Shifting to Ethical Systems

JERICA Global

This is where leaders, businesses, and investors come together for change that truly matters. We share what we’re learning as critical friends — reflections, lessons, and practices for building systems that are ethical, inclusive, and regenerative. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s hopeful. Always it’s worth it! Tune in bi-weekly on Wednesday mornings (CET) for the latest learnings.

  1. Aug 12

    #25 Humans at Work | What Your Pension Is Funding While You Sleep (And How to Move It)

    Two per cent in BP and Shell. One per cent in tobacco, one in weapons. Dan Sherrard-Smith found all of it in his own pension. Host Jules Harrison-Annear meets Dan in this Humans at Work conversation, the special series recorded between December 2022 and July 2025 and now running inside Shifting to Ethical Systems. He is founder and CEO of MotherTree, based in Bratislava. Earlier there was Good Company, a loneliness charity. The idea was invented in a meeting room and defended for eighteen months. When it did not work they gave ninety-five per cent of the funding back. Dan remembers crying on the kitchen floor, then realising the only thing bruised was his ego. MotherTree takes its name from Suzanne Simard's finding that trees of different species feed each other: oak passes beech the nutrients it needs, and beech returns the favour. He took it as instruction: be the connector. The company started with The Climate Challenge, his wife's idea: groups of about eight taking on thirty challenges in thirty days. Going vegan for a day and dropping single-use plastic were the straightforward part. Looking at their bank and their pension is what woke people up, and a money carbon calculator followed. It closes on Jules's point: system change starts by building somewhere better before asking anyone to leave what they depend on. This episode is for founders and leaders in ethical business who want the money they hold, and the money they take, to match the work. Key quote: "Insurance is fascinating because a coal mine could have all the funding it needs to get going but if it doesn’t get the insurance, it’s not gonna happen." Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #2 Ethical Investment | When Finance Serves Life: Impact Investing P.S. If you have never looked at where your pension or banking sits, that is an afternoon well spent. Visit jericaglobal.com, or bring what you find to a discovery call and decide what to move first. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #25 Humans at Work | What Your Pension Is Funding While You Sleep (And How to Move It)

  2. Aug 12

    #24 Humans at Work | Turning Down Good Money for Work That Matters More

    Singapore did not go to plan. The first 21km was a breeze; in the second, something seemed to grab Enver Samuel by the shoulders. Months on, the harder question is what this work is doing to him. This is a postscript: a Humans at Work follow-up inside the Shifting to Ethical Systems series, recorded between December 2022 and July 2025, with host Jules Harrison-Annear returning to Enver in the same Johannesburg office, under the same bright weather. He has just come back from camping in Kruger National Park. His parents took him there decades ago, and the rivers no longer run as they did. Climate change, he says, sits well down a national list headed by poverty, unemployment and electricity. Murder in Paris, his documentary on the assassination of Dulcie September, refuses to stop working after broadcast. Its impact campaign runs into a third year next year, her virtually forgotten name is back in public view, and she and her family are receiving an award. He is now making six documentaries on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, screened to families with a counsellor alongside them. One mother and son spoke about a killing for the first time in three decades. This episode is for anyone choosing between work that pays and work they cannot put down, knowing both choices carry a cost. Key quote: "This year I turned down three of my normal jobs – I told you I turned down a Netflix reality show, two on BBC Prime, so three reality shows I turned down. Because I think I’m convinced that this is the way I wanna go." Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #23 Humans at Work | How to Fund Work That Matters Without Losing Yourself to It P.S. Turning down good money for work that matters more is worth thinking through with someone. Visit jericaglobal.com or book a discovery call, and put the numbers and the reasons on the same table. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #24 Humans at Work | Turning Down Good Money for Work That Matters More

  3. Aug 12

    #23 Humans at Work | How to Fund Work That Matters Without Losing Yourself to It

    Some months Enver Samuel is on a cooking show, tasting the bakes so he knows what to ask next. Others are with a family whose parent was killed by the security police thirty years ago. Enver is a South African television producer and director making social impact documentaries about the unsung heroes and heroines of the struggle against apartheid. He talks with host Jules Harrison-Annear in this Humans at Work conversation, part of the special series recorded between December 2022 and July 2025 and now inside Shifting to Ethical Systems. He grew up in exile in England, Ghana and Zambia, a master climber of trees with no technology near him. Film-making found him later, when British Council camera equipment turned up at the SACHED Trust, where Jules's mother had been posted, and he started fiddling with it. School videos in Soweto followed. Friends in Australia asked why he would go back to South Africa. He wanted to vote as an equal citizen, and would not miss it. The model he has built since is deliberate: hard documentary work, then Survivor or the Bake Off, which pay the bills documentary funding cannot and keep him out of the dark void. Running through both is the one-on-one interview, where someone drops their guard and forgets the camera. This episode is for leaders and makers whose work keeps them close to other people's pain, and who want to sustain it over decades rather than months. Key quote: "When I’m facing the hardest difficult times with my work, I say to myself inside of me, you’ve done a marathon, what is this?" Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #11 Ethical Leadership | Grief Is Part of the Work: How to Feel, Think & Act with Integrity P.S. If your work asks you to carry heavy material for long stretches, pace matters as much as craft. Visit jericaglobal.com, or bring the question to a mentoring conversation. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #23 Humans at Work | How to Fund Work That Matters Without Losing Yourself to It

