
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


In the final part of the Anatomy of Kindness, Claudia Hammond and guests ask 'Can Bosses be Kind'? Using evidence from the Kindness Test, the world's largest psychological study into kindness, Claudia starts her quest with Thom Elliot Co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, who deliberately set out to foster a kind culture in a sector not exactly known for its benevolence. They're joined for pizza by Prof Robin Banerjee, architect of the Kindness Test to discuss the findings and examine whether kindness in business really does result in success. Joe Folkman is the perfect person to ask. He runs an evidence based leadership development firm and produced a fascinating study "I'm a boss why should I care if you like me"? It turns out there's a strong correlation between being likeable and effectiveness. Such concepts are backed up by a relatively new field of research called 'ethical leadership' pioneered by Professor Mike Brown. But 60,000 people who took part in the Kindness Test revealed time pressures as one of the barriers to being kind, so how easy is it to be a kind leader on a day to day basis? Claudia meets former head teacher Ros McMullen who tells some home truths about leadership in a culture of relentless pressure and accountability. Plus Lisa Smosarski, editor in Chief of Stylist magazine shares shocking office stories of the 'Devil Wears Prada' era and discusses wider societal shifts that may be contributing to a kinder culture in her industry. And Claudia's fellow science presenters, Robin Ince, Hannah Fry and Marnie Chesterton recall some old bad boss stories of their own.
Producer, Erika Wright
By BBC Radio 44.5
5656 ratings
In the final part of the Anatomy of Kindness, Claudia Hammond and guests ask 'Can Bosses be Kind'? Using evidence from the Kindness Test, the world's largest psychological study into kindness, Claudia starts her quest with Thom Elliot Co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, who deliberately set out to foster a kind culture in a sector not exactly known for its benevolence. They're joined for pizza by Prof Robin Banerjee, architect of the Kindness Test to discuss the findings and examine whether kindness in business really does result in success. Joe Folkman is the perfect person to ask. He runs an evidence based leadership development firm and produced a fascinating study "I'm a boss why should I care if you like me"? It turns out there's a strong correlation between being likeable and effectiveness. Such concepts are backed up by a relatively new field of research called 'ethical leadership' pioneered by Professor Mike Brown. But 60,000 people who took part in the Kindness Test revealed time pressures as one of the barriers to being kind, so how easy is it to be a kind leader on a day to day basis? Claudia meets former head teacher Ros McMullen who tells some home truths about leadership in a culture of relentless pressure and accountability. Plus Lisa Smosarski, editor in Chief of Stylist magazine shares shocking office stories of the 'Devil Wears Prada' era and discusses wider societal shifts that may be contributing to a kinder culture in her industry. And Claudia's fellow science presenters, Robin Ince, Hannah Fry and Marnie Chesterton recall some old bad boss stories of their own.
Producer, Erika Wright

7,870 Listeners

854 Listeners

1,073 Listeners

393 Listeners

5,562 Listeners

1,805 Listeners

1,761 Listeners

1,056 Listeners

1,965 Listeners

2,002 Listeners

584 Listeners

93 Listeners

263 Listeners

408 Listeners

428 Listeners

778 Listeners

229 Listeners

149 Listeners

3,217 Listeners

778 Listeners

1,019 Listeners

204 Listeners

65 Listeners

105 Listeners

5 Listeners