Truth, Lies and Work

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

This week, hosts Al and Leanne Elliott are joined by returning guest, organisational psychologist Dr. Jake Tuber! Together, they tackle the biggest news in business, bust media myths, and solve your trickiest management dilemmas.

This Week: Restroom Lurking, Firing HR and The Sales Promotion Trap. PLUS, Does Gen Z Actually Care About Purpose?

🔥 Stories Covered

1. Restroom Lurking: The New Workplace Space Crisis

Leanne reveals the latest viral workplace trend: "Restroom Lurking." A Kickresume survey found that 44% of workers admit to using office restrooms to regain composure when overwhelmed. We discuss the deeper issue—the lack of quiet spaces in modern office design.

Forbes Article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2026/05/22/restroom-lurking-on-the-rise-as-workers-seek-refuge-from-job-stress/

2. Tech Firm Fires Entire HR Department

Al breaks down the shocking news from checkout software company Bolt, which laid off its entire HR department. The CEO defended the move, claiming HR "creates problems that don't exist." We discuss why this "smoke alarm" approach to policy is a catastrophic business decision that overburdens untrained leaders.

CityAM Article: https://www.cityam.com/fintech-boss-defends-sacking-entire-hr-department-for-creating-problems-that-didnt-exist/

🧠 Truth or Lie: Does Gen Z Value Purpose More Than Pay?

The media claims younger workers only care about meaningful work and ethical alignment. Dr. Jake Tuber leads this week's segment to reveal why this is actually a "life stage phenomenon" rather than something unique to Gen Z. Previous generations felt exactly the same way in their twenties—they want meaning, but they aren't willing to sacrifice financial security to get it.

Academic Resources & Studies Mentioned:

Deloitte Gen Z & Millennial Survey: https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/2025-gen-z-millennial-survey.html

Gen Z Workplace Expectations Study: https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/32ad6bf8-a1e8-4890-8eeb-04437a1190f1/1/What%20do%20Gen%20Z%20want%20from%20a%20workplace%20-%202024%20-%20Nichols%20Smith.pdf

Understanding Gen Z Workplace Motivations: https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15010011

Generational Differences in Work Values (JMP): https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940810904385

Revisiting Generational Work Values: https://doi.org/10.1002/job.147

Generational Differences in Work Values (JoM): https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309352246

The Silent Revolution in Europe: https://doi.org/10.2307/1953494

💬 Workplace Surgery

We dive deep into your real-world workplace questions:

The Accidental Sales Manager: How do you undo a promotion without destroying confidence or your credibility? We break down the classic trap of promoting your best individual salesperson into management.

The Sustainable Business Owner: What do you do when you preach wellbeing but are secretly a workaholic hypocrite? Jake and Leanne discuss the mindset shifts required for founder-led businesses.

Loyalty vs. Honesty: How do you have the hard conversation with a loyal, 7-year employee who has stopped growing with the business? We map out a fact-finding approach to avoid an unexpected review bomb.

🤝 Connect with Dr. Jake Tuber

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

Website: http://www.ticonadvisory.com

Podcast: https://www.ticonadvisory.com/podcast

🎁 Special Offer: Get 6 months of free access to Jake's Substack, Workwise: https://workwise.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=1e481d0b

📬 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: [email protected]

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

Mental health support

UK/ROI — Samaritans: Call 116 123 | https://www.samaritans.org

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

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

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

Global helplines: https://findahelpline.com

🎧 Truth, Lies & Work is part of the HubSpot Podcast Network.

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture . This week, we are tackling a massive, silent trend affecting thousands of professionals: The Great Reentry .

During the pandemic, thousands of people left their corporate jobs to seek purpose and flexibility in self-employment . But now, six years on, a quiet crisis is happening . Thousands of founders are realizing that business ownership is lonely, financially straining, and exhausting—and they are trying to return to the traditional workforce . The problem? They are drowning in shame, hiding their businesses, and navigating the job market completely wrong .

To help us simplify the science of this messy transition, we are joined by Laurie MacPherson, a brilliant career and LinkedIn mentor who specializes in helping mid-to-senior-level women find their next roles . Laurie delivers a masterclass on how to overcome the internal struggle of "going back," why the modern job market punishes founders who apply blindly, and how to de-risk yourself to recruiters .

🔥 What We Cover in This Episode:


What is 'The Great Reentry'? Laurie breaks down the stark reality behind the post-COVID freelance boom, the isolation of working from home, and the silent shame that keeps former founders from admitting they need a job .


