Welcome to episode 162 of the The Executive Edge podcast with Phil Lewis and Claire Croft from Corporate Punk.

With a background in marketing, Phil and Claire formed Corporate Punk to help businesses work better together.

With a strong focus on diagnostics, planning, consultancy and coaching, the help businesses unleash and focus human ingenuity in order to mark out a clear path to change.

In order to build a better business, Phil and Claire talk about how important it is to remove the blocks that get in the way – particularly communication problems.

Organisations are, according to Phil and Claire, rife with “narratives they believe.”

Executives will tell themselves stories about how well they’re doing; however, often the discussions Corporate Punk unearth tell a different story. For example, staff may avoid healthy, important conversations that would otherwise result in change in order to maintain an already established status quo within the organisation.

So what happened?

On the show Phil and Claire talk about their background in marketing and the transition to forming the new company. They discuss the problematic nature of communication and outline why they believe in teaching “conflict”, seeing it as a vital skill that can bring about a positive change to a company.

They also discuss their methodology and the important role conversations and data play in the work they do.

On a personal level, I found this an inspiring episode which helped me see, and hear, ways in which a business can support their people.

I hope you enjoy listening too.