Insights

Ideas about reputation, power and influence, and the forces reshaping how leaders and institutions earn trust.

Subscribe on Substack Subscribe on LinkedIn

Featured Thinking

9 February 2026 Is the Grass Greener in the United Arab Emirates? With Lamia Kamel and Alex Aiken at the Praxis MENA Conference. PHOTO: PRAXIS I have been coming to the UAE for almost two decades, so I am no stranger to these shores. But in... Read article → 22 January 2025 How to Start a Career in PR (UK Edition) This is an updated version of a guide produced by Farzana Baduel in January 2025. Things happen pretty fast around here. Introduction Between us, we have spent decades working in public relations and communications,... Read article → 30 June 2022 How to land a non-executive director role and what to do when you get there As a somewhat crude saying goes, non-executive director (NED) roles are a bit like bidets: no one knows quite what they do, but they add a touch of class. I landed my first NED... Read article →

Latest from The Baduel Brief

Subscribe →
14 October 2026 Who Has the Power to Damage a Reputation? Evri distribution centre branding Photo: Design Bridge and Partners / Evri If your parcel has gone missing, the successful delivery of a billion others... Read article → 12 October 2026 A Matter of Judgement “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” – Daniel J. Boorstin There has been no shortage of... Read article → 9 October 2026 When Big Tech Comes to Town One of Amazon data centers Photo: Amazon News Amazon has a problem. It needs to build a lot more data centres, and a growing... Read article →

All Insights

5 October 2026 Finding Your Voice “The human voice: it’s the instrument we all play.” — Julian Treasure It has been one of those weeks that has taken me from... Read article → 2 October 2026 The Billionaire Distortion Field Panoramic view of a private jet Photo: DGSmith / Shutterstock Billionaires occupy a strange place in public life. Extreme wealth attracts fascination, but it... Read article → 28 September 2026 Pay Attention “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” — Simone Weil Hello again from London. After a few weeks of planes, different time... Read article → 23 September 2026 When Silence Stops Being Safe King Charles III and Earl Spencer There is an idea in crisis communications that saying nothing is the safest option. Sometimes it is. But... Read article → 10 September 2026 The Power of Good Vibes Marks & Spencer superstore (Image Credit: Gilangpnp / Shutterstock.com) There are moments when a brand simply seems to have the wind behind it. People... Read article → 4 September 2026 Knowing When to Switch Off In Mallorca “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott Hello again from London.... Read article → 24 August 2026 Beach Diplomacy With the British High Commissioner to the Maldives, Nick Low, in Malé “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but... Read article → 17 August 2026 The X-Factor Politics in the Social Media Age I joined Lewis Vaughan Jones on BBC News‘ The Context last week to discuss Andy Burnham‘s use of... Read article → 10 August 2026 Great and Unfortunate Things Jason Arday | The Atlantic “What if I have completely overestimated my capabilities? What if my story ends up being a cautionary tale like... Read article →