The Swear Jar

No nonsense. Just the straight sh*t about the harsh realities and the wonderful opportunities that inspired employee communications can bring you and your organization.Whether your job title includes the words 'Communications', 'Human Resources', 'Project Management' or 'Executive', The Swear Jar is for you. The Swear Jar is irreverent, entertaining but, most of all, it's practical. This is where you will get advice that will transform your organization by truly tapping into the power of effective employee communications. Just don't expect us to 'pull any punches'. Is it 'safe for work'? Well, as the title suggests, we do indeed swear a little. But, chances are, when you're dealing with employee communications, you feel like swearing too. So, I think we're pretty much on the same page. Come and swear along with us.

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The Swear Jar

The Swear Jar Podcast: Speaking Truth to Bullsh!t

September 01, 2020 • Andrew Brown and Elizabeth Williams

Episode Summary

Author, consultant, speaker and CEO of the Pontefract Group, Dan Pontefract joins Andrew and Elizabeth to talk through the pervasively stinky issue of organizational bullshit and what communicators should be doing to call it out or at least stop stepping in it and tracking it all over the place.

Not all BS Is created equal: we like to examine it in terms of Intentionality and disruption. That is, is the BS knowingly and purposely being shared inside and outside the organization? And is it having any kind of disruptive impact, such as reducing trust, causing customers to flee and inviting rather more attention from regulators than one might like?

Communicators are in a tough spot when it comes to BS. On the one hand, we need to be very careful not to generate it ourselves and on the other, we need to be prepared to stand up to it in its many forms.

Key Topics

● Key trends (1:15)

● The two dimensions of BS (3:00)

● Why BS creeps into organizations (4:25)

● Change and bullshit (7:55)

● Hamstrung communicators (9:53)

● How organizations appease and motivate with BS (13:10)

● The implications of BS (15:00)

● How leaders normalize BS (18:15)

● Turning the tide against BS (19:15)

● Trust versus authenticity (23:04)

● Summary (30:00)