The 437-Applicant Trap: Why firing off cold CVs to job boards is a losing battle for former business owners, and why your next role is sitting directly inside your network .


How to Handle the "Why Are You Leaving?" Question: Laurie shares her exact, bulletproof interview scripts to reframe your business history as a badge of courage rather than a failure .


The BOLD & REAL Frameworks: A deep dive into Laurie's signature acronyms designed to help you own your achievements, tailor your applications like a master tailor, and show up authentically on LinkedIn without sounding like a corporate robot .


The 100 Rejection Challenge: How flipping the script on sales outreach can completely remove the sting of "no" and accelerate your career breakthrough .

🎙️ Key Takeaway Quote from Laurie MacPherson:

"It takes courage to start a business, and it takes equal courage to recognise it's not working and make a change. Frame it as a brave chapter, not a failure. Say it, then stop talking."

🔗 Connect with Laurie MacPherson:


Website: lauriemacpherson.com


LinkedIn: Laurie MacPherson


Instagram: @_laurie_macpherson_

📬 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: [email protected]


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 proud to be 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.

This week, we are adjusting our usual format for a specific reason. Co-host Al Elliott recently celebrated his birthday, so Leanne is taking over the reins to give him a brief respite from the standard news cycle. Instead, we are answering our most requested listener query: an analytical retrospective into the operational history, the high-stakes decisions, the failures, and the legal battles of Al’s career as a serial entrepreneur.

In this special episode, we dissect a highly unconventional career path. From being recognised as a "42 under 42" breakout entrepreneur to navigating a complex £103,000 personal bankruptcy, Al shares the raw realities of scaling businesses from the ground up—and how hitting rock bottom ultimately informed his blueprint for ethical, sustainable growth.

📈 Strategic Takeaways From This Episode

1. Operations & Turnaround: From Bottom Tier to Market Leader

Al details his early career in hospitality management, outlining the strategic operational changes required to take a underperforming Manchester student venue from the 27th worst in the region to the number-one position in total sales volume.

2. Regulatory Arbitrage: Exploiting Systemic Loopholes

Discover the origins of Al's first major tech start-up: an after-hours alcohol delivery service. He explains the technical loop-hole he engineered around credit card transaction processing windows to legally bypass strict UK licensing frameworks—and the bespoke 50-binder software system required to protect the operation.

3. Risk Management & Insolvency: Navigating a £103K Bankruptcy

When capital markets dried up post-dot-com bubble, Al faced a devastating cash crunch resulting in asset repossession and a £103,000 bankruptcy. He discusses the psychological toll of financial restructuring, the operational dangers of relying on short-term credit, and why shifting toward an American perspective on corporate failure can turn insolvency into a critical founders' credential.

4. Ethical Scalability: Building a 38-Property Portfolio Out of Crisis

How do you launch a real estate venture with maximum capital constraints? Leveraging high market empathy and strategic partnerships, Al built a 38-property portfolio during the dawn of the 2008 global financial crisis. Learn how his startup outmanoeuvred corporate institutional landlords by designing an innovative, ethical "99-year tenancy" model for families facing foreclosure.

5. Founder Fallacies: Why Ego Destroys Early-Stage Ventures

Al offers critical advice for modern founders and next-generation executives. His primary directive: eliminate overhead-heavy vanity metrics, suppress founder ego, and prioritise rapid market validation over theoretical perfection. He shares the costly mistake of investing £40,000 into premium office infrastructure before securing an initial proof-of-concept, and argues for a biased-toward-action framework.

📬 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: [email protected]
– 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 a proud part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

Welcome back to this special live edition of Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture. This week, Al, Leanne and Associate Producer Georgia, are joined by three exceptional experts to explore a straightforward but powerful question: what does the military do differently when it comes to leadership, and what can businesses actually learn from it?

Most organisations say leadership matters, but many are just guessing. We promote based on length of service, confuse being "in charge" with being a leader, and create cultures where capable people are too afraid to speak up. The military, however, has spent decades perfecting the art of building instant trust and providing the clarity needed for independent action.

🔥 Key Themes Covered

1. What 'Mission Command' Actually Means
James Hardie and Major General Matt Smith break down the concept of Mission Command: providing a clear goal and the "commander's intent," then trusting your people to figure out the "how". While most businesses are flexible at the top and rigid at the bottom, the military provides a structure that empowers disciplined initiative at every level.

