Pat Wadors is the Chief Talent Officer and Chief Human Resource Officer for ServiceNow. Prior to joining ServiceNow, Pat was Senior Vice President, Global Talent organization at LinkedIn, where her focus was on recruiting and developing top talent, driving organizational transformation, supporting a highly engaged workforce, and growing LinkedIn's global footprint.

In this episode, we discuss how to build inclusive and diverse workplaces where people feel like they belong so you can create psychological safety, develop people's strengths, and support growth mindsets. 

Connect with Pat Wardors: 

Website:  https://www.servicenow.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:08] - Pat offers some tips for how we can teach people the skills to help them more confidently feel like they can be authentic, vulnerable and curious at work.
• [03:27] - Pat explains how sharing gratitude stories can help people improve their relationships with each other at work.
• [05:10] - Pat shares how she’s been exploring what it looks like to be a great place to work in really healthy ways for employees.
• [08:26] - Pat explains how treating each other beautifully at work also requires us to know and honor our boundaries.
• [10:55] - Pat shares why our efforts at diversity and inclusion in workplaces are still often falling short of our goals.
• [13:54] - Pat explains how we teach managers to help their people uncover and develop their superpowers at work.
• [16:18] - Pat offers some tips for building psychological safety in workplace teams.
• [18:57] - Pat shares how the growth mindset methodology has been used at ServiceNow to help people learn from their failures.
• [20:21] - Pat shares some caveats and cautions for building cultures of belonging.
• [21:42] - Pat completes the Lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Susan Cain TED Talk - The Power of Introverts

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Pat!

Alison Earl is the author of Tripowerment: The Why, the Will and the Way of Breakthrough Change. She works with people and companies around the globe to empower self-directed change as a  guest lecturer in Behavioral Economics at the Harvard School of Public Health and the leader of an academic and commercial think tank dedicated to solving the most complex problems in behavior change.

In this episode, we explore why feeling stressed at work isn't always bad for our wellbeing or out performance. Alison explains how our beliefs about stress impact us neurologically and shape the way we think, feel, and act. She also shares the simple steps we can take for ourselves, our teams, and our workplaces to harness more of the positive effects of stress. 

Connect with Alison Earl:

Website: https://alisonearl.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [03:51] - Alison explains what the latest research is discovering about the impact stress can have on our wellbeing and performance at work.
• [07:35] - Alison outlines some of the different stress responses we are each capable of experiencing and how our beliefs about stress can trigger these and impact the way we think, feel, and act.
• [12:38] - Alison shares how our connections with others can help us to transform stress into courage.
• [15:19] - Alison offers some practical tips for challenging our stress mindsets in the heat of the moment when stress threatens to hijack us.
• [18:35] - Alison explains why tackling stress at work needs to be a shared responsibility between workers, teams, leaders, and organizations in order to be truly effective.
• [21:24] - Alison shares structural approaches teams can put in place to help improve their stress responses.
• [23:31] - Alison Completes the Lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister & John Tierney
• The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Alison!

Dr. Dan Diamond is passionate about equipping leaders to make a difference, especially when resources are scarce or times are tough. For example, Dan was the director of the medical triage unit at the New Orleans Convention Center following Hurricane Katrina, he led one of the first medical teams into Haiti following their devastating earthquake and he was deployed to the Philippines following Typhoon Yolanda. Dan has packaged all of this experience into his book Beyond Resilience, Trench-Tested Tools to Thrive When Times Are Tough and its ideas have been featured on CNN and many other media outlets around the world.

In this episode, we explore how it's possible to adapt and thrive, even under extreme circumstances at work and in life as Dan explains how tow simple questions can move us towards a thriver mindset that renews us, or a victim, bystander or controller mindset that drains us.

Connect with Dan Diamond:

Website: dandiamondmd.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:20] - Dan explains how power and purpose shape a thriver’s mindset and how it can improve our performance and wellbeing at work.
• [04:23] - Dan shares how our victim, bystander, controller, and thriver mindsets get shaped and how we can free ourselves of mindsets that don’t serve us well.
• [08:56] - Dan offers some practical steps we can take to move towards a thriver mindset more consistently at work.
• [15:55] - Dan shares tips for how leaders can help their teams cultivate more thriver mindsets when times are tough.
• [22.32] - Dan explains how we can be intelligent thrivers who don’t burn ourselves out in an effort to help others.
• [24:55] - Dan Completes the Lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Dan!

