Truth, Lies and Work

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, hosts Al Elliott and Leanne Elliott are joined by Matthew Hook and Caroline Keylock, co-founders of Look Up, a storytelling consultancy that helps companies clarify big problems and align culture.

If your business is scaling, you might be falling into the "Founder’s Trap." In the early days, a founder's story, passion, and personal brand are your greatest assets to win investors, land initial customers, and stand out. But as you grow, relying solely on one person’s narrative can bottleneck decisions, burn out the founder, and devalue your business.

Matthew and Caroline unpack how to transition a business narrative from founder-centric to team-owned, why values fail when launched top-down, and what investors really look for when evaluating scalability.

🔥 What We Cover in This Episode

The Founder's Trap Explained
How the origin story that got you started can eventually constrain your team, create operational bottlenecks, and cap your company's growth potential.

Why Main Character Energy Backfires
The fine line between healthy entrepreneurial drive and creating a cult-like dependency where employees feel powerless without the founder in the room.

Values Don't Spread, Stories Do
Why corporate values written behind closed doors fail, and how collaborative storytelling builds an authentic, scalable workplace culture.

The Investor’s Perspective on Concentration
Why relying on one key personality reduces company valuation and limits exit opportunities.

Practical Steps to Step Back
Practical strategies for founders to evolve their role, empower senior leadership, and test if the business can thrive without them.

💡 Top Takeaways for Leaders

1. A business that depends on one person's story is worth less. Investors and acquirers fear concentration above all else. If your operations, sales, and reputation rely entirely on you, your business valuation drops.

2. Sketch what it takes for your business to exist without you. Test your current story landscape. Do you have storytellers at multiple layers in your organization, or does every pitch require the founder in the room?

3. Build a story with your team, don't launch it at them. Documented values fail when they don't reflect daily reality on the ground. Culture needs to be organic, collaborative, and continually reframed as you grow.

🔗 Guest Links

Matthew Hook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewhook/
Caroline Keylock LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/caroline-keylock-02254314

Look Up Website: ⁠www.wearelookup.com

📬 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

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, the audio destination for business professionals.

This week, Al and Leanne are joined by friend of the show Dr. Jake Tuber to evaluate a major tech company's layoff announcement, unpack high-stakes safety concerns in A.I., and examine the true economic cost of toxic workers.

🔥 Stories covered

A tech company announces 660 layoffs: What does the CEO’s memo tell us?
The company has announced it is cutting approximately 660 jobs (about 7% of its workforce). The CEO released a detailed memo explaining that the move is driven by a strategic pivot toward customer outcomes and AI, flattening management layers, and creating agile teams—rather than direct AI productivity replacements or simple cost-cutting. The team breaks down the public memo and gives their verdict on how these layoffs are being managed. But WHO IS IT???? Leanne reveals all

OpenAI safety insider quits over broken culture
David Robinson, a safety report lead at OpenAI for three and a half years, has resigned and gone public in The Atlantic, claiming the company's "iterative deployment" culture is broken. He warns that a move-fast-and-break-things mindset is dangerous when applied to powerful AI systems, comparing the required safety mindset to nuclear power plants and commercial aviation.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/03/openai-safety-employee-resigns-claiming-the-companys-culture-is-broken/

🧠 Truth or Lie: Should you chase A-players or eliminate toxic workers first?
Conventional wisdom tells leaders to spend their time and resources hunting for top-tier "A-players". However, a landmark 10-year study analyzing over 58,000 workers reveals that avoiding or removing a toxic employee saves an organization roughly $12,500—more than double the economic value generated by upgrading an average worker to a top 1% star performer ($5,300).

Read the full study here: https://dash.harvard.edu/entities/publication/73120379-08e0-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b

💬 Workplace Surgery
This week, Dr. Jake Tuber joins Al and Leanne to answer three pressing listener questions:
• Burnout & Small Business: What do you do when the small business you've built is physical, consuming 60-hour weeks, and burning you out?
• Autonomy vs. Island Feeling: How do you support a team that feels "on an island" without overcorrecting into micromanagement?
• AI Performance: How do leaders know if AI is genuinely improving team quality or just helping produce mediocre work faster?

📘 Want to upgrade your leadership game?
Dr. Jake Tuber’s new book The Deliberate Manager is almost here! Head over to https://www.deliberatemanager.com/ to take the free manager assessment tool and pre-order your copy today.

More from Dr. Jake Tuber
• Website: workwise.substack.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaketuber
• Assessment & Book: https://www.deliberatemanager.com/

📬 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

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture. This week we explore how to build a team that can disagree safely before things blow up, what to do when tension boils over, and how to create a culture of "tolerance by design."

We are joined by two guests who disagree on almost everything: Steve Baker (former Conservative minister, Brexit negotiator, and aerospace/software engineer) and Paul Dolan (Professor of Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and author). Despite their political differences, they teamed up during COVID lockdowns and founded The Provocation People, a consultancy helping organisations break out of groupthink.

