Truth, Lies and Work

Welcome to another episode of our Summer Sessions! Every August, we take a short break from our usual news roundups and deep dives to bring you lighter, conversational, and debate-style episodes. These are designed to be enjoyed while you're out on a summer walk, driving, or taking a well-deserved break from work.

In this second episode of the series, Al Elliott and Leanne Elliott are joined by author, speaker, and host of the Unbehaved podcast, Meghan French Dunbar. Together, they put some of the biggest workplace behaviours, leadership advice, and organisational trends to the test in a fast-paced game of Workplace Red Flag or Green Flag?

From unlimited PTO and salary transparency to reception wall values and office dogs, we debate the unwritten rules of work—and challenge whether the things we accept as "normal" are actually helping or hurting workplace culture.

Topics We Debate in This Episode:

Unlimited Holiday: A genuine employee perk, or a trap that leads to taking less time off?

Values on the Wall: Inspiration, or a clear sign of corporate virtue signaling?

Salary Transparency: A green flag for pay equity, or a recipe for workplace chaos?

Workplace Tropes: What do office dogs with email addresses, "we're like a family" statements, and founder-led interviews really say about a company?

🏢 Companies & Resources Mentioned:

Barry-Wehmiller: https://www.barrywehmiller.com/

Torani Syrups: https://www.torani.com/

Zingerman's: https://www.zingermans.com/

🎧 Want more from Meghan French Dunbar?

– Website: https://www.meghanfrenchdunbar.com/book
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanfrenchdunbar
– Substack: https://meghanfrenchdunbar.substack.com
– Email: meghan@frenchdunbar.com
– Book: This Isn’t Working (use code TLW for 20% off) → https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/meghan-french-dunbar/this-isnt-working/9781541704862/?lens=basic-venture

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne

– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork
– Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott
– Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne
– Email: hello@truthliesandwork.com
– Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat

🧠 Mental Health Support

– UK & ROI — Samaritans: Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org
– UK — Mind: Call 0300 123 3393 or visit https://www.mind.org.uk
– US — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org
– Australia — Lifeline: Call 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au
– Global helplines: https://findahelpline.com

Truth, Lies and Work is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

When you hear the word propaganda, you picture a dictator, a politician, or an ad executive. You never picture yourself. But turns out, you are running the exact same campaign on yourself every day.

In this episode, charter occupational psychologist Leanne Elliott and entrepreneur Al Elliott are joined by psychologist, speaker, and author Owen Fitzpatrick. Owen has spent the last 25 years studying how beliefs form, why they change, and how they shape our leadership, choices, and success.

From coaching billionaires and Olympic athletes to speaking across 100 countries, Owen breaks down his concept of Inner Propaganda—the story you sell to yourself—and why logic bullying never works when trying to change minds.

🎙️ In This Episode:

What is "Inner Propaganda"? Why beliefs aren't based on objective evidence, but on what feels true and protects who you think you are.

The "It'll Be Grand" Effect: How your brain functions as a prediction machine designed for survival and stability, not necessarily your success.

Desired Truth vs. Objective Truth: How startup founders (like James Dyson and Melanie Perkins) rely on desired truth to push boundaries—and how to avoid letting it blind you.

Why "Logic Bullying" Fails: Why bombarding people with data rarely changes minds and why changing how someone feels is the real secret to influence.

Leading Through AI & Future Change: How to frame organizational shifts around your team’s identity and potential, rather than triggering fear.

Steve Jobs & Reality Distortion: How legendary leaders shift feelings to paint desired identities for executives and teams.

💡 Top Takeaways

Stop Leading with Logic: Evidence comes last, not first. Work out how you want someone to feel before you deliver the arguments.

Catch Your Desired Truth: Ask yourself whether you believe an idea because the data supports it, or because you need it to be true.

Believe in Potential First: The leaders people willingly follow are the ones who believe in who someone can become, long before the evidence proves it.

👤 About the Guest

Owen Fitzpatrick is a psychologist, international speaker, author of 10 books, and host of the Inner Propaganda podcast. He helps global companies, leaders, and individuals master belief leadership to drive better decisions, influence teams, and reduce polarization.

