Engaging People, Powering Companies - The Leadership Podcast (Amrit Sandhar, And Evolve, &Evolve)

We all want to improve our organisational cultures to create learning organisations but how can we achieve this when on an individual level, we struggle to overcome the anguish of mistakes. 

Have you ever been accused of flip-flopping? When we think of leaders, we often have images of strong, charismatic individuals who are clear visionaries, with the ability to immediately know where to go and how to get there. Whilst this applies to some very exceptional people, the world is full of great leaders who are more open-minded. When being open-minded is a great predictor of workplace success, engagement and innovation, isn't it more important that we focus on developing this critical skill? Join Amrit as he explores 'Leadership Open-Mindedness' in this week's podcast.

In the UK, we've been experiencing lovely weather, and have you noticed how much nicer everyone is to one another when the sun shines? The weather makes a huge difference to our mood and motivation. Yet we don't often think about it, but leaders create the weather in our workplaces. Think of managers as the gardeners - there's a limit of what they can do if the weather doesn't help them. Join Amrit as he shares he thoughts on the impact leaders can have on managers and their ability to be effective.

There's a huge push for developing leaders and managers with the skills to undertake coaching conversations at work, but can they work in every environment? How can they help and when our biggest enemy is our experience, can we really expect leaders and managers to ignore what they know? Join Amrit as he explores Coaching Conversations in this week's podcast.

Our guest this week talking about talent development is Scott Jarvis. Scott is Head of Talent Development at ISG, a global construction services company based in London.  He has worked in HR and Talent for over 20 years in a career that has seen him working in several different industries and for household names such as Barclays, AstraZeneca, Sky and Harrods.  With a an academic background in organisational psychology, Scott has a keen interest in all things to do with employee capability, engagement, culture and change, and currently is particularly focused on how organisations can adapt in response to Covid-19 in fostering the growth and connectedness of their workforces.  Scott is a proud father of two, lapsed percussionist and keen road cyclist, using his daily exercise allowance to further explore his local countryside around north Hertfordshire.

Many people have an expectation from leaders and managers when it comes to their experiences at work. Whilst leaders set the tone for the culture, much of what we experience of work can be managed by us, but we get caught up being subjected to other people's behaviours. How could you take control of your work experiences? Imagine the impact this could have. You won't be able to make systemic changes, but you could take direct control of your daily experiences. Join Amrit as he shared his thoughts on taking ownership of our work experiences.

Core affect is from the work by James Russell who developed a model of work related wellbeing (called the Taxonomy of Work-related Wellbeing, 1984). More information about this topic can be found at https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/core-affect https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/core-affect.

 

The pressure to deliver more with less each year, has meant that many organisations were focused on profits and sales, as opposed to the human impact of driving greater cost reductions each year. With the world having a chance to stop and pause, we now have a chance to start again and work in a different way. The Mental Health Foundation has identified the need for kindness for this year's focus. 

How can leaders help create a kinder workplace that doesn't impact on the mental health of employees? This requires us to step away from this 'race to the bottom' approach, that many organisations had engaged with pre-COVID, and focus on how we can create a truly compassionate and caring workplace where kindness matters.

Following the news that the Deputy Prime Minister has resigned in the UK, following reports of bullying, it has raised a debate of what gets classed as bullying. Are managers who are 'robust' in their approach, bullies? Is there a standard definition of bullying? What then can individuals and organisations do to tackle bullying in the workplace, both for themselves and to help others? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

This week we're facing into the hard truth of whether senior leaders and CEOs are motivated enough to improve productivity and performance across organisations. Doing nothing can actually pay off. Many senior leaders will get their bonuses, and one could argue, they are almost being incentivised to maintain the status quo. But across every organisation, everyone knows those areas that need improvement or require attention, which will improve productivity and performance, but nothing is being done about them. No one is motivated enough to rock the boat and deal with the big issues. Could this be the reason why the UKs productivity is stuck? Join Amrit as he shares his thoughts of how we could improve what everyone claims they want.

An article Amrit wrote recently for HRDirector on the subject can be read here: 

https://www.thehrdirector.com/features/future-of-work/engineered-attrition-latest-tactic-get-rid-employees/

 

Join Amrit as he shares his thoughts on using reflective practice to overcome stress and anxiety, allowing us to open our minds to possibilities. With the pace of work slowing down with so many people working from home, it means rather than being tied up in meetings all day, we finally have a chance to think..think about creative and innovative ways to solve problems we never got time to do previously. 

