my pleasure to welcome this week's guest, Chris Goodall Bio Chris Goodall is the author of several successful books and writer for Guardian Environment Network and other energy websites, such as Abundance and The Ecologist. His latest book, The Switch, covers the unstoppable rise of solar power. Addition