Dr. Heidi Wayment is a professor of social psychology at Northern Arizona University, whose research interests include psychological processes related to self-identity, self-evaluation, health behavior, and coping with stressful life events. Heidi is the co-author of Transcending Self-interest: Psychological Explorations of the Quiet Ego and has published nearly a dozen papers related to her research on this topic. In 2018, her work was recognized by a University as the most significant research in scholarly work.

In this episode, we explore how our egos shape our relationships, performance, and wellbeing at work. Heidi shares the simple steps we can take to quieten a noisy ego when needed, and how to avoid overplaying our quiet egos at work. 

Connect with Heidi Wayment:

Website: Heidi Wayment - Northern Arizona University

You’ll Learn:

• [02:20] - Heidi explains the quiet ego and how it can impact our performance and wellbeing at work.
• [04:23] - Heidi outlines the four characteristics of a quiet ego and how these can be applied in workplaces.
• [08:56] - Heidi helps us understand how fear, uncertainty, and dissatisfaction can trigger our noisy egos.
• [12:43] – Heidi explores how self-compassion can help us to quieten our noisy egos.
• [15:55] - Heidi shares a new approach being taken in the US Military to teach leaders and their teams to quieten their egos when needed.
• [22.32] - Heidi explores how we can avoid overplaying our quiet egos at work.
• [24:55] - Heidi Completes the Lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Heidi!

Today’s Guest:

Peggy Kern is a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education in the Center for Positive Psychology. Originally trained in Social-Personality and Development Psychology, Peggy's research examines the question of who flourishes in life physically, mentally and socially, and she's one of the world's leading researchers on the subject of measuring wellbeing, particularly using the PERMA pillars.

In this episode, we explore some side-effects of wellbeing measures in workplaces, and how to avoid them. 

Connect with Peggy Kern:

Website: http://peggykern.org

You’ll Learn:

• [02:43] - Peggy explains the surprising findings of a new survey on wellbeing across Australian workplaces, and what this might mean for other workplaces.
• [08:24] - Peggy explores how our current approaches to measuring wellbeing may have unintentionally created more stigma for people who are struggling.
• [10:58] - Peggy shares her concerns for how wellbeing is being taught in schools and what this could mean for workplaces as well.
• [12:23] – Peggy suggests workplaces need to embrace wellbeing diversity, just as they are starting embrace neurodiversity.
• [13:38] - Peggy explains why wellbeing is a not a solo endeavor in workplaces, and how teams and organizations impact people’s wellbeing at work.
• [17:09] - Peggy shares some practical strategies emerging from the research that workplaces can use to help support their people’s wellbeing.
• [20:23] - Peggy explains why workplaces shouldn’t be aiming for perfect wellbeing scores, and what they monitor instead to determine the success of their programs.
• [22:49] - Peggy Completes the Lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Peggy!

Peggy Kern is a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education in the Center for Positive Psychology. Originally trained in Social-Personality and Development Psychology, Peggy's research examines the question of who flourishes in life physically, mentally and socially, and she's one of the world's leading researchers on the subject of measuring wellbeing, particularly using the PERMA pillars.

In this episode, we explore new research to understand why most wellbeing workplace measures and strategies are falling short, and the small practical changes we can make to help more people thrive at work. 

Connect with Peggy Kern:

Website: http://peggykern.org

You’ll Learn:

• [02:43] - Peggy explains the surprising findings of a new survey on wellbeing across Australian workplaces, and what this might mean for other workplaces.
• [08:24] - Peggy explores how our current approaches to measuring wellbeing may have unintentionally created more stigma for people who are struggling.
• [10:58] - Peggy shares her concerns for how wellbeing is being taught in schools and what this could mean for workplaces as well.
• [12:23] – Peggy suggests workplaces need to embrace wellbeing diversity, just as they are starting embrace neurodiversity.
• [13:38] - Peggy explains why wellbeing is a not a solo endeavor in workplaces, and how teams and organizations impact people’s wellbeing at work.
• [17:09] - Peggy shares some practical strategies emerging from the research that workplaces can use to help support their people’s wellbeing.
• [20:23] - Peggy explains why workplaces shouldn’t be aiming for perfect wellbeing scores, and what they monitor instead to determine the success of their programs.
• [22:49] - Peggy Completes the Lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Peggy!