How many Baby Boomers make up your organisation's senior leadership team? Are you prepared for them to begin retiring? Whilst they may not all choose to, in the U.S. alone, 2024 is going to see the largest population of people in its history, celebrate their 65th birthday. In the U.K., the baby boomer generation make up almost 25% of the population. How prepared are our organisations for when they retire? Have we got robust succession plans in place? Is hiring externally always of value? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

It's easy to confuse compassion and care, but being a caring leader, isn't the same as being a compassionate leader. What are the components of compassionate leadership? According to research, compassion has three facets: Noticing, Feeling and Responding. How well do organisations notice what people are experiencing? Do they work hard enough to fully understand what people feel? And then how can organisations respond accordingly? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

How much does your reputation matter to you? Obviously, we don't want people around us saying horrible things about us, but for some people, that can matter far more than for others. How important is reputation to those best performers? What role does having a clearly defined identity play in helping performance? It turns out, quite a lot. Our Values and Identity play a pivotal role based on the experiences of authors of a new book 'Learned Excellence', findings we can all apply to improve our own performance.

Having had one week into the New Year, this is a perfect opportunity to review and reflect on our company cultures. What have we tolerated and what needs changing? Rather than waiting for an engagement survey to focus on our company culture, with this fresh perspective, how can we create truly great work cultures? Join Amrit as he shares his thoughts on this critical topic.

We have a real treat for you this week. To support you in your quest to develop greater wisdom, we have our accompanying digital Reflective Practice Journal which you can download immediately after the podcast, using the following link:

DIGITAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

 

 

This week the Conservative party begins the process of choosing their new leader. Many people will be sitting on the sidelines, thinking why can't we have a say, considering this person will become the next Prime Minister? Whilst this is the leader of the Conservative party, it does raise questions about how we recruit leaders for our organisations. Imagine a world where the employees - ordinary people, had a chance to choose their CEO. CEOs would have to pitch to ordinary employees, allowing them to choose the person they want at the helm of their organisation. Imagine what impact this would have on the culture and environment. The topic of this week's podcast - Time to choose your CEO!

This week, Amrit shares insights following discussions that sparked him to think about values alignment and how when we live lives aligned to our values, it makes life easier rather than exhausting. We are all driven by our values, but how much time do we spend understanding what they are, and how to live a life more aligned to them? Are our workplaces aligned to our values? if not, what impact is that having on us? Join Amrit as he explores this topic this week.

Every human being is an emotional creature - driven by emotions than logic. Yet somehow when it comes to work, we seem to abandon this knowledge, dealing with people in a very logical and rational way. Emotions matter yet we seem to be slow in equipping leaders and managers with the ability to emotionally connect with people. Join Amrit as he explores Emotions at Work in this week's podcast.

Following Brexit and the U.S. elections, we see more nations divided and it's easy to question what the 'other' side must be thinking, when the only rational approach is our way. But how often do we go out of our way to understand that opposing view - when did you last say 'help me understand why you believe what you do'? Instead we surround ourselves by like-minded people, creating echo-chambers in our social media followings. 

How is your home life? Perfect and all unfolding the way you planned it out? I suspect not. Whilst there's a huge focus on employee experiences and employee engagement, we can often forget the human beings experiencing life outside of work, trying to cope with the uncertainty life throws at us, and the constant change we are having to deal with. This week, Amrit shares his own challenges over the summer that made him reflect on how hard we can be on ourselves, trying to control things we cannot, whilst feeling guilty about not being our best at work. Embracing Personal Uncertainty and Change Whilst Being our Best at Work - the topic of this week's podcast.

We all have dreams that can compel us to react - to make them a reality. The emotions that accompany them can be so vivid, that it's hard to deny them. Across organisations and as individuals, how we can utilise the power of our beliefs, to re-frame the current situation, allowing us to create organisations that thrive? Amrit shares his thoughts on how beliefs can help provide clarity, and can be used to involve employees in helping shape a future that works for everyone.

When was the last time you indulged in time for you? We spend our lives focusing on everyone around us, and have little time to do everything we want to achieve, leaving any notion of spending time on ourselves as a luxury that can never happen. If we don't manage our time, we do not value ourselves - and this is important. Join Amrit as he explores taking time to Value You, in this week's podcast.

Stress is a very personal emotion. Leaders, managers and employees are likely to experience stress at some point in their careers, but with the world going through huge change, the chances are high that many people will be experiencing stress now. What is stress and how do leaders and managers help their teams, whilst trying to help themselves? Professor Daryl O'Connor shares his insights about steps we can all take to mitigate the impacts of stress on our lives.

 

Professor Daryl O'Connor

Daryl O'Connor is Professor of Psychology, University of Leeds. He completed his PhD at the Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool and then took up a World Health Organisation funded post-doctoral position at the Department of Endocrinology, Manchester Royal Infirmary (University of Manchester). In September 2000, he joined the School of Psychology, the University of Leeds as a Lecturer, later becoming Senior Lecturer and then Professor of Psychology. Daryl was Deputy Head of the School between 2006 and 2011. Daryl is the Convenor of the European Federation of Psychology Associations (EFPA) Board of Scientific Affairs, Chair of the British Psychological Society’s (BPS) Research Board and is a Trustee of the BPS. He is also a past Chair of the BPS Division of Health Psychology and the BPS Psychobiology Section and, together with Mark Conner, he is currently joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal Psychology & Health. He is also on the editorial board of the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Stress and Health and is a member of the editorial committee for Annual Review of Psychology

If anyone is interested in finding out more, here's the link to the '4 day week global'. We have no affiliation with the organisation.

https://www.4dayweek.com/

Jamie Christon has a wealth of experience leading at a senior level from sectors as diverse as retail, to airports and now Chester Zoo. Jamie has spent the last 9 months as CEO and shares his experiences of what it's like and some of the challenges that come with the role. 

