By Rebecca Lowe, former director, Freer
It was Cleisthenes who divided Athens into voting districts, and Alexander Hamilton who wrote 51 of the Federalist Papers.
It was Jean-Paul Marat who died in the bath, and Charles I who lost his head.
By Marc Sidwell, former head of personal finance, The Daily Telegraph
The evidence is mounting that you can think yourself old. The good news is that it also works the other way around. In the 1980s, Ellen Langer of Harvard ran an eccentric study on a group of pensioners.
Langer rented a New Hampshire monastery and prepared it by removing all mirrors and installing photos of her subjects when they were young, along with decor, music and other cultural ephemera from the late 1950s.
By Sylvia Sage, programme director at Corporate Learning Solutions
It has only recently become clear just how widespread workplace discrimination, bullying and harassment are in the UK.
Since the birth of the #metoo movement, we have seen a string of organisations, business leaders and whole sectors come under fire for inappropriate treatment of staff. From Google and Amnesty International to the NHS and Westminster, few sectors are immune.
By James Boyd-Wallis, director, Fourteen Forty
In the age of post-truth and a lack of trust in business and the media, consumers and clients want companies and their leaders to be genuine or “authentic”.
Brands and CEOs that seem real are often better at building connections and engagement. They see a benefit on the bottom line.
Basic marketing practice generally means identifying a segment of people with common characteristics and then trying to work out what few triggers will attract as many of them as possible.
In 1973 Stanford Professor Mark Granovetter’s “the strength of weak ties” argued that weak links, between people with different opinions, help new and unfamiliar ideas spread.
By Suzy Christopher, Charity and Community Director, BT
I’d like to think that most people reading this could name at least one sporting initiative from recent years that has set out to get more people involved in sport at a grassroots level. From Sport England’s #ThisGirlCan campaign, which got 1.6 million women exercising, to the recent Sport Relief campaign, which asked the whole nation to participate in a Billion Step Challenge, it’s a widely held belief that sport has the power to change lives.
By Joy Frascinella, head of PR, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
Antibiotic resistance, caused by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, is a very real and growing threat to human health worldwide. It is estimated to claim approximately 100,000 lives in the US and Europe every year. The numbers are much higher in developing countries.
By Guy Corbet, Fourteen Forty
The researchers at professional services firm EY reveal four fifths (82%) of us believe a brand’s values must include a clear purpose. This purpose is critical in deciding whether or not we will buy from them.
You’ve had this conversation before.
Maybe over supper with friends, your family or a colleague at work.
You’ll make the case for business and free enterprise more broadly. Companies support 82% of all employment in this country. They provide the taxes that essential public services depend on, you’ll add.