Today we’re talking to Zach Mercurio, whose research, teaching and consulting on how purpose and meaningfulness can help individuals and organizations unleash human potential to produce tangible results, has been applied to transform Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, schools, and universities around the world. Zach is the best selling author of “The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with the Power of Authentic Purpose,”

In this episode, we explore why what’s possible when purpose becomes the boss of our choices in workplaces and the practical steps you, your team and your organization can take to genuinely put meaning and purpose at the heart of what you do each day.

Connect with Zach:

Website:  https://www.zachmercurio.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [01:51] - Zach explains why purpose has become a priority in workplaces over the last few years.
• [03:48] - Zach studies are finding a focus on purpose impacts the bottom-line in workplaces.
• [06:05] - Zach explains why-washing has become a problem in some workplaces and how we can avoid it.
• [07:53] - Zach outlines why purpose is a process and the pathway to purpose that workplaces can follow based on his research.
• [11:38] - Zach explains how leaders can ensure their choices and actions remain aligned to their organization’s purpose even in a dynamic, complex and unpredictable world.
• [13:53] - Zach provides an example of how leaders can keep the purpose of their organization front-of-mind as they make decisions.
• [17:07] - Zach explains what we can do practically to be more purpose-focused – no matter what our role - if our organization isn’t yet clear on its purpose.
• [19:17] - Zach offers some tips to help us deliver on our organization’s purpose more consistently.
• [24:03] - Zach completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Make Your Job a Calling by Brian J. Dik & Ryan D. Duffy

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Zach!

Today we’re talking to Tamra Chandler who is the founder and CEO of PeopleFirm, one of Forbes Magazine’s 2018 America’s Best Management Consulting firms. A nationally recognized thought leader, author, and speaker, Tamra has spent most of her thirty-year career developing new and effective ways for people and their organizations to perform at their peak. In 2016, she wrote the acclaimed book, “How Performance Management is Killing Performance and What to Do About It.”

In this episode, we explore how existing performance management practices are often not only ineffective but detrimental in workplaces and why leaders hang on to them.  Tamra helps us to explore the alternatives and how focusing on strengths, building our growth mindiset feedback muscles and improving psychological safety with coaching focused development conversations can help people thrive in their roles.

Connect with Tamra:

Website:  http://www.peoplefirm.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:23] - Tamra explains why she's found that performance management processes are generally killing performance in workplaces.
• [05:55] - Tamra shares how performance conversations can help people to develop their strengths and improve psychological safety.
• [08:46] - Tamra explains why despite all the evidence we have about helping people to thrive at work, organizations continue to persist with performance management approaches that are ineffective.
• [11:49] - Tamra outlines the steps workplaces and leaders can take to improve their performance management processes.
• [14:42] - Tamra explains why managers struggle to accurately rate most people’s performance at work.
• [16:05] - Tamra suggests rating how managers feel about their people’s future potential is a better way to assess people’s talent in workplaces and why these conversations should be transparent.
• [18:17] - Tamra explains why workplaces need to arm people with the courage and capability to seek more feedback on their own.
• [20:41] - Tamra provides some tips on what leaders can do to improve people’s performance – regardless of their workplace's performance management systems.
• [23:15] - Tamra completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Tamra!

Today we’re talking to Fred Luthans, who is a distinguished professor of management emirates at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and whose research is focused on what he founded and has turned to positive organizational behavior and psychological capital. A former president of the Academy of Management, Fred has received many awards, edited three top journals, authored several well-known books, and over 250 academic articles and chapters, and lectured in most countries around the world.

In this episode, we explore how Fred led the creation of the concept of Psychological Capital, the impact of building the psychological resources of hope, optimism, resilience and efficacy, and how this can be achieved in workplaces.

Connect with Fred:

Website:  https://business.unl.edu/people/fluthans

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You’ll Learn:

• [03:14] - Fred explains what psychological capital is and how the concept emerged for improving resilience in workplaces.
• [08:38] - Fred shares what researchers around the world have been learning about the benefits of building psychological capital in workplaces.
• [13:18] - Fred shares tips on how psychological capital can be practically developed for people in workplaces.
• [16:37] - Fred shares how sustainability boosters can help people to build and maintain their levels of psychological capital.
• [19:47] - Fred explains why PsyCap has been found to have more impact in the United States and in services industries.
• [23:36] - Fred shares some of the other positive psychological resources that studies have found also impact resilience and wellbeing in the workplace.
• [25:07] - Fred completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• The Hope Circuit by Martin Seligman
• Big Potential by Shawn Achors
• Psychological Capital & Beyong by Fred Luthans

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Fred!