Have you noticed how when companies have had a fantastic financial performance, they share the great news, but then tell employees they cannot invest in any additional resources because they just don't have the budgets? It leaves employees confused about the decisions being made, and questioning where all the money is going to? Leaders are working in a different time zone to employees, and if this isn't taking into account, it can cause disengagement, rather than driving engagement. Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast - Communicating to Employees like Investors.

Welcome back! Now that the summer is over, and we hope you have enjoyed time with family and friends, having rested, we hit September with the enthusiasm of starting the new year like we do after a Christmas break. This quarter is critical to many businesses so it's important that we are being as effective as we can possibly be. A specific request from a listener this week about a manager who is making her feel alienated from the team, and managing poorly. She has sent through a request for Amrit to see how he might deal with this situation. Listen in and then share your views of what you might do!

Dame Cressida Dick resigned as the Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, after the Mayor of London declared he has lost confidence in her plans to improve the culture of the organisation. This followed recent revelations of the conduct of certain police officers who had shared racist, homophobic and misogynistic views through WhatsApp messages. Leaders are critical to an organisational culture and this case highlights the expectation on leaders, and the impact they can have.  

L. David Marquet, Author

Student of leadership and organizational design, former nuclear submarine Commander, and named one of the Top 100 Leadership Speakers by Inc. Magazine. David is the Author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller: Turn the Ship Around!, and The Turn the Ship Around Workbook. David’s recently released book, Leadership is Language, is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller. 

David imagines a workplace where everyone engages and contributes their full intellectual capacity, a place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work–a place where everyone is a leader.

Mental Health Charities than can provide extra support:

https://mentalhealth-uk.org/

https://www.mind.org.uk/

https://www.rethink.org/

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/

We all want to be seen and acknowledged but often we go through life not having a voice and not being visible. Mark Edwards shares how through his passion of photography, he was able to allow people to see themselves in a different light, and appreciate a deeper connection with themselves and others. 

We've just had the release of the Gallup report highlighting that the UK has some of the lowest employee engagement levels across the world - a figure of only 10%! When you combine this with our productivity amongst the G7 countries, you've got to question why this is? Do you believe it really is only 10%? If so, what might be causing this and why is it remaining so stubbornly low? Join Amrit as he shares his thoughts on this topic in this week's podcast.

Stress and anxiety is something we all experience in our lives, and more so now during the COVID pandemic. Whilst much of the stress we experience will be driven from external events, there are simple acts we can take to reduce the impact of these, allowing us to make better decisions. 

With the recent report into the Met police, and the horrific case of the school teacher who took her own life following an OFSTED inspection, it raises questions about how we go about improving standards, whilst using language such as 'Inadequate'. How can putting so much stress on people and branding them as 'inadequate', help motivate? We need to know standards are the best, but how can we go about doing this, by providing hope and motivating people to improve? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

How often do you sit there on Sunday night thinking 'I really don't want to go to work tomorrow'? As winter draws closer, the thought of work on a Monday morning may fill some with dread. But whilst most of us think work is a means to an end - if we could find another way of earning a living, we would, could work mean something completely different? What if work just happened to be an avenue for you to positively touch the lives of the people you come into contact with? How would this change how you thought about work? Join Amrit as he explores our thoughts about the value of our work.

A company reputation matters. Those organisations that have a reputation for a great culture will attract people because of that culture. But that reputation could blind us to the toxic micro-cultures that may exist, resulting in people suffering in what should be a great culture. What can leaders do to uncover these toxic micro-cultures? What causes these cultures to develop in the first place? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

How kind is your workplace? How kind are the people to each other? Following the experience of a CEO of a large organisation, reaching out to Amrit, to meet up to say thank you for all the work carried out, reflecting on the emotions he experienced, and the feelings he was left with, Amrit shares his thoughts of how amazing he felt and how this random act was such a stark reminder of the huge impact kindness can have on our workplaces.

Have you noticed how much easier it is to deal with the challenges of work when you come back from holiday as opposed to how you felt before you left? Nothing else changes except the mindset we bring to our work. When we get a chance to reflect and recuperate, it can have a massive impact on our outlook and our resilience. Mindset is the secret ingredient that allows us to make the most of opportunities and to help us be more optimistic. How do you develop your mindset to help you achieve more at work? Join Amrit for this week's episode of our podcast: The Power of Mindset.

