Pull No Punches

The Trust Barometer by Edelman is an annual trust and credibility survey, in its twenty-first year. In 2021, the research reached 33,000 respondents in 28 markets across the world. 

As Head of Global Thought Leadership, David Bersoff leads Edelman’s research including the Trust Barometer. In 2021, the Barometer reveals a "global infodemic," in which people increasingly  don’t know where to turn for information they can trust. Lack of trust in institutions and information, political turmoil and the COVID-19 pandemic are serious and interconnected problems presenting major challenges to society. Despite this, business is enjoying relatively high levels of trust, but this comes with responsibility – and real challenges.

Join us as David takes us "behind the curtain" and shares personal insights on why we need trust more than ever; why employers hold a "toe-hold" to trust and why "trust-washing" is to be avoided at all costs. A fascinating insight with a genuinely global thought-leader.

Purpose, profit and chocolate? Join us as we talk with Ynzo van Zanten, Chief Evangelist at Tony's Chocolonely, the company on a mission to make all chocolate worldwide 100% slave free.

Did you know things aren't being shared evenly in the chocolate supply chain? The chain starts with millions of farmers who produce cocoa and ends with the billions of consumers who enjoy chocolate. But what about the bit in the middle... this section is dominated by a handful of chocolate giants that profit from keeping the price of cocoa as low as possible. As a result, farmers are forced to live in poverty. And that leads to illegal child labour and modern slavery.

Which is where Tony's Chocolonely come in! And their goal of slave-free cocoa. Join us as Ynzo shares their story and more like how to make an impact with a purpose-driven team and how to build a successful global brand with a zero-paid-media policy. A truly fun podcast with a real-life evangelist.

The pandemic upended work life in 2020. As the world begins to contemplate returning to work, the question is how do companies evolve to be fit-for-the future... and how do workplaces keep pace?

The Gindi Studios are "wow" makers. They create magical spaces which people love working in, combining architecture, interior design, graphics, product design and advanced technology to tie it all together.

Vered Gindi is the "Chief Wow Maker" at Gindi Studios. Together with a collective of creative designers, architects and architectural engineers, they deliver "wow" projects such as Microsoft’s new state-of-the-art 46,000 sq.m. campus in Herzliya, Israel.

Join us as Vered shares her story - from military service to studying Sanskrit - the influence of Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry, and why offices greatly affect our mental health - think biophilic design! Put simply, humans are not "designed" to live in boxes!

A fascinating journey with oodles of chutzpah, this is a podcast for the times we live in. A must-listen.

"This Girl Can" hit our screens on 12 January 2005 - and in an instant, how women exercise changed. Developed by Sport England, the campaign included cinema, outdoor, and social media advertising - and a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #thisgirlcan.

Behind this phenomenally successful idea were many people including Kate Dale, Campaign lead for This Girl Can. Kate has been at Sport England since 2004, and continues to lead this award-winning, disruptive campaign to get more women more active. 

Did the campaign work? Between January and July 2015, phase one of the campaign resulted in over 95m online views; 733,000 mentions on social media; 581,000 fans or followers across all platforms; over 1.2m visits to the website; it was talked about a thousand times a day on social media in over 110 countries... more importantly, 2.8m women were more active, of those 1.6m re-started exercise and 250,000 more women were active at least once a week (vs men, who stayed unchanged).

This is Part II of our powerful podcast with Jane Elliott. We split into two parts* as we didn't want to leave any of it out.

[*If you missed Part I, listen to that first: click here.]

In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Jane devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise." This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the colour of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority. Everyone who is exposed to Jane's work, be it through a lecture, workshop, or podcast, is dramatically affected by it.

Enjoy Part II.

Jane Elliott is a woman on a mission, a lifelong mission: to expose prejudice and bigotry and for everyone to see the world as "One Race."

Her story began in 1968. In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Jane devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise." This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the colour of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of being a minority.

So controversial was this exercise, Jane and her family suffered as a consequence. Her four children were spat at, their belongings destroyed, they were verbally and physically abused... by their peers, by their teachers and some of the parents of other children, because they had what the community labeled as an N-word-lover for a mother. 

Her parents lost their restaurant business after widespread boycotts, her husband was isolated from his friend group, and Jane was shunned by teachers in her school system. But she did not waiver.

Everyone who is exposed to Jane's work, be it through a lecture, workshop, or video, is dramatically affected by it. This podcast is so powerful, we split into two parts as we didn't want to leave any of it out. Enjoy Part I - Part II is just 24-hours away!

Bill Kahn is professor of organisational behaviour at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. However, some call him "The Founding Father of Employee Engagement," a label he strenuously refutes. Yet there is no doubt he changed the world of work with his research: "Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work".

Thirty years after it was published, what does Bill make of how his insight has evolved as employee engagement is now big business. In 2018, HBR estimated companies were spending over $720 million each year on employee engagement - projected to rise to over $1.5 billion.

Yet Gallup’s reports indicate only 13% of over 31 million respondents are truly engaged at work (source). A charismatic speaker, Bill remains as passionate and clear on the value of personal engagement, which is a far cry from what most understand 'engagement' to be.

David Hieatt is the Co-Founder of Hiut Denim Co and The Do Lectures. He is active in building them into influential global brands.

Chicago. 1982. The Tylenol murders. A series of deaths linked to the Johnson & Johnson acetaminophen capsules, when an unknown killer laced some of their drugs with cyanide. Pull No Punches is delighted to welcome Alan Hilburg, the man credited with leading J&J's strategy for responding to this crisis.

For decades, leaders around the world have used this case study as the template for dealing with disaster. In 1982, the was no reference point -  making what Alan led even more incredible. Today, over-the-counter drugs are safer due to what happened with Tylenol. Yet, this is only one period during an amazing career.

He is the author of two NY Times best-sellers on leadership. He is the architect of three of the top ten brand campaigns of the twentieth-century. And is an Academy award-winner, too. In collaboration with Fortune magazine, Alan launched America's Most Admired Companies programme as well as The Business Hall of Fame.

This is a remarkable podcast with a genuine global influencer, whose work remains relevant over 40 years later. Sit back and enjoy this one.

The Godfather of Internal Communication. International speaker. Author of "Making the Connections: Using Internal Communication to Turn Strategy Into Action." Just three things this month's guest is known for.

Pull No Punches is delighted to welcome Bill Quirke, one of the leading authorities on internal communication and the management of change.

For years, Bill's helped organisations globally to achieve their business strategy through communicating with their people. Buckle in and prepare for a masterclass in everything 'comms' - from our fascination with channels to discovering why employee happiness is the enemy; why staff surveys are a waste of time to why bending people to your will is music to your CEO's ears.

There is so much crammed into this one. If we charged a thousand pennies for this, it would be worth every one. Join us on a real journey of discovery whatever your role - this is a podcast you can't afford to miss.