Today we’re talking to Peter Bregman who, for the last 30 years, has helped CEO’s and senior leaders to develop their leadership skills, build aligned collaborative teams, and overcome obstacles to drive results for their organizations. The host of the acclaimed Bregman Leadership podcast, Peter’s a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and an award-winning, best selling author. His most recent book is Leading with Emotional Courage, How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability and Inspire Action on Your Most Important Work.

In this episode, we discuss how to build people’s emotional courage so they can better navigate all of their emotions at work, willingly hold kind and hard conversations, and create more of the outcomes they want.

Connect with Peter:

Website:  http://bregmanpartners.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:06] - Peter explains why leaders need to understand that emotions are the fuel that energizes our focus at work.
• [06:22] - Peter explores if hard conversations can also be kind conversations at work.
• [10:48] - Peter shares how to lead into a kind conversation that’s hard to have with others.
• [14:14] - Peter explains why reducing our sense of power can help to build trust in our relationships.
• [19:28] - Peter outlines why reverting to old behaviors can be the best way to become more of who we want to be at work.
• [25:03] - Peter completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Peter!

Today we’re talking to Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business whose research explores social cognition, and how people think about other people, to understand why smart people so routinely misunderstand each other. His research has appeared in more than two dozen empirical journals, has been featured by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal among many other media outlets and he’s the author of Mindwise, How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel and Want.

In this episode, we discuss how your brain’s ability to understand what others think, believe, feel and want helps you to connect with others.  Nick also explains how this often goes wrong at work due to over-confidence that results in interpersonal misunderstandings and what you can do to improve your ability to mind read when it comes to your relationships.

Connect with Nick:

Website:  http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/nicholas.epley/

You’ll Learn:

• [01:57] - Nick explains how we all have a sixth sense that can help us to read each other’s minds.
• [03:28] - Nick shares why our ability to read the minds of others is vital for our ability to thrive in the world.
• [05:08] - Nick explains how our ability to read each other’s minds can often go wrong at work.
• [07:48] - Nick shares what his research has found about how our tendencies for social interpersonal misunderstandings can shape our relationships and our actions at work.
• [09:57] - Nick explains why interpreting people’s intent in our relationships can be so challenging.
• [11:31] - Nick explores how our ability to mind read at work could impact people’s levels of psychological safety.
• [13:15] - Nick shares what his research has found can help us to mind read more effectively.
• [18:09] - Nick explores how staying out of judgment, and sitting in curiosity might help us to get perspective and be better mindreaders.
• [19:33] - Nick outlines the findings from his recent research on why people are often reluctant to express gratitude to each other.
• [23:53] - Nick completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Nudge by Richard H. Thaler
• The Wisest One in the Room by Tom Gilovitch

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Nick!

Today we’re talking to Robyn Stratton-Berkessel, who’s an adjunct professor in the School of Management at Champlain College, where she teaches online in the positive organizational development MBA programme. She’s the author of Appreciative Inquiry for Collaborative Solutions, hosts the popular Positivity Strategist Podcast, and is an advisor on various appreciative inquiry initiatives, for organizations all over the world.

In this episode, we explore how positivity is improved in workplaces when people are given a voice using participative approaches like Appreciative Inquiry and how leaders can learn to feel confident about these generative approaches.

Connect with Robyn:

Website:  positivitystrategist.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:18] - Robyn explains the characteristics of a positive workplace.
• [04:45] - Robyn shares how we can help leaders feel more confident about the benefits of giving people a voice when it comes to improving positivity in workplaces.
• [07:37] - Robyn shares an example of how Appreciative Inquiry can be used to help cynics with diverse views find a meaningful way forward together.
• [10:56] - Robyn explains how we can craft generative questions that help people to see old things in new ways.
• [13:50] - Robyn explains why appreciative inquiry is more than simply always talking about the positive.
• [16:24] - Robyn shares how workplaces can harness the opportunity and power of self-organization as one of the outcomes of an Appreciative Inquiry experience.
• [18:34] - Robyn offers some caveats and cautions about when an Appreciative Inquiry approach might now work so well.
• [20:07] - Robyn talks about the importance of not using an Appreciative Inquiry approach to gloss over difficult or painful conversations in workplaces.
• [23:02] - Robyn completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Robyn's Ted Talk

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Robyn!