Whilst we are all familiar with the work of mindset and the impact it can have, being familiar isn't always enough to know how to apply it, and what we can do with it. What other research is available that might help organisations understand the steps they can take to be more mindful of mindset when communicating with employees? Ali Brown shares her insights on the latest findings in mindset, as well as steps leaders can take to understand their own organisation's mindset and how they can go about changing it.

Ali Brown

Ali Brown (BSc Hons, QTS, MSc, MBPsS) has a strong background in learning and training. She specialises in growth mindset and psychological safety, working as a consultant applying psychological research to management practice and organisational culture. Ali won the 2019 Excellence in Psychometrics Award for her work developing a psychometric test for the Fire Service. She is currently pursuing chartership and developing a project focusing on resilience at work.

Many organisations are focused on promoting from within and whilst there are huge benefits, promoting someone to manage the team they were part of can be a huge challenge. The balance of still being friends, whilst managing performance can in itself cause problems and damage the very trust that underpinned those relationships. What can organisations do to better support newly promoted colleagues who are now managing the team they were part of? Join Amrit as he explores this topic.

When Amrit founded The Engagement Coach, he was determined to focus on Trust, Wisdom and Authenticity to help organisations create great cultures. Whether it was from his own experience in corporate life, or whilst distilling the results of survey results to boardrooms, he noticed how these three areas would always have a role in shaping the culture of that particular organisation.

Trust, Wisdom and Authenticity are the pillars The Engagement Coach has been built upon and Amrit shares their importance, now more than ever in this podcast.

Join Amrit as he explores the impact loneliness may be having on our mental wellbeing, knowing how an important factor it is to increased mortality in elderly. He also explores how organisations can overcome the fear of missing out, whilst working from home means so much of what we do, mat not be visible to others. Simple steps leaders and managers can take to mitigate this, will help colleagues through this period of uncertainty. 

During challenging times, it's easy to get caught up thinking about worst-case scenarios and all that could go wrong. Whilst we might do this to protect ourselves, we can get into a habit of learned helplessness - resigned to the situations we find ourselves in. What if we were to focus on learned hopefulness? What is this and how do we achieve it? Imagine what this could do to our ability to act and find solutions. Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

Where were you when it happened? Will it be etched in your memory? The Lionesses brought football home with an amazing win over Germany to win the Euros 2022. Will this be the defining moment when we start to take women seriously in our society? Will we now open our leadership roles and boardrooms up to women? This has to be a watershed moment that we use to change this mans world that's been holding women back, to propel them to greatness. The topic of this week's podcast with Amrit Sandhar

Join Amrit as he explores what's left of our workplace cultures as so many of us are now working from home. We have realised who the real heroes are and the real value they add to the lives of so many. What then does this do to our views of organisational purpose/ mission statements? What value do values now have when behaviours and how people interact is through a digital interface?

David has spent many years leading organisations from his time in operational management to his roles as COO at Barclays and AXA then COO & UK CEO at Friends Life. In his current role, David is the CEO for Bupa Global and UK, and the Chairman at HomeServe UK. David shares his views on authentic leadership and how it's important for leaders of organisations to stand up for what they believe. David has championed women in leadership, diversity and inclusion for many years and shares why this is important for him to be authentic to himself.

Many of us will have watched the documentary called 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office', which showed the way sub-postmasters were treated after the roll-out of a new computer system which started to show hundred of sub-postmasters having huge gaps in their takings. Instead of questioning the system, the default of the senior leadership team was to blame their people. Not just blame, but to pursue criminal prosecutions and convictions, which were based on errors. Lives were wreaked, lives were lost, yet no one has been held to account. What can we learn from The Post Office scandal? Join Amrit for this week's podcast as he shares his thoughts.

Following the dismissal of 800 P&O employees through a video call of a pre-recorded message, this raises questions of how well we look after employees. Employee engagement, employee experiences, people experiences - whatever we call them, are these touch points full of care, compassion and commitment from the organisations? How well do we really look after employees? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

We explore Imposter Syndrome in the short videos we've created with experts across the UK, in our online tool call Expert Insights, as part of the TEC Academy. Please see www.tec-academy.com for more details. 

Dr Andrew Marcinko: Biography

Dr Marcinko is currently an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department and Director of the Executive MSc in Behavioural Science. He completed his PhD in Work & Organisational Psychology at Aston Business School, supervised by Professors Yves Guillaume and Richard Crisp. He received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in the US in the same field and is an active member of the Academy of Management, the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology, and the European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology.

Andrew has been involved in research projects with the United Nations, NASA, and the US Navy Submarine School, and has successfully developed and delivered training on diversity and inclusion, teamwork, and leadership at several Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 organisations. His current research is focused on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with a particular interest in organisational authenticity and hypocrisy. He is also researching political psychology and consumer behaviour.

