Key People
Minerva is a federation of consultants who are all 'subject matter experts'. We are united through common ethos, ways of working and common experience. We are integrated through the 'conceptual coherence' of the intellectual foundations underpinning our activity, and through ICT.
The core members of the team include the following people.
Jeremy Tozer
For more years than he cares to remember, Jeremy Tozer and his colleagues have pioneered building leadership and strategy execution capability in organizations — enterprise-wide leadership as the enabler of change and innovation, 'alignment of activity' and employee engagement. He continuously 're-thinks' leadership learning and development to fully integrate it with organizational strategy development, execution and evolution.
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After graduating with an electronics degree and passing out of Sandhurst, Jeremy was commissioned into the Army. During his decade long military career, of which one third was spent on operations, and one third in the Far East, he served as both an infantry and intelligence Officer. On leaving the Army he found employment in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector and in the executive search and selection world which is when he started to think about what the Army could learn from business, what business could learn from the Army, and what both could learn from research. This was the springboard into the consulting world.
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Jeremy is the author of two books on leadership and strategy execution; the second containing many case studies of client application and measures of cost savings, and productivity gains. He redesigned London Business School's Senior Executive Programme, and is an Executive Fellow at Henley Business School, University of Reading. His recent doctoral research at Henley is reflected in Minerva's white papers and conceptual foundations.
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Jeremy has worked with many companies in the ICT, banking and finance, pharmaceutical, leisure and FMCG sectors, across Asia, Australasia, the USA and the UK.
Dr Sam Mather PhD
A 20 year corporate career in talent management and development (culminating as Head of Talent Development, EMEA and responsible for 10,000 employees across 82 countries) led to the realisation that for organizations to be able to grow, employees needed to be able to learn. They needed to have the right environment and cognitive resources to be capable of adapting and changing. Sadly, many organisations are unwittingly disabling their employees from learning, growing and being innovative. This resulted in Sam specialising in psychological safety and employee resilience and to follow her passion with a move into the consulting world.
Sam’s has gained her experience internationally across a wide variety of industry sectors, countries and cultures. From start-ups to blue chip organisations, not-for profit to banking and finance. She has a PhD in Organizational Psychology, an MSc in Learning and Performance Management, and a Diploma in Coaching.
Amanda Larcombe
Amanda, a former Royal Navy Officer, is an executive coach and published author with over 25 years leadership and management experience gained in the Public, Private and Voluntary Sectors: Legal Services; Food Manufacturing; Academy Trusts; Professional Training & Support providers and the Royal Navy. Her work has spanned strategy development; marketing; personnel development and training; recruitment; organizational change; public and community relations; and event management and communications.
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Amanda is an expert in optimising leadership capability through coaching; in facilitating learning and development in personality and human behaviour, establishing internal coaching and mentoring provision, and in assessment/development centre behavioural observation and feedback. Her primary role with Minerva is executive coaching and the supervision of coaches. She is an APECS Accredited Supervisor of Executive Coaches, APECS Accredited Executive Coach, BACP Accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist; and has a Certificate in Supervision (Counselling/Psychotherapy) and an MA in Professional Studies (Counselling & Psychotherapy).
Mark Abraham OBE
Commissioned into the Army from Sandhurst, Mark had an operational leadership career in the UK and abroad. Rising to Brigadier, his earlier career saw him commanding a Regiment in Iraq and supporting civil authorities during emergencies and crises in the UK. His service included policy roles in the MoD, doctrine and concepts development, and as a Colonel, he was a Director at the Defence Academy, educating the Army’s future leaders in leadership and staff responsibilities.
Mark was Head of Employment for three years at Army HQ, leading a corporate culture change programme, before moving back to operational delivery. As COO of Home Command; Mark oversaw 16,000 military and civilian staff responsible for the recruiting and training to generate the Field Army, Standing Joint Command, Civil Engagement and the UK's regional infrastructure and operations. He has advised the US Government on aspects of culture change and lectured at institutions including European Institute, RUSI and others on culture change and leadership in large organisations. Mark was a member of a Business in the Community Board for 9 years and was appointed OBE for his pioneering work.
Since leaving the Army, he has been delivering innovative strategy, culture, leadership and change reviews, programmes and training to large public and private sector organisations including the NHS, Central and Local Government, Higher Education, Infrastructure Developers and the MoD.
Prof Patricia Riddell
Patricia is a Professor of Applied Neuroscience, who uses her expertise to conduct research, design training in applications of neuroscience and consult with organizations on how to use neuroscience to be more effective. She received a BSc from the University of Glasgow, an MSc from Imperial College and then was awarded a doctorate from the University of Oxford.
One of her main research interests is the ways in which neuroscience can be applied in the business world, supporting and extending our understanding of human behaviour, leadership and decision making.
Patricia combines the latest neuroscience understanding with practical means to immediately impact real world challenges facing individuals, teams and organizations. She consults for International Training Seminars, and has developed customised neuroscience solutions for Sage Publishing. With her colleagues, she has developed training in the Neuroscience of Leadership and Decision Making for UK Government Departments.
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The current revolution in our understanding of the complexities of human behaviour provides an opportunity to use our brains better. Understanding and communicating this information requires a new breed of professional both with expertise in neuroscience and experience in the ways in which neuroscience can be used to tackle real world issues.
Dr David Reindorp PhD MPhil MA
David is a former Captain RN, consultant and academic thought leader specialising in the capability development, operational planning and decision-making implications of the future operating environment. He saw service in Northern Ireland, the Tanker War and Gulf War 1; and commanded a corvette and Type 23 Frigate, and then taught on various UK strategic leadership courses at the Defence Academy. Awarded a Fellowship in 2007, he spent several years leading cross-government strategic and crisis planning teams focused on the middle east and other states of concern.
David has mentored various corporate planning and alternative thinking teams; advised the Joint Expeditionary Force’s leadership team on strategy; and lead studies into the strategy execution implications of the information environment; and the use of autonomy and artificial intelligence in decision making. In 2019 he led a ‘Red Team’ review of a major update to British Defence thinking and he remains an active researcher as a Visiting Fellow at the University of St Andrews.
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Armed Forces Covenant
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Several of the core team and our network of associates are former service men and women. It is natural that we should wish to fully support the Armed Forces Covenant.
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