Today we’re talking to Dan Cable, a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School and whose research and teaching focuses on employee engagement, change, organizational culture, leadership mindset, and the linkage between brands and employee behaviors. An award-winning researcher, Dan has published more than 50 articles in scientific journals, been extensively featured in business publications around the world, and the author of several books, the latest being ‘Alive at Work’. Dan’s clients include Deloitte, McDonald’s, Twitter, and many more.

In this episode, we explore how workplaces can harness people’s neurological seeking system to help them bring their best selves to work each day and why self-expression, serious play and purpose can help us to achieve what we’re truly capable of doing while looking after our wellbeing.

Connect with Dan:

Website:  dan-cable.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:33] - Dan explains why researchers continue to find why many employees still feel like they can’t really be their best selves at work each day, even after almost 20 years of positive psychology research and applications in workplaces.
• [05:25] - Dan shares why finding ways to harness our brains seeking systems is one of the keys to helping people bring their best selves to work each day.
• [10:24] - Dan outlines how we can help leaders better understand the impact of fear on people’s behaviors and their ability to bring their best selves to work.
• [14:44] - Dan explains the importance of encouraging playfulness in workplaces in order to trigger our seeking systems and bring our best selves to work.
• [17:51] - Dan shares his tips on how to help leaders and teams leverage storytelling to make their work more purposeful.
• [20:31] - Dan shares his evidence-based interventions for helping people to bring their best selves to work more often.
• [23:14] - Dan offers some important cautions about helping people to bring their best selves to work in a way that is good for them and good for others.
• [27:41] - Dan completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Redirect by Timonthy D. Wilson
• Give & Take by Adam Grant

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Dan!

Today we’re talking to Rob Baker, who’s a specialist at bringing positive psychology to workplaces, and strives to be a force for good in the world of work. A graduate of the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology programme at Melbourne University, Rob is the founder and chief positive deviant of a leading evidence-based positive psychology, well-being, and HR consultancy called Tailored Thinking. His ideas and research on how people can personalize work and bring their whole and best selves to the workplace have been presented at academic and professional conferences around the world.

In this episode, we discuss how job crafting and in particular micro-crafting (small changes to what you do each day) can help you to align your work with your strengths, interests and passions to help you balance the demands of your job and feel more engaged, satisfied and effective at work.

Connect with Rob:

Website:  tailoredthinking.co.uk/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:15] - Rob explains what job crafting is and how it might help us at work
• [03:30] - Rob explains what researchers are finding out about the potential benefits of job crafting for employees and for workplaces.
• [05:45] - Rob explains why we need more flexible approaches to job descriptions as many jobs continue to become more complex and unpredictable.
• [06:38] - Rob shares practical examples of how people can engage in task crafting, relational crafting and purpose crafting at work.
• [10:35] - Rob offers simple steps for micro crafting your job.
• [14:15] - Rob explores how on-the-spot job crafting may benefit people as they go about their jobs.
• [16:09] - Rob explains how leaders can help their people to job craft.
• [18:11] - Rob offers some cautions on when job crafting is likely to be less effective in workplaces.
• [21:07] - Rob completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Alive at Work by Daniel Cable
• Job Crafting - Amy Wrzesniewski
• Eat Sleep Work Repeat Podcast

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Rob!

Today we’re talking to Dr. Fred Luskin, who founded and currently serves as Director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects. Fred is also a senior consultant in Health Promotion and Wellness at Stanford University’s health center, where he teaches classes on positive psychology, the art and science of meditation, forgiveness, wellness, flourishing, and the psychology of storytelling to undergraduate and graduate students, and conducts numerous workshops and staff development trainings in relationship enhancement, stress management, and positive psychology through the Stanford Be Well program. He’s the author of several best-selling books, including Forgive For Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness, and has been interviewed by mere outlets around the world.

In this episode, we discuss how forgiveness can help to improve our wellbeing, grit and psychological safety at work.