In Dr Marcinko's consultancy and training work with the Durham Behavioural Science Team, he takes an evidence-based approach drawing on his academic knowledge and experience to develop practical solutions for organisations looking to maximise the potential of their modern workforces.

Research interests

• Behavioural Science
• Work and Organisational Psychology
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Unconscious Bias
• Social Psychology
• Teamwork and Communication
• Leadership
• Organisational Authenticity

Research from the University of Bern on how sleep helps process emotions:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220513113237.htm

Here's a link to the CIPD for Learning at Work week:

https://www.cipd.co.uk/learn/events-networks/leaders-learning/learning-at-work-week#gref

Mental health is one of the most important factors impacting on world wide disability. If you would like support, please refer to the following sites:

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/

What does bullying feel like? Has anyone ever belittled you, humiliated you, or made you feel uncomfortable or intimidated? Bullying still goes on and we need to go out of our way to ensure we stamp it out. Bullies need to be confronted but often their behaviours go unchecked. They either intentionally choose to behave as they do, or they are leaders struggling to cope and need help. 

In the current climate with household bills going through the roof, what can organisations do to create great work cultures? Anxieties around the cost of living will have an impact on employees, so how can employee benefits really be of benefit? Are we sure the current packages actually add real value to the lives of employees? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

How passionate are you about what your organisation does? Does the purpose statement excite you? What's the point of these purpose statements, if they have no impact on how we work? Passion and action are critical components of Purpose, yet across organisations, we don't think about how well we enable our teams to action upon the shared passion that brings us together. Join Amrit as he explores On Purpose, in this week's podcast.

How much are we relying on data to make important decisions? Data is critical, but in our quest to process data at an exponential rate, to the extent that we need to rely on AI to provide us with insights, are we missing a critical human component? What ever happened to 'gut feel' or instincts? Have you ever had a moment when the data all pointed one way, but your gut told you to go another? What information did your brain have to make you consider the alternative path? Join Amrit as he explores the relevance of intuition in making decisions at work.

Did you know that we all have a natural 24 hour rhythm that dictates when we should sleep, when we should eat and when we are at our most alert? This changes with age and therefore has natural implications to work, where we are fixed to rigid working times. 

This concept of chronobiology has brought many insights organisations can learn from to improve engagement and productivity at work and Dr Kat (Dr Katharina Lederle) joins us as a guest to help us understand the topic in greater detail.

Dr Kat, a sleep and body clock specialist, is passionate about helping people sleep well and thrive. She sees taking care of your sleep and circadian health as an act of self-care.

Dr Kat provides one-to-one sleep therapy to those experiencing insomnia and works with organisations helping them realise the goodness of sleep. She runs sleep hacks and educational talks and workshops. These use a variety of methods, to help workforce teams get to understand more about their own sleep behaviour and then design personal sleep plans that help them make behavioural changes and sleep well.

In her work she combines a deep understanding of the biology of sleep and the body clock (she holds a PhD in Human Circadian Physiology & Behaviour and a MSc in Biosciences), with her practical experience in managing fatigue and insomnia, and learnings from Mindfulness, Acceptance Commitment Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy.

Dr Kat has written a practical guide to getting good sleep called ‘Sleep Sense’ and has appeared in media coverage of sleep and circadian rhythms.

Would you know if your employees were living in poverty? What signs would you see? Would a drop in performance towards the end of the month be something you would ever associate with poverty, questioning whether some people are rationing food because they have no more money? This might sound extreme, but with the findings from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlighting how millions of employees are living in poverty, what does this mean to the role of the employer? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

What happened to those employees who were part of the 'Great Resignation'? Would you be surprised to hear a recent survey identified 8 out of 10 people regretted moving jobs? It takes so much for someone to leave, so when causes people to regret moving? Organisations work hard to entice new employees, but how well do we look after them when it comes to onboarding? Amrit explores how creating amazing on boardings could help.

Welcome to a special episode of our podcast where we delve into the intersection of social media, expectations, and stereotypes within the workplace for Generation Z professionals. In this episode, we explore how social media influences the way Gen Z approaches work and relationships within their careers. We'll discuss the unique expectations Gen Z brings to the workplace, from a desire for purpose-driven work to a preference for flexibility and authenticity. We’ll also address common stereotypes associated with this generation and how they can be reframed to better understand Gen Z employees

How important are ethics in the current climate? With a greater expectation of more authentic places of work, we don't often explore the link between ethics, values and leadership. One could argue that there is a greater need for ethical leadership, in a time of huge uncertainty. But when we think of ethics, we usually think of short cuts to make huge sums of money. How else doe ethics impact work? Barney Rosenberg brings his vast experience on the subject to discuss this with Amrit on the podcast.

