Nuala Walsh Tune In to Lead Smarter

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Nuala Walsh  Listening in Order to Lead Smarter

Nuala Walsh author of “Tune In, How To Make Smarter Decisions In A Noisy World” joins the podcast with Angie Mezzetti  to discuss the importance of making better not quicker decisions when in leadership roles. Walsh emphasises the need to confront biases like overconfidence and to challenge confirmation bias. As a neuroscientist as well as a banker for many years, she has researched the whole area of whistleblowers in particular – people who were not listened to when they should have been, and she talks about the courage needed to challenge injustice and poor decision making. Nuala gives the example of Sharon Watkins in the Enron scandal who expected praise and a pat on the back for pointing out risk errors but instead was targeted ‘to see what they could get on her’. Similarly in Barclays the CEO Jess Staley was fined over £642,000  for unbecoming conduct about a whistleblower at the bank in 2018.   The whistleblower is often labelled as odd or not a team player.  She highlights the significance of tuning in to the right voices and avoiding deaf spots, something we are all prone to.  Nuala stresses the importance of creating a culture where whistleblowers are supported and listened to, rather than punished.

Listen To The Whistleblowers

“He slept with a gun under his pillow at one point…”

Nuala Walsh writes in the book about Harry Markopolos, who was one of the probably best known, least known whistleblowers from the Bernie Madoff case. “He spent nine years speaking to regulators, pointing out that this was the greatest Ponzi scheme he had ever seen. And he did it from when the fund was 6 billion, it eventually became 65 billion. And that’s a lot of people who lost their livelihoods on the back of that. But again, he was tuned out for a couple of different reasons and what is interesting is that one was physical appearance, actually as he was very different. Looked a little bit quirky, based on his own description. When he was speaking to these regulators, he was definitely in the out group. His voice wasn’t heard to the extent which he felt that if people knew about this, they’d come after him. He slept with a gun under his pillow at one point, because he knew that it was the financial advisors they wouldn’t hear him because it was in their interests, and they got remunerated with bonuses on the back of on the back of it.”

Walsh shares insights from her impressive business career, her academic research especially on the area of listening. She stresses the need to be mindful of the impact biases can have on decision-making with several recent examples where making the wrong decision lead to disastrous consequences.

In her ‘Pearls Of  Wisdom’ Nuala advises women to retain their power, to avoid giving it away and avoid seeking validation from others. Walsh also discusses the relevance of her book to various fields, including sports and finance, detection of serial killers and crime scenarios.

Nuala offers practical advice for better decision-making. She is a fellow of the London School of Economics and is a non executive director of the British and Irish Lions Rugby. She is former Vice Chair of UN Women UK.

 

Her best financial advice is to DIVERSIFY!

 

 

Angela Mezzetti
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