Connect with Fred:

Website:  https://learningtoforgive.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:02] - Fred explains the value of forgiveness in workplaces.
• [02:51] - Fred shares how the Stanford Forgiveness Project has helped to improve forgiveness in workplaces.
• [04:48] - Fred outline why it can be hard to forgive others at work.
• [06:41] - Fred explains the two practices that work best when it comes to improving our ability to forgive at work.
• [09:08] - Fred outlines the H.E.A.L method for forgiveness.
• [12:13] - Fred explains how forgiveness can impact our levels of grit and resilience.
• [13:08] - Fred shares how forgiveness shapes our relationships at work.
• [16:20] - Fred explores how important it is for us to be able to forgive ourselves.
• [17:30] - Fred shares his thoughts on the intersection of forgiveness and psychological safety.
• [18:20] - Fred explains how we can intelligently forgive at work so we don’t get taken advantage of.
• [20:12] - Fred shares some of the bottom-line outcomes he has found in workplaces who teach the skills of forgiveness.
• [21:43] - Fred completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• 8 Minute Meditation by Victor Davich
• Forgive for Good by Fred Luskin

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Fred!

Today we’re talking to Darren Coppin, who is a Ph.D. researcher and businessman, who implements positive psychology methods, not because of any deep-seated faith in the movement’s principles, but because it works. Darren’s mother is an outrageous hippy who is at one with the universe, so Darren over-zealously tries to ensure that everything he says and does is evidence-based. In that vein, since 2014, over 105000 people have been through his government-funded model to increase the return to work rates for welfare recipients, and these tools are now being adopted by higher education and apprenticeship institutions around the world.

In this episode, we discuss how to optimize people’s motivation and resilience for work.

Connect with Darren:

Website:  Darren Coppin on LinkedIn

You’ll Learn:

• [02:01] - Darren explains how the motivation for behavior change is often misunderstood in workplaces.
• [03:26] - Darren shares how he’s applied the principles of behavior change to help long-term unemployed people find work.
• [06:23] - Darren outlines how he’s applied the principles for motivation to help secure funding for his program from key stakeholders.
• [08:45] - Darren shares what his research has found about the most effective positive psychology practices for improving resilience and accomplishment for job seekers.
• [10:49] - Darren explains why fusing resilience interventions and coaching can be a powerful way to create behavior change.
• [14:43] - Darren explains how workplaces can provide the right type of support at the right time to improve people’s resilience.
• [16:12] - Darren explains how workplaces can better support people’s levels of resilience.
• [20:28] - Darren shares the impact teaching resilience skills to long-term unemployed job seekers has been having.
• [21:23] - Darren completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• How Sadness Survived: The Evolutionary Basis of Depression by Paul Keedwell & Philip Barker

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Darren!

Today we’re talking to James and Janice Prochaska. Jim is the Director of the Cancer Prevention Research Center and Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Rhode Island and is internationally recognized for his work as a developer of the stage model of behavior change for which he has won numerous awards, including being one of the Top Five Most Cited Authors in Psychology from the American Psychology Society. He is the author of over 400 publications, including four books of which the latest is Changing to Thrive which he co-authored with his wife Janice, who is one of the most published authors in the field of social work having applied the model of behavior change to cutting-edge issues.

In this episode, we discuss the stages of change most people move through and how understanding this process can help to improve people’s wellbeing and enable leader’s to embed positive changes in workplaces.

Connect with James & Janice:

Website: jprochaska.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:13] - Jim outlines the stages that his research has found people move through when they are creating changes.
• [06:41] - Jim explains some of the new breakthroughs his research has found recently about how changes can be made to enhance people’s wellbeing.
• [08:23] - Jim shares why it’s important to meet people where they are when it comes to creating change in order to move them into action.
• [11:21] - Jan shares her tips for helping people to take effective actions to create the changes they want.
• [13:15] - Jim shares his tips for how we can maintain our motivation for the changes we’ve started making.
• [18:43] - Jim explains what happens when our desired change behaviors become unstuck.
• [20:00] - Jim explains how the stages of change can overlap.
• [21:58] - Jim outlines how leaders can use the stages of change to help people thrive at work.
• [24:42] - Jim completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• www.prochange.com
• Changing to Thrive by James & Janice Prochaska

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Jim & Jan!