What drives discrimination? If the colour of someone's skin is the only reason, how did the holocaust happen with Nazi Germany creating a 'Master race'? What then do we make of the caste system in India, where some people born into castes are considered untouchable, where their very touch could pollute another? Is race a version of a systemic caste system where humanity has artificially created superior groups and inferior groups, putting in place structures to perpetuate this very notion? Despite all the efforts by organisations to create more inclusive workplaces through ED&B initiatives, could this be the reason we haven't seen an impact? Join Amrit as he explores this topic, driven by the film 'Origins', highlighting the book 'Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents', in this week's podcast.

Having recently celebrated International Women's Day, it's easy to see these days as marketing events, with companies focusing too much on demonstrating their support, but not doing enough to help drive the change. We all have biases, but this doesn't have to result in discrimination. Acknowledging our biases can help us explore and learn about others who might look different to us. Join Amrit as he explores Biases, Discrimination, Exclusion and Hate, sharing some of his own personal insights.

Have you ever used your holiday away from work to catch up on work? Many of us have often worked evenings and weekends to catch up, but as we face a recession, and organisations look to cut costs, could we be creating an environment perfect for Leavism? How can we tell if our teams are working too hard and using their personal time to play catch up, especially with obvious implications on burnout? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

What's holding you back from being your best? Many of us know deep down we could be so much better than we are today, but we struggle to do anything about it. Some of us struggle because we want everything we be perfect. Others struggle because of a narrative or belief system we tell ourselves, and some of us struggle to commit to ourselves because we think there's nothing we've managed to commit to, in our lives. Join Amrit as he explores what can hold us back and how we can overcome this.

How often do you create moments of joy at work? You might think this a strange question, after all, could anyone create moments of joy at work? There are times when we manage to immerse ourselves in great work, where we lose track of time, are absorbed in such pleasure, but these moments tend to happen by accident rather than by design. What would work look like if we were to design these moments into our working day? This is the topic of this week's podcast with Amrit Sandhar

How many times have you heard the word 'entitled' when people describe Gen Z employees? What's so different about this generation than any other, that they can't seem to handle work? Well, maybe there's nothing wrong with them, and it's our work we need to fix. How supportive are our workplaces to those aged 18-24 years? Have we got lazy with job descriptions and recruiting the right fit, only to use Gen Z as our scapegoats? Join Amrit as he focuses on Stop Blaming Gen Z's in this week's podcast.

Join Amrit as he explores the impact furloughing employees may have had on their engagement levels. Whilst the option to furlough will have been a difficult decision, those employees furlough were not chosen because they were disengaged or under-performing, but due to workloads. What happened to those furloughed who were highly committed and dedicated to the cause? How will they come back feeling? How do we re-introduce them back to work?

Whilst the dictionary definition of rest is to stop doing a certain activity to relax and get back your strength, it's not so easy to stop the mental activity. The Art of Rest by Claudia Hammond shares insights from 18000 participants in a survey, from 135 countries who share what helps them rest. She then supplements this with scientific evidence of how these activities help. 

Resting requires thought and planning. Knowing what helps you rest and building this into our working week, allows us to relax and recharge. Having been back at work after the Christmas and New Year break, many of us have found it tiring. As leaders, CEOs and Managers of organisations, how can we ensure we stay recharged and plan in resting? Amrit Sandhar shares his thoughts based on the insights from the book.

The UK is about to embark upon an experiment to understand the impact of a four-day working week on business productivity, as well as on the wellbeing of employees. Why has the UK historically had such low productivity versus the rest of the G7 countries? Is there a risk that we are just really poor with time management, in which case could a four-day working week cause more damage than good? We complain about the number of meetings, but are these secretly serving a purpose of procrastination? This is the topic of this week's podcast with Amrit Sandhar

We were all amazed at the innovation shown at BrewDog when they suddenly switched from making craft beer to making hand sanitiser. The speed at which they innovated and adapted tells you that this must be a culture where mistakes are welcomed, experimentation is encouraged and the organisation is driven by passion. Amrit explores this and more with the HR Director of BrewDog.

We continue our discussion with our guest from last week, Scott Jarvis. Scott is Head of Talent Development at ISG, a global construction services company based in London.  He has worked in HR and Talent for over 20 years in a career that has seen him working in several different industries and for household names such as Barclays, AstraZeneca, Sky and Harrods.  With a an academic background in organisational psychology, Scott has a keen interest in all things to do with employee capability, engagement, culture and change, and currently is particularly focused on how organisations can adapt in response to Covid-19 in fostering the growth and connectedness of their workforces.  Scott is a proud father of two, lapsed percussionist and keen road cyclist, using his daily exercise allowance to further explore his local countryside around north Hertfordshire.

There's a huge focus on workplaces experiences, but we don't often think about how we remind employees of those great experiences. Reminiscing back can allow us to relive some of those shared experiences, reinforcing the culture and reminding us of how nice work can be.  