  4. Aug 12

    #22 Humans at Work | The Business Case for Kindness at Work (And Why It Starts With Boundaries)

    What happens to the person everyone offloads to? Sophie Bretag spent about fifteen years in HR, seven and a half of them in aged care, watching people hand over what they carried and walk away lighter. In this Humans at Work conversation, a special series inside Shifting to Ethical Systems recorded between December 2022 and July 2025, host Jules Harrison-Annear sits down with Sophie, who runs kindness workshops and women's connection circles in far north Queensland. Her first real job was a call centre on an internet tech support line, the most regimented and least human place she has worked. She left it having promised herself she would never again be just a number. That promise became a practice. Kindness, as Sophie teaches it, starts with self-kindness and values, then lands on boundaries: she is strict about her time, her emotional energy and what she will and will not keep. People who know exactly what to expect from a leader feel safe. For sceptics who file kindness under fluffy, she has the business case: engagement, sick leave, return-to-work claims.   And, Sophie has just written and published a book: see The Kind Way. Jules brings the same question to buildings, remembering the Manchester office where she led an organisation supporting asylum seekers and refugees: three sets of bars on the windows, four locks on the door, in the dark at each end of the day. This episode is for HR professionals and care sector leaders who have become their workplace's confidant with nowhere to set that weight down. Key quote: "Offices are not designed for humans. I’m gonna say it on the record – if you can’t open a window in your office, who would design that?" Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #18 Ethical Leadership | How Small Everyday Decisions Shape the Business You're Building P.S. If you are the one holding everyone else's information and running low, you don't have to do this alone. Visit jericaglobal.com or book a discovery call to work out what you will keep carrying. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #22 Humans at Work | The Business Case for Kindness at Work (And Why It Starts With Boundaries)

  5. Aug 12

    #21 Humans at Work | Why Unclear Boundaries Get Exploited (And How to Name Power at Work)

    Diane White will tell you the croissant voted best in the world is overrated. What she is really interested in is power, and who is willing to name it. Humans at Work is a special series inside Shifting to Ethical Systems, recorded between December 2022 and July 2025, and here host Jules Harrison-Annear talks with Diane, a director in EY's Infrastructure Advisory team in Melbourne who trained as a lawyer. Diane left New Zealand to help write the judgment in the Black Saturday bushfires class action: 200 days in court, the longest civil trial in Victoria's history. A month after she started, it settled. Pens down. It was the other judgments the judge handed her next that taught her she did not want to practise law. The harder shift came later. She had led a Humans Rights Commission enquiry into sex discrimination and harassment in Police, what she calls her golden cause, and then had to work out whether wanting a job she enjoys, among people invested in her, was a betrayal of purpose or simply allowed. Underneath runs her working theory of boundaries: where they are not articulated and understood, they get exploited. Once you hold the seniority, the small voice saying "I had to do it this way" is the one to catch. This episode is for purpose-driven leaders who have measured their own goodness by their job title, and are starting to wonder what else they are allowed to want. Key quote: "But it all comes down to power and until you name it and find space to talk about it comfortably, it can loom over organisations and people and society." Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #20 Ethical Leadership | The Art of Saying No: How Boundaries Build Integrity and Trust P.S. If you are weighing a cause you believe in against a place that would actually invest in you, that decision gets easier with company. Visit jericaglobal.com or book a mentoring conversation, and work out where your boundaries sit. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #21 Humans at Work | Why Unclear Boundaries Get Exploited (And How to Name Power at Work)

  6. Aug 5

    #20 Ethical Leadership | The Art of Saying No: How Boundaries Build Integrity and Trust