What We Cover in This Episode

Why Silence is More Dangerous Than a Row
Companies like Kodak, Blockbuster, and HBOS fell victim to groupthink, proving that a quiet room where everyone nods along is actually a major red flag.

The Question Every Leader Should Ask
Steve shares the exact question he used to close meetings: "Has anything not been said because it would be inconvenient to me?"

How to Handle Dissent
Employees watch how you treat dissenters outside of meetings rather than inside them, making real-world follow-through essential.

Hiring for Culture Fit vs. Culture Challenge
Hiring for "culture fit" often leads to hiring for agreement, whereas leaders should focus on introducing true diversity of thought.

The EMBRACE Framework
Paul breaks down his 7-part checklist to design tolerance into your workplace culture—covering Environment, Mistakes, Bonding, Reason, Affect, Collection, and Exposure.

De-escalation & Psychology
Learn what happens to your physiology when conflict erupts, why managing your blood pressure comes first, and how to rebuild trust after a blowout.

Guest Links & Resources

Fighting for a Free Future (Steve Baker's Newsletter)
https://www.fightingforafreefuture.com/

Steve Baker on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebakerfrsa/

Beliefism by Paul Dolan
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beliefism-discriminate-against-disagree-difference/dp/0349128693/

Paul Dolan on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-dolan-a018691b/

The Provocation People
https://www.theprovocationpeople.com/

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

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture. This week, we dive into viral interview etiquette, ultra-fast AI tools for work triage, workplace beekeeping, the science of first impressions, and answer your burning workplace surgery questions.

🚀 Special Announcement: Cornerstone Launch
Before we jump into the news, Al and Leanne share an exciting update about the launch of Cornerstone! Be sure to register your interest and join the waitlist via our Tally form:
• Register for Cornerstone: https://tally.so/r/BzDXKY

🔥 Stories covered

1. The "Iced Coffee War of 2026": Gen Z interview etiquette or arbitrary rules?
A viral TikTok from recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen sparks an international debate: is bringing an iced coffee to a job interview unprofessional, or does rejecting a candidate over a beverage highlight everything wrong with modern hiring? We break down the generational dynamics, power imbalances in hiring, and the psychological concept of "deflection of anxiety".
• Source: CNBC (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/25/iced-coffee-job-interview.html)

• TikTok original: @caitlinrecruiter (https://www.tiktok.com/@caitlinrecruiter/video/7686166507759455501)

2. Meet Jev: The ultra-fast "System 1" AI classifier
Unlike ChatGPT or Claude, Jev isn't a conversational chatbot or code generator. Co-created by a co-inventor of ChatGPT, Jev is an API-based tool designed specifically for fast, structured decision-making, triage, and noise reduction—handling inbox management, survey filtering, and real-time meeting prompts.
• Learn more & nerd out: Book a call with Al!

3. Is beekeeping the new employee wellbeing trend?
Forget webinars and gym memberships—employers are installing hives and sending staff to apiaries for "experiential depth" and connection to nature. We discuss whether hands-on wellbeing actually helps, or if it risks becoming another form of "forced fun" masking deeper workload issues.
• Source: HR Magazine (https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/is-beekeeping-the-latest-employee-wellbeing-trend)

🧠 Truth or Lie: Does it really take seven seconds to make a first impression?
From Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink to leadership experts, the idea of the seven-second rule is widely accepted. We examine the psychological research on speed versus accuracy—revealing how facial judgements occur in as little as 34 milliseconds, but why true accuracy actually takes about 60 seconds.

💬 Workplace Surgery
This week, we answer three listener questions:
• Replacing a legendary manager: How to step into a GM role and establish authority when taking over from a leader who has been there for decades.

• Mission vs. Manipulation: Where is the line between inspiring employees with purpose and using company mission to guilt them into overworking?

• Targeting low engagement: When one team in a survey scores drastically lower than the rest, is the manager automatically to blame?

📬 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 back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture.

In this episode, we are joined by employment solicitor advocate Roy Magara, founder of Magara Law, to uncover what every founder, manager, and HR leader needs to know about avoiding costly employment tribunals, building proper HR architecture, and handling workplace grievances before they blow up.

🔥 Topics covered in this episode

Prevention over cure: Why an employee handbook sitting on SharePoint is useless if nobody actually follows it when something goes wrong.

Contracts, policies and handbooks: Where founders should start when setting up their legal architecture as the team grows.

The first hour of a problem: Roy’s three-step framework (Preserve, Assess, Plan) to protect the business and safeguard documentation when a grievance is raised.

The drama of fabricated evidence: A wild real-life tribunal case where fake disciplinary minutes were exposed by a secret recording.

In-house resolution vs. calling in the lawyers: When you can resolve issues internally and the exact moment you need to pick up the phone to an employment lawyer.

Emerging employment risks: The rise of neurodiversity-related discrimination claims, upcoming legislative threshold changes, and AI interview tools gone wrong.

Tribunal vs. mediation vs. conciliation: The differences between these processes and why early workplace mediation can save you tens of thousands of pounds.

Guest Links
Roy Magara (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/roymagara/
Magara Law: https://www.magaralaw.co.uk/

📬 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