Nazia Sarkar

Nazia is the founder of Kadou Learning and mastermind behind the MentorYou (MU) app. She enjoys developing people and teams. She believes in empowering people with the skills and tools to make them successful in their personal and professional lives. She is an experienced Learning & Development professional, with a background in education, hospitality and retail sales sectors.

We are all driven by personal values. They dictate how we think and how we behave, but when asked, it's often challenging to articulate our values. We know they exist, and how influential they are, but trying to help others understand them, or more importantly, taking time to better understand them for ourselves can be a struggle. Whilst we don't often think about analysing our music collections, they could tell us a lot about what we value. Those pieces of music that emotionally resonate with us - that have the ability to bring us to tears, might hold a clue into our personal values. Amrit shares how a conversation sparked him to explore what his music was telling him about what he most values.

Every one of us have suffered from procrastination and it's often a horrible feeling, ladened with guilt. What is procrastination and why do we suffer from it? How can we overcome this helplessness that so many of us can feel? This podcast is linked to the 'Driving Productivity' series of workshops that The Engagement Coach will be running, open to all, with the first focused on Time Management. Join Amrit in this week's podcast on dealing with procrastination.

No one would ever describe themselves as suffering from learned helplessness but when we learn to accept the negative situation around us is never going to change, whilst we may not choose to admit it, this is exactly what this is. It results in us no longer trying to make changes, as it is pointless. What can we do and is there ever any hope? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast

Is it inevitable that power will corrupt? Is this something we need to accept as the frailty of the human condition, that as soon as we achieve powerful positions, corruption is inevitable, irrespective of who you are and your benevolent intentions? Whilst power tends to corrupt, could power attract those with pathological tendencies acting like a magnet, only enhancing and magnifying what already existed in those people? What can companies do to protect those positions of power from those looking to get drunk on power? Join Amrit as he discusses Leader: Power and Hypocrisy in this week's podcast.

Have you ever had that feeling that something didn't feel right, only to find you were right but you didn't follow through on those instinctive feelings? As leaders, we are conditioned that everything must be data-driven, tangible and we often ignore those gut feelings or intuition, yet it serves an important purpose. Our brains and bodies are processing information at a phenomenal rate, leading to these feelings and thoughts, that we find hard to articulate or explain, and therefore we ignore. When something doesn't feel right, it usually isn't, and our brains and bodies have picked up on this, without us realising. Combining this knowledge with an awareness of our personal values, can help improve our decision-making. Join Amrit as he explores Intuitive Leadership in this week's podcast.

Here at &Evolve, we've been running our podcast over the last three years, hoping to provoke thought, to consider how we can improve the world of work and improve the lives of everyone, whilst at the same time improving performance and productivity. With our special 100th episode, we wanted to do something different. This week Amy Billings, and Carole Castle from the &Evolve team who help support our clients, will be guests to share their thoughts all about leadership and cultures, sharing their own experiences and outlooks.

Paul Zak

Paul is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He has degrees in mathematics and economics from San Diego State University, a Ph.D. in economics from University of Pennsylvania, and post-doctoral training in neuroimaging from Harvard.

Paul’s two decades of research have taken him from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms to the rain forest of Papua New Guinea.  All this in a quest to understand the neuroscience of human connection, human happiness, and effective teamwork.  

His academic lab and companies he has started develop and deploy neuroscience technologies to solve real problems faced by real people.

His latest book, Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High Performance Companies, uses neuroscience to measure and manage organizational cultures to inspire teamwork and accelerate business outcomes.  His 2012 book, The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity, recounted his unlikely discovery of the neurochemical oxytocin as the key driver of trust, love, and morality that distinguish our humanity.   In another obsession, Paul’s group uses neuroscience to quantify the impact of movies, advertising, stories, and consumer experiences.  Along the way, he has helped start several transdisciplinary fields, including neuroeconomics, neuromanagement, and neuromarketing.

Quiet quitting - a phrase born from Tik Tok, used to describe individuals who are no longer prepared to do more than their job description. But is this a new concept or is it just a re-badging of disengagement? Have poor job descriptions and boring jobs finally led to this concept? Join Amrit as he explores Quiet quitting and considers what employers can do to minimise this.

Are you over 50 years old, struggling to find work? Why do we assume older employees will add less value that younger ones to our organisations? Whilst it's a protected characteristic, there's still some views that to create a dynamic organisation, you need young people. What value do older employees bring to organisations in terms of culture and performance? Join Amrit as he shared his experiences in this week's podcast.

Almost every large organisation will have a Diversity and Inclusion agenda, to help improve diverse thoughts and creativity, but what good is all this work, when outside of work, in our social lives, we are exposed to division? Social media has allowed us to entrench our views by finding like-minded people, instead of seeking to expand our views through discussion and dialogue. 

The Social Dilemma on Netflix shows the negative impacts social media is having on tolerance and our willingness to learn and listen to others. Are organisational activities created to improve diversity and inclusion really having an impact, or are we ticking boxes?