Website: owenfitzpatrick.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owenfitzp/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/owenf23/

Listen to Owen's Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inner-propaganda-with-owen-fitzpatrick/id1441538919

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork
– Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott
– Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne
– Email: hello@truthliesandwork.com
– Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat

Mental health support
UK & ROI — Samaritans Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org
UK — Mind Call 0300 123 3393 or visit https://www.mind.org.uk
US — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org
Australia — Lifeline Call 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au
Global helplines
https://findahelpline.com

🎧 Truth, Lies & Work is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

Welcome to Episode 1 of our Summer Sessions on Truth, Lies & Work! For the next few weeks, Al and Leanne are taking a short break from the workplace news and heavy management analysis to bring you something a bit lighter, funnier, and completely fascinating.

Joined by special guest host Georgia Hodkinson (Associate Producer and Organisational Psychologist), the team goes head-to-head in a battle of bizarre careers. Each host brings genuinely real, highly specialised, and wildly strange jobs to the table—guessing what they involve, breaking down how you actually get into them, revealing what they pay, and scoring them on a leaderboard for sheer weirdness.

Whether you're lounging by the pool, commuting to work, or hiding from your inbox on holiday, hit play to discover the most unbelievable ways people make a living around the globe!

Unbelievable Careers Revealed: Deep dives into penguinologists, snake milkers, ice cowboys, professional apologists, and golf ball divers.

Day-in-the-Life Breakdown: What these jobs actually involve, how rare they are, and how much they pay.

How to Land One: Do you need a PhD, niche training, or do you just fall into it by accident?

The Weirdest Job Leaderboard: Scores for pure weirdness, "Would you actually do it?", and the ultimate dinner party conversation-starter!

🎙️ Special Guest Host

Georgia Hodkinson (GMBPsS) – Associate Producer & Organisational Psychologist

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgia-hodkinson-gmbpss/

Company: Georgia's Psy Work

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork
– Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott
– Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne
– Email: hello@truthliesandwork.com
– Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat

Mental health support
UK & ROI — Samaritans Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org
UK — Mind Call 0300 123 3393 or visit https://www.mind.org.uk
US — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org
Australia — Lifeline Call 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au
Global helplines
https://findahelpline.com

🎧 Truth, Lies & Work is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

HR leaders spend all day surrounded by people. So why does it often feel like the loneliest job in the building?

In this episode, Tom Emery, former Chief People Officer at a top City of London wealth manager, 20-year corporate HR veteran (ex-HSBC), and founder of HEX Talent & Development, joins Al and Leanne to pull back the curtain on the reality of HR leadership.

Tom shares his powerful "Vet Analogy" for HR: just like veterinarians enter the profession out of love for animals only to see them at their illest, weakest, or most aggressive, HR leaders enter the role because they love people, only to be brought in when people are backed into a corner.

Together, they dive deep into how HR leaders can step out of the isolated "police officer" role and step into the room as true strategic drivers, how senior leaders can build psychological safety by simply asking for help, and why learning to disagree well is the missing ingredient in high-performing C-suites.

🎧 What We Cover in This Episode

The Vet Analogy: Why HR professionals frequently meet employees at their lowest points—and how to handle the emotional toll.

Breaking Out of the "Outside Looking In" Trap: How HR leaders can build true credibility with the board, C-suite, and CFOs by becoming commercial explorers.

The Art of Disagreeing Well: Why storming and surfacing productive conflict is essential for high-performing, psychologically safe teams.

Modelling Psychological Safety: Why asking for help as a senior leader increases trust rather than weakening authority.

Humanising Workplace Change in the Age of AI: Navigating digital transformation, layoffs, and organisational shifts without losing the human touch.

Setting Boundaries & Sitting in the Discomfort: Learning to accept that you can't fix every outcome or make everyone happy.

⚡ Top 3 Takeaways

Get curious about the business, not just the people: The HR leaders who get taken seriously understand how the company actually makes money and manages cost levers as deeply as the CFO does.

Build safety by asking for help yourself: Admitting you don't have all the answers isn't a sign of weakness—it's the fastest way for senior leaders to model and build trust.