    Saying no sounds simple. In practice, when opportunities are scarce, relationships feel fragile, and the need for capital is real, it's one of the hardest things ethical leadership asks of us. In this episode of Shifting to Ethical Systems, host Jules Harrison-Annear explores the art of saying no, and why getting better at it might be one of the most important things you can do for the long-term integrity of what you're building. There's an easy version of “no”, when something is obviously wrong.  The hard version is when the thing looks good. Good money. Good exposure. A respected name. Something you'd be mad to turn down. And yet something in you is hesitating. That's the “no” that tests character. And it's the one that, if you learn to trust it, builds the most durable kind of integrity. This episode is for leaders, founders, and changemakers building ethical businesses. Anyone who's been saying yes when they mean no. Key quote: "The boundaries you hold don't diminish what you're building. They define it." Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #13 Ethical Leadership | Why Ethical Leaders Feel Lonely (And How to Find Your People) Episode breakdown: 00:44 Why “No” Is So Difficult Why saying no becomes harder when opportunities are scarce, relationships matter, and the stakes feel high. 01:33 The Hardest Kind of No How to recognise when an opportunity looks right on paper but feels wrong in practice. 02:20 The Tension: Strategic Yes or Slow Capitulation? Why distinguishing between intentional compromise and pressure-driven decision-making requires real discernment. 03:07 A No That Costs Something Is Often the Most Honest One Jules reflects on turning down a seemingly valuable opportunity that conflicted with deeper principles. 04:09 Living with the Second-Guessing Why ethical decisions often bring uncertainty, self-doubt, and the temptation to revisit your choice. 05:07 The Long-Term Value of Integrity How staying aligned creates space for the right people, partnerships, and opportunities to emerge. 05:47 Regret or the Cost of Staying True? A reflection on the difference between missing an opportunity and honouring your values. 06:04 No Is a Relationship Statement, Not a Rejection Why a clear and respectful no can strengthen trust rather than damage it. 07:02 Honesty Builds Stronger Partnerships How transparency and clear boundaries create credibility over time. 07:39 The No That Protects Someone Else Why ethical leadership sometimes requires declining opportunities to safeguard communities, partners, and future outcomes. 08:30 Protecting the Integrity of the System How saying no can become a structural act that shapes who benefits from the systems you're building. 09:02 Whose Interests Are You Protecting? A question for leaders navigating difficult decisions and competing pressures. 09:25 Developing the Practice of Saying No Why discernment, confidence, and ethical boundaries strengthen through repetition. 10:15 Ethical Partnerships Create Safer Decisions How trust and collective reflection help leaders make difficult choices with greater clarity. 10:40 Finding the No as Well as the Yes Why collaborative spaces can help uncover the decisions that truly align with your values. 11:34 The Boundaries You Hold Define What You Build How every no helps shape the integrity, direction, and impact of your work. P.S. If you're sitting with an opportunity that looks good but feels off, you don't have to weigh it alone. Visit jericaglobal.com. Our collaborative and advisory spaces are built for exactly this: thinking it through together, finding the nos as well as the yeses. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #20 Ethical Leadership | The Art of Saying No: How Boundaries Build Integrity and Trust

  7. Jul 22

    #19 Ethical Leadership | Stubborn or Principled? Why Women Leaders Carry Extra Weight in Decisions

    When a woman holds a principle firmly, there's a word that tends to get used. Stubborn. When a man does the same thing, the words are different. Clear. Focused. A strong negotiator. In this episode of Shifting to Ethical Systems, host Jules Harrison-Annear explores the cumulative weight of small decisions, and goes somewhere adjacent but distinct: the extra weight women carry when those decisions are theirs to make. Ethical leadership asks all of us to hold firm on what matters while staying open to learning. That's hard for anyone.  But for women, there's an added layer: the social expectation, still very present in 2026, to be agreeable, to smooth things over, to not make people uncomfortable. And when you're building an ethical business that sometimes challenges the norm, that pressure can be relentless. Through three reflections, Jules names what rarely gets named. The loaded language used for women who hold firm. The extra cognitive and emotional load that runs in parallel with the actual work. And why your gut instinct deserves to be treated as evidence, not noise to be overridden. This episode is for women leaders and female entrepreneurs navigating the gap between what they know to be right and the pressure to behave differently. It is also for anyone who leads alongside them. Key quote: "Being principled is not the same as being stubborn. Knowing the difference is one of the most important things ethical leadership asks of us." Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #13 Ethical Leadership | Why Ethical Leaders Feel Lonely (And How to Find Your People) Episode breakdown: 00:44 The Double Standard Around Holding Firm Why women leaders are often judged differently when they stand by their principles. 01:45 The Hidden Cost of Ethical Leadership How social expectations can make values-based decision-making more complex for women. 02:57 The Tension: Flexibility or Capitulation? Why distinguishing between strategic adaptation and giving in to external pressure is harder than it seems. 03:55 When Principle Gets Labelled as Stubbornness A founder's experience of being criticised for protecting a core ethical commitment. 05:03 The Power of Language How words like "stubborn," "difficult," and "inflexible" can obscure what's really happening. 06:02 A Question Worth Asking How to tell the difference between refusing to bend and refusing to abandon a principle. 06:28 The Extra Cognitive Load Women Carry Why women leaders often spend additional emotional and mental energy processing difficult decisions. 07:53 Gut Instinct Is Data, Not Noise Why intuition deserves consideration alongside logic when making values-based decisions. 09:01 Listening to What Feels Off How to recognise when external pressure is overriding your own judgement. 10:08 The Wisdom of Not Responding Immediately Why creating space before making a decision can strengthen clarity and integrity. 11:03 Separating External Pressure from Internal Uncertainty How reflection helps distinguish genuine doubt from the accumulated weight of other people's expectations. 11:55 Mentoring as Critical Infrastructure Why judgement-free spaces for reflection are essential for ethical leadership. 12:37 Being Principled Is Not the Same as Being Stubborn Why understanding the difference is a vital leadership practice for anyone creating meaningful change. P.S. If you've been called stubborn for holding a principle, you don't have to untangle it alone. Visit jericaglobal.com or book a mentoring conversation. Not to be told whether you were right or wrong, but to think it through on your own terms. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #19 Ethical Leadership | Stubborn or Principled? Why Women Leaders Carry Extra Weight in Decisions

