# Meet Leanne — Business Psychologist and co-founder of Oblong

- **Episode:** [02](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/02.md) (2022-07-12)
- **Type:** other
- **Tags:** business-psychologist, co-founder, small-business
- **Time:** 2:00–5:00 (start 120s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/02?t=120](https://truthliesandwork.com/02?t=120)

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[2:00] Leanne Elliott: Yes, it is. So, I'm a business psychologist. I've been working with small businesses throughout my career, the odd large business as well, such as DWP, the NHS, on a consulting basis. But really, my experience has shown me that to have success as a small business, to have growth as a small business. It really comes down to creating a team that cares as much about your business as you do
[2:28] Al Elliott: And so I'm Al, the other half of Oblong, but my background is all about sales and marketing. That's what I've been doing for 140,000 years. I've also started businesses, run businesses, had businesses go bankrupt, which was another story for another day. But I think what you'll see, the format of this is that very much I'm going to be asking the questions. I will not be providing any kind of expertise because that's Leanne's job, because Leanne has letters after her name that are longer than my entire name. She's a very clever woman
[3:01] Leanne Elliott: I'm not sure your name is really long
[3:02] Al Elliott: That's true
[3:04] Leanne Elliott: I think maybe the average person, but Mr. Two Names in the middle
[3:09] Al Elliott: Should we, should we tell everyone what my stupid name is?
[3:11] Leanne Elliott: Go on then
[3:11] Al Elliott: So my real name is Alastair David Elliott. Dallas Robert Elliott. There you go. Do with that what you will
[3:18] Leanne Elliott: Sounds very regal
[3:19] Al Elliott: I wish I was like Alasdair Dallas Robert Elliott III or something
[3:24] Leanne Elliott: That would be cool
[3:25] Al Elliott: Anyway, let's get back to this. So, uh, you take pride in your work. You're a service-based industry. You take pride in your work, and of course you do, but you should also take pride in your people. And you need to do that by ensuring you create an environment that ensures that your people are engaged. Shall we start with a very quick, like literally 90-second summary of what employee engagement is and what happens when you don't get it right?
[3:49] Leanne Elliott: Yes. So if you want a more detailed explanation, go back to episode 1. If you're starting in episode 2, you rebel, I like you already. But maybe go back, find out a little bit more about employee engagement. But you just— you're right there, love
[4:03] Al Elliott: I didn't expect that. I like that little riff
[4:06] Leanne Elliott: Just took a sip of water. So yes, go back and listen. But if you can't be bothered, fine, you're busy person, I understand. In a nutshell, employee engagement is something— it's a phenomenon within your business, and it's about making sure that you are creating an environment that is nurturing the right employee attitudes, thoughts, feelings. That's going to translate into employee behaviours, and that's going to translate into business performance. As one of, or I guess, probably the prominent voice in the psychology world and employment engagement, Dave McLloyd said that employee engagement is a workplace approach Resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give their best every day. They're going to be committed to their organisation's goals and values, and they're going to be motivated to contribute to organisational success. And the bonus, it's also going to enhance their own sense of wellbeing