You can't fix every outcome: Chasing 100% approval or trying to solve every hard moment will lead straight to burnout. Sometimes the job is just sitting with someone in a difficult moment, not solving it for them.

More from Tom:

Website: https://www.hex-development.com/

Book (People, People): Claim a free UK copy at https://www.hex-development.com/ (or available globally on Amazon)

Podcast (Beyond Potential): https://beyondpotential.podbean.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomemery-b8809818/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomemeryhex/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tomemeryhex

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HEX-development

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork
– Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott
– Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne
– Email: hello@truthliesandwork.com
– Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat

Mental health support
UK & ROI — Samaritans Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org
UK — Mind Call 0300 123 3393 or visit https://www.mind.org.uk
US — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org
Australia — Lifeline Call 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au
Global helplines
https://findahelpline.com

🎧 Truth, Lies & Work is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

The Hiring Crisis, TikTok Training and Gen Z Perfectionism. PLUS How to Keep Quiet Teams Motivated

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture, brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network.

In this episode of This Week in Work, business owner Al Elliott and Chartered Occupational Psychologist Leanne Elliott break down why fewer than half of recruitment processes actually succeed, why TikTok-style L&D might be sabotaging employee memory, and how economic pressure is driving an epidemic of Gen-Z perfectionism. Plus, in Truth or Lie, we test the psychological myth: Can you bullshit a bullshitter?

🔥 Stories covered

1. Are we actually in a European hiring crisis?

While corporate layoff headlines dominate the news, data from McKinsey’s HR Monitor survey reveals European hiring success sits at just 46% when accounting for offer acceptance and probation survival. With an aging workforce retiring and AI changing entry-level work, skilled talent is scarcer than ever. We discuss why smart companies like Spotify are shifting focus from external recruitment to internal mobility and growing talent from within.

Source: https://apple.news/ATgORe8gTRY2tHZs98wLVag



2. Why short-form videos are terrible for L&D

Thinking of using 60-second TikTok-style reels for workplace training? Think again. A new study demonstrates that chopping learning content into micro-clips tanks test scores and dramatically speeds up overnight forgetting. Brain scans revealed that continuous video syncs brain regions responsible for attention and memory formation, whereas micro-clips over-stimulate change-detection reflexes without actual absorption.

Source: https://www.psypost.org/the-illusion-of-learning-from-short-videos/

3. Is work making young people hyper-perfectionist?

Analysing 35 years of data across 82,000 students, a major study in Psychological Bulletin shows a sharp rise in socially prescribed perfectionism—the belief that others demand perfection and will judge mistakes harshly. Rather than being "fragile" or "entitled," Gen-Z employees are operating under intense economic pressure and fear of failure. We cover how leaders can foster true psychological safety to overcome paralysis and indecision.

Source: https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/perfectionism-young-adults-higher-ever-says-new-study



🧠 Truth or Lie: "You Can’t Bullshit a Bullshitter"

It’s an age-old saying: frequent liars and exaggerators have a built-in radar for deception. But does the psychological research back it up?

Leanne examines studies by Christian Blötner & Sebastian Bergold (2023) and Dr. Shane Littrell et al. (2021). We break down the crucial difference between persuasive bullshitters (who talk a big game with buzzwords) and evasive bullshitters (who dodge questions defensively).

Want to dive deeper? Check out cognitive psychologist Dr. Shane Littrell’s research on Substack: https://bullshitology.substack.com/



Workplace Surgery

In this week's Workplace Surgery, we tackle three real questions submitted by listeners:

On Employee Perks: "Am I being naive putting in a free gym?"

On Downtime Motivation: "How do you keep people motivated when work goes quiet?"

On Inclusive Hiring: "I want to give someone a chance, but am I doing more harm than good?"

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne

– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork

– Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott

– Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne

– Email: hello@truthliesandwork.com

– Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat

Mental health support

UK & ROI — Samaritans Call 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org

UK — Mind Call 0300 123 3393 or visit https://www.mind.org.uk

US — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org

Australia — Lifeline Call 13 11 14 or visit https://www.lifeline.org.au

Global helplines

https://findahelpline.com

🎧 Truth, Lies & Work is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.