2. Trust as a Starting Point, Not a Prize
Danny Wareham explains the "trust gap." In the military, trust is often assumed based on shared competency; it only reduces if proven otherwise. In civilian life, we often make people earn it slowly through "presenteeism" and internal politics, which slows down performance and kills initiative.

3. Leadership Emerges, It Isn't Assigned
We discuss the concept of leaderless leadership (or constellation leadership). If the mission and culture are strong enough, they can effectively replace the need for a traditional "boss". We explore how leadership should shift situationally to whoever has the most relevant expertise in the moment.

4. The "Liminal State" of Transition
James discusses his research on the experience of veterans moving into civilian roles. He describes the "liminality"—the uncertain journey between two identities—and why veterans often struggle, not because they lack skills, but because civilian organisations aren't built to receive what they bring.

5. Calmness Under Pressure
Major General Matt Smith shares a powerful story from ground combat in Afghanistan, illustrating that a leader's most effective tool in a crisis isn't shouting—it's maintaining a level of calmness that signals to the team that everything is under control.

🎙️ The Guests


Danny Wareham: Certified Business Psychologist and author of Constellation.


LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danny-wareham


Website: firgun.co.uk


Major General (Ret) Matt Smith: A 32-year US Army veteran and head of the Master in Business for Veterans programme at Emory University.


LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/smithmattd


James Hardie: Former RAF helicopter pilot and organisational psychologist.


LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/james-hardie72


Website: coursecorrection.co.uk

📬 Connect with the show
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork
– Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott
– Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne

– Georgia Hodkinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgia-hodkinson-gmbpss/
– Email: [email protected]
– 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 are skipping Truth or Lie because we have a massive, jam-packed episode featuring the brilliant Cait Donovan! Cait is a culture and leadership keynote speaker, host of Fried: The Burnout Podcast, and author of an upcoming book out later this year.

Together, we tackle the existential anxiety of AI, the baffling world of employee retaliation, a hilariously disastrous federal crime, and a deep-dive workplace surgery to help you protect your energy and lead authentically.

🔥 Stories covered


Word of the Week: Circling Forward
Leanne introduces a phrase coined in an Esquire article by Kyle MacNeill exploring why so many workers feel pessimistic about the future of work. "Circling forward" is the idea that progress doesn't move in a straight line.
Esquire Article Link: https://apple.news/AqVByb5pFTsKcDzvf_F50iA


When Candour Hurts the Business (and Someone Poisons the Chocolate)
Cait brings a highly controversial Harvard Business School article by Henrico Castro-Pires to the table. The research suggests that managers are giving overinflated performance reviews to mediocre employees because they are terrified of employee retaliation—ranging from workplace gossip to an extreme case where an employee dumped ethanol into a tank of melted chocolate.
Harvard Business School Article Link: https://www.library.hbs.edu/working-knowledge/when-candor-hurts-the-business-economics-of-employee-retaliation


Two Brothers, One Firing, and the Ultimate Teams Call Blunder
Al shares a wild, real-life crime story from February 2025 involving two brothers, Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, who were fired from government contractor Opexus on a joint Microsoft Teams call.
Ars Technica Article Link: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/drop-database-what-not-to-do-after-losing-an-it-job/

💬 Workplace Surgery with Cait Donovan


Question 1: How do I stop being the person everything falls on?
A listener feels completely burnt out after taking on the responsibilities of four roles without a pay raise or promotion, fearing that pushing back will make them look like they can't cope.


Question 2: Hiding the wires as a senior leader.
A executive leader admits they are burning out but feels it is unsafe to tell their team, their board, or their peers, wondering if leadership is just a sustained pretence that everything is fine.


Question 3: Trapped in a culture of meeting overload.
A leader spends three-quarters of their day in meetings, leaving them cognitively empty when it's time for strategic thinking. They’ve tried blocking out calendar time, but the culture runs on meetings as a currency of power and information.

Connect with Cait Donovan
To learn more about Cait's corporate workshops, keynote speaking, and her mission to eradicate chronic stress, visit her website or connect with her on social media. Don't forget to listen to Leanne's guest appearance on Fried: The Burnout Podcast this week!

– Website: https://www.caitdonovan.com
– BurnBold Website: https://www.burnbold.com
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caitdonovanspeaks
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitdonovan

📬 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: [email protected]
– 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. Find more incredible business shows at https://b2b.hubspot.com/podcast-network