Matt Redwood, Vice President of Global Solutions and Consulting Group at Diebold Nixdorf, joins James Plant to challenge one of the more fashionable pieces of career advice in circulation: that everyone should go it alone and start a business. Drawing on nearly 15 years leading global teams across banking and retail technology, Matt makes the case for staying inside the corporate world, and thriving there, and explains why the people who progress fastest are usually the ones who stop comparing themselves to everyone else. The conversation also covers what AI genuinely means for the workforce, the real difference between outcome-driven and process-driven leadership, and why hard work behind closed doors matters more than how well you manage upwards. It's a grounded, occasionally blunt conversation about what operating at the top actually requires.

FIVE KEY MOMENTS

02:16 How an engineering degree and a chance meeting in his final year of university set the direction for Matt's entire career

42:19 Why telling everyone to become a business owner can be the worst advice you could give someone

43:53 “The only person you're competing with is yourself,” and why comparison is the thing to drop first

54:23 Why it isn't AI that takes your job, but the people who use it

1:16:27 Why you'll never regret taking the leap, whatever the outcome

GUEST
Matt Redwood LinkedIn: mattredwood

GUEST COMPANY
Diebold Nixdorf LinkedIn: diebold

HOST
James Plant LinkedIn: james-plant-sinclairjames

HOST COMPANY
Sinclair James https://www.sinclairjames.co.uk/

SPONSOR
The podcast is sponsored by Sinclair James, an executive, interim and project staffing firm specialising in Construction, Property and Engineering.

Produced by Vertical Drop.