Just when you thought companies had adapted to remote and hybrid working, Boots announces that all their employees must come back into the office five days a week. The reason? Because they felt remote and hybrid working was having an impact on their culture. Cultures are made up of the values we hold most dear. What are the values driving Boots? Are companies making decisions aligned to their values? And for those who choose to work remotely, what impact is this having on their chances of career development and promotion? Join Amrit for this week's podcast on Flexibility and the Hybrid Ceiling.

We assume leaders running organisations are fully aware of their own personal values, and by being aware, would act when these values are being violated, in the way in which people are being treated around them. If this is the case, why are scandals such as the bullying that occurred with former British Olympic gymnasts, and the way people were treated in clothing manufacturing in Leicester allowed to carry on? These scandals happen under the watch of leadership. It's not good enough to say you didn't know, people know within organisations, and these issues usually come to light after someone raises the courage to call it out through whistleblowing. How can we change our organisations to be ethically focused never allowing these situations to arise in the first place?

Following the report from the Institute of Leadership, the Index of Leadership Trust 2023, trust in CEOs was shown to be lower than trust for line managers. Despite the millions spent on employee engagement each year, what are organisations, and more importantly, CEOs doing wrong? How can we focus to rebuild trust? Join Amrit as he explores this topic in this week's podcast.

We hear so often how the world is more VUCA/ BANI/TUNA/ RUPT - take your pick, but the point is that it's far more complicated to allow organisations to embrace a deliberate strategic approach, resulting in confusion over the long-term direction. It's now harder than ever to think beyond 12 months, with the changing environment around us. If established organisations are now having to go back to embracing an emergent strategic approach, shouldn't we be looking to develop the skills of leaders and managers to also develop a more entrepreneurial mindset, allowing them to work like start-ups? Do start-ups have the upper hand as they have the mindsets to make the most of opportunities? Join Amrit for this week's podcast - Episode 107: Developing Entrepreneurial Skills and Mindsets.

Times of extreme stress or change can impact upon our perspective, resulting in us often seeing threats that may or may not be present. We cannot always trust our senses  as the amygdala goes into overdrive causing us to emotionally react. Taking time to think allows us to challenge our beliefs and assumptions about what we thought might have happened versus what actually happened.  It can reduce our stress levels and allow us to take learning allowing us to make better decisions going forward. 

We all have critical moments in our past, which helped shaped our belief in ourselves. Whilst we might look back in nostalgia, we rarely use these past events as ways of supercharging how we feel now. With so many leaders going out of their way to connect with colleagues and employees, we probably have huge levels of empathic leadership. Whilst this sounds like a great thing, there is a risk that leaders become overwhelmed with dealing with their own feelings and emotions, whilst empathising with their teams. How can we use these past moments that have shaped us, to become energy reservoirs to keep our energy levels sustained through challenging times? Amrit shares how through a happy accident, he experienced something we could all do more consciously. 

As the U.S. election results were announced, the world collectively erupted into joy and euphoria giving hope to so many. Hope is an important aspect to life yet where do we get it from? Are external examples the only source of hope or can we develop it? This is what Amrit explores in this week's podcast.

Despite all the experience you have across your career, do you find you doubting yourself? Do you suffer from Imposter Syndrome? Are you afraid of being 'found out'? You are not alone. Many of us suffer from this and for those in senior positions, it could go on to impact on the culture. How can we overcome this and what could we do to improve how we feel? Join Amrit as he explores this in this week's podcast.

We have a strange relationship with food. We assign labels such as 'good' foods and 'bad' foods, and can feel guilt-ridden but what are the simple steps we could take to improve our diet and nutrition, to help improve our performance? Colette is an expert in her field and she shares simple tips of steps we can all take to improve our nutrition.

Despite the huge focus over the years on creating psychologically safe environments where people can speak up and be open and honest, it seems there is still much work to be done. How do you know whether you have an issue of a psychologically unsafe environment? As a leader of an organisation, how do you know whether you're getting the full picture? Join Amrit as he explores this topic further.

Dr Thomas Rhys Evans is an Associate Professor in Occupational Psychology. Tom is a ambassador for Open Science, with expertise in preregistration, examining research quality, and questionable/transparent research practices. 

Tom is also passionate about the social and affective components of work, with particular focus on humour, emotional intelligence, and other such affect-related individual differences.

His papers include:

2020: ‘The Consistency and Value of Humour Style Clusters’. Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology.

2020: ‘Improving Evidence Quality for Organisational Change Management through Open Science’. Journal of Organizational Change Management.

2019: ‘Feedback-seeking culture moderates the relationship between positive feedback and task performance’. Current Psychology.

2019: ‘A conceptual replication of emotional intelligence as a second-stratum factor of intelligence’. Emotion.

 

Details of Oliver Burkeman and his book: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/

Details of out YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@and-evolve/videos