Episode 19

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Published on:

7th Sep 2020

Episode 19: Trust and Empathy - Professor Paul Zak

Paul Zak

Paul is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He has degrees in mathematics and economics from San Diego State University, a Ph.D. in economics from University of Pennsylvania, and post-doctoral training in neuroimaging from Harvard.

Paul’s two decades of research have taken him from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms to the rain forest of Papua New Guinea.  All this in a quest to understand the neuroscience of human connection, human happiness, and effective teamwork.  

His academic lab and companies he has started develop and deploy neuroscience technologies to solve real problems faced by real people.

His latest book, Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High Performance Companies, uses neuroscience to measure and manage organizational cultures to inspire teamwork and accelerate business outcomes.  His 2012 book, The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity, recounted his unlikely discovery of the neurochemical oxytocin as the key driver of trust, love, and morality that distinguish our humanity.   In another obsession, Paul’s group uses neuroscience to quantify the impact of movies, advertising, stories, and consumer experiences.  Along the way, he has helped start several transdisciplinary fields, including neuroeconomics, neuromanagement, and neuromarketing.

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About the Podcast

Engaging People, Powering Companies - The Leadership Podcast
Join us as we explore everything from employee engagement,leadership, employee experience, learning & development, leadership development, workplace cultures and improving organisational productivity.

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Amrit Sandhar

And Evolve Ltd (formerly known as The Engagement Coach) was founded by Amrit Sandhar, who has worked with many well-known brands across the UK, to improve employee engagement/ experience, and ultimately to improve organisational productivity. With a particular passion for neuroscience and psychology to drive behavioural change, combined with his own operational experience and knowledge of employee engagement, he uses a data-driven, practical approach to identify the issues organisations are struggling with, and to work with them to create solutions leading to drive sustainable change, thereby improving productivity. Amrit has a passion for developing people, as he believes highly engaged leaders drive better business performance by getting the best out of their colleagues.

Amrit originally started a career in healthcare as a qualified Pharmacist, and after spending several years in Operations, he went on to oversee half of the UK’s Pharmacy and Optical units for Walmart’s UK business, Asda. Having successfully worked in the healthcare sector, Amrit went on to head up Employee Engagement for Asda, before taking up a role with the prestigious Best Companies (the name behind The Sunday Times Best Companies list), working at boardroom level, helping organisations improve their employee engagement. Amrit is an ILM Level 7 qualified executive coach, a Walmart accredited change trainer, and has a CIPD Advanced Diploma (Level 7) in HRM/HRD.

Amrit was a Finalist in the 2024 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ (Service Industries - Midlands) and for the 2019 NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards for ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ (Service Industries - Midlands). &Evolve recently won the bronze award for our management training programme for Chester Zoo in the BIAZA (British & Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Awards. They were also named Finalists in The Learning Awards for the category of ‘Innovation in Learning’, Finalists for the CIPD People Management Awards for the Best L&D Strategy Private Sector, and Finalists for the HR Excellence awards.