"I heard it through the grapevine…" How do you feel when you learn that someone you trusted has been speaking about you behind your back? This post on X caught my attention because it captures a common perception inside organisations: that decisions about people often happen quietly, in rooms they will never be invited into. […]

Many organisational leaders admit they are reluctant to intentionally build a whistleblowing culture. And often, the reasons are legitimate: • They are genuinely unsure how to protect a whistleblower after disclosure • Legal budgets don’t stretch to lengthy investigations or years of potential litigation • There are real concerns about reputational damage if the process […]

The growing “industrialised” nature of whistleblowing—complete with mandated processes, third-party hotlines, and compliance reporting—was meant to protect people. I believe this attempt at 'normalisation' has become corrosive, for the following reasons: - Severe personal harm: Even with legal protections, many whistleblowers suffer devastating professional, financial, and psychological consequences. - Weaponisation and fear: Formal systems can […]

Let’s be honest: by the time someone is forced into the role of whistleblower, the system has already failed. We romanticise whistleblowers as if they’re symbols of organisational courage. They’re not. They’re symbols of organisational breakdown. And the costs they carry — to their livelihoods, reputations, and mental health — are costs that should never […]

We’ve built laws to protect whistleblowers — but too often, those laws don’t work in real life. People still lose their jobs, their peace of mind, their sense of belonging, and even their lives. The system says “you’re protected,” yet society still whispers, “you should’ve stayed quiet.” With thanks to insights from Professor Matthew Jackson […]

You've acquired a whistleblowing hotline. You've run whistleblowing training sessions. The compliance box is ticked. You've communicated that your organisation will protect whistleblowers. A sentence about encouraging a 'speakup' culture has been added to company mission statement. So, how's it going? Do you still believe that your business would be better off by relying on […]

The false comfort of Whistleblowing Protection Policies Whistleblowing policies are designed to “protect” whistleblowers but the word protect comes from Latin 'protegere' – to cover upfront. Like a prophylactic—it’s a surface-level barrier, not a deep engagement with what's happening emotionally, neurologically and psychologically. “Aggression is only rated as pleasant when it occurs after provocation.” — […]

The House of Lords Whistleblowing and Oversight Body recently sent a clear message: “We need a much earlier mechanism to raise a danger flag… because there is a reluctance to tell truth to power.” “No bureaucracy can overcome the wrong culture.” They’re right. This isn’t just about laws, policies, or hotlines. It’s about culture. A […]

Watch this short video as an example of how Conversational Goals can go awry. Recently a relative initiated a conversation with me that at first felt like a very personal attack on my character.  I felt  defensive, upset and angry but thankfully I was able to recognise this as an opportunity to follow my own […]

We live in an environment that is drenched in misinformation, “fake news”, and propaganda, not because of an unavoidable accident but because it has been created by people in pursuit of political and economic objectives.  This is not a natural disaster, it’s human-made. On a positive side, this implies that, unlike for earthquakes or tsunamis, […]

Referring to his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, U.S. President Bill Clinton claimed “there is not a sexual relationship.” The Starr Commission later discovered that there “had been” a sexual relationship, but that it had ended months before Clinton’s interview with Jim Lehrer. During the interview, Clinton made a claim that was technically true by using […]

What does the stoic reserve clause and whistleblowers share in common? Hupexhairesis is the stoic reserve clause meaning to undertake any action while accepting that the outcome isn’t entirely under your control. A stoic minded archer’s true goal is to fire his bow skilfully knowing he controls his aim but not the arrow’s flight. I was […]

      A CEO transcript of a conference call to Investors post a Merger and Acquisition: What does this narrative actually mean? Perhaps you’ve experienced a similar kind of empty and misleading narrative, produced in a shallow way and intended to lead to some kind of surface agreement.  Did you ever want to call bullshit on […]

Ever been in a situation where, despite your efforts, a baby ends up howling hysterically when you speak and coo to it?  Awkward right?  Watch .13 seconds of real world awkwardness below:

“Why should I care?  I know the priority du jour is going to change and what's really expected of me is to make my boss look like he knows what he’s doing.  Its not like we’re all in this together." The above comment was made by one of my senior executive colleagues in the company […]

Sitting around the Boardroom table at the corporation I blew the whistle on, LeisureNet Ltd, I heard one of our directors blatantly lying to Barclays bank about our financial position.  This was to persuade Barclays to provide additional lending, to keep our organisation afloat. As you can see from this snippet taken from my testimony […]

When I tell my story of blowing the whistle on the CEOs of LeisureNet Ltd, I share how much courage was required to overcome the natural psychological conflict I experienced in the moments before speaking out. "I felt like everything I believed about who I was, my sense of self, my self concept was coming […]

Are you more conscious than the average oyster? I hope so! When a few grains of grit get inside the oyster shell, the oyster doesn’t run and hide from the irritant. Nor does the oyster hire its litigation team or stress management team to spend millions trying to get rid of the irritant.  Instead, the […]

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. Marcus Aurelius Conflicts, failures and losses at times seem to conspire to ruin us. Yet, as Marcus Aurelius observed nearly two millennia ago, […]

Being uncertain about the answer to the riddle below may be a pleasant reward-anticipating feeling when you know this will be revealed, but will turn into frustration if the answer is missing. Curiosity, the emotion that moved the cat. I wrote a little bit about how my own insatiable curiosity kept me alive. New parents learn a […]