  8. Jul 8

    #18 Ethical Leadership | How Small Everyday Decisions Shape the Business You're Building

    What if the decisions that shape your business most aren't the big, dramatic ones, but the small ones you make on a tired Tuesday afternoon? In this episode of Shifting to Ethical Systems, host Jules Harrison-Annear explores the power of small decisions, and how everyday choices compound into the business, and the leadership, you actually intended to build. We talk a lot about systems change as big structural shifts. But values-based leadership usually starts much closer to home. Who you take a call from. Which client you say yes to. Whether you soften a boundary because you're worried what someone will think. None of those feel world-altering. Together, they are writing the story of your business. Through three reflections drawn from years of mentoring founders and leaders, Jules names a tension many of us feel but rarely say out loud: the difference between strategic flexibility and a slow drift away from what matters. They can look almost identical in the moment. It is usually only in hindsight that you can tell which one it was. This episode is for founders, business owners, and purpose-driven leaders who want their everyday choices to add up, rather than waking up one day to a business that doesn't quite sound like them anymore. Key quote: "The business you intend to build is shaped, more than you might think, by the decisions you make when no one's watching." Psst… If you liked the episode, check out this one next: #5 Ethical Leadership: Anchored by Values, Turning Pressure into Purpose Episode breakdown: 00:44 Small Decisions Shape Big Outcomes Why the choices you make in everyday moments often have the greatest impact on your business and leadership. 01:56 Systems Change Starts with Micro-Choices How seemingly insignificant decisions accumulate to shape the future of your organisation. 02:33 The Tension: Flexibility or Drift? Why adapting to circumstances is essential, but losing sight of your values happens more easily than you think. 03:14 Small Decisions Are Never Just Small A founder's story of how a series of reasonable choices gradually led her away from the business she intended to build. 04:34 The Alignment Check Why pausing before saying yes can reveal whether an opportunity truly supports your purpose. 04:49 Flexibility Without Anchors Becomes Drift How principles and values act as a compass when navigating difficult decisions. 05:53 Building with Clear Principles Why explicit anchors create consistency, trust, and clarity for your team, clients, and partners. 06:35 The Regret Test A practical framework for making decisions you can stand behind, regardless of the outcome. 07:34 The Power of Values-Aligned Decisions How coherence between your values and actions strengthens trust, reduces fatigue, and attracts the right opportunities. 08:22 Patterns, Not Isolated Decisions Why meaningful change often begins by recognising the cumulative effect of small choices over time. 09:17 Creating Space for Better Decisions How reflection and mentoring can help uncover patterns, clarify priorities, and support intentional leadership. 09:58 Change Begins with Choices Why the business you're building is ultimately shaped by the decisions you make when no one's watching. P.S. If you're carrying a decision right now, small or large, that doesn't quite feel right, you don't have to think it through alone. Visit jericaglobal.com or book a mentoring conversation: a space to reconnect with what you actually believe, and make the choice you'll be able to stand behind. Credits: Music: Under the Willow Tree by Vita Irrita, used with full permission from the artists.Podcast created with the support of Conscious Marketing Movement.

    #18 Ethical Leadership | How Small Everyday Decisions Shape the Business You're Building
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This is where leaders, businesses, and investors come together for change that truly matters. We share what we’re learning as critical friends — reflections, lessons, and practices for building systems that are ethical, inclusive, and regenerative. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s hopeful. Always it’s worth it! Tune in bi-weekly on Wednesday mornings (CET) for the latest learnings.

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