Today we’re talking to Dr. Acacia Parks, who is the chief scientist at Happify, an online platform that turns the science of happiness into activities and games to create lasting changes and whose research focuses on self help methods for increasing happiness via books and digital technology with an emphasis on objective, observable outcomes such as physical health indicators. Acacia regularly publishes articles in scientific journals, has edited three books, and is also the associate editor at The Journal of Positive Psychology.

In this episode, we explore how positive psychology and wellbeing interventions can be delivered in workplaces through technology platforms like Happify to create behavior changes that stick.

Connect with Acacia:

Website: happify.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:05] - Acacia explains how positive psychology interventions can be delivered through technology platforms to create behavior change that sticks
• [03:19] - Acacia outlines how the Happify technology platform works
• [04:40] - Acacia shares the STAGE framework Happify uses to classify different types of wellbeing interventions for users
• [07:16] - Acacia weighs up the pros and cons of using technology to improve people’s wellbeing
• [09:31] - Acacia explains some behavior changes are better suited for technology platforms than others
• [11:32] - Acacia explores the potential of wearable devices to improve our wellbeing
• [13:23] - Acacia provides an example of how workplaces are using wellbeing technology platforms like Happify to improve their employees’ wellbeing
• [14:40] - Acacia explains how artificial intelligence may shape wellbeing interventions in the future
• [17:48] - Acacia shares the impact Happify is having on people’s wellbeing
• [22:54] - Acacia completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• How Digital DNA Could Help You Make Better Health Choices - TED Talk with Jun Wang
• Thirteen Reasons Why on Netflix

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Acacia!

Today we’re talking to Alex Linley and Trudy Bailey from Capp, whose vision is to match the world to their perfect job. Alex is one of the early leaders in positive psychology and its applications, particularly around strengths, and he’s the author of From Average to A+. Trudy’s been responsible for the relaunch of Capp’s Strength Profile tool and ensuring that practitioners have access to the tools to build a strengths-based culture that’s sustaining.

In this episode, we discuss the business case for understanding how the use, energy, and performance of our strengths can improve our performance, wellbeing and business outcomes.

Connect with Alex & Trudy:

Website: 

• www.capp.co/Home
• www.strengthsprofile.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:22 - Alex summarizes his three most important findings on developing people’s strengths at work.
• [04:25] - Trudy shares new research on how using our strengths can help us to achieve our goals.
• [05:48] - Trudy explains how the Strengths Profile tool works to help people develop their strengths.
• [07:32] - Alex explains how understanding the use, energy, and performance impact of our strengths is so important for their development.
• [10:05] - Trudy offers some practical tips on how to make the most of people’s strengths at work.
• [12:47] - Alex outlines how a strengths approach can be used to help match people to their perfect jobs and the business benefits it can bring.
• [17:10] - Trudy provides some practical approaches for leaders to develop their people’s strengths as they go about their jobs.
• [19:04] - Alex shares his three alarm bells when it comes to workplaces wanting to take a strengths approach.
• [21:52] - Alex shares his thoughts on the single biggest challenge for organizations to remain strengths focused.
• [23:44] - Alex & Trudy completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Alex & Trudy!

Pernille is an experienced Business Consultant, Trusted Advisor, Facilitator, Board Member, Author and Speaker with a specialty within the Future of Leadership & Work, Change Management & Strategy Execution, Organizational Culture and Development. Passionate about developing Organizations, Leaders, and Leadership Teams from a Strengths-Based Perspective, focusing on their Core Ideology and how to add value to the world.

In today’s episode, we cover the strengths-based approach to leadership and team development, and how focusing on these strengths has greater effectiveness than trying to improve peoples weaknesses.

Connect with Pernille:

Website: https://hippebrun.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [01:51] - Pernille gives the business case for a strengths-focused approach.
• [06:05] - Pernille explains how the acronym IDEAL PIT helps to remember the philosophy behind a strengths-based approach.
• [10:47] - Pernille explains how to run strengths-based meetings at work.
• [12:46] - Pernille covers using a strengths-focused approach for conflict resolution
• [14:46] - Pernille talks about giving strength-based feedback.
• [18:46] - Pernille completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Marcus Buckingham Books
• Diana Whitney Books
• Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Pernille!

Rasmus Hougaard is the founder and managing director of Potential Project, a global leadership training, organizational development and research firm, who help leaders and organization to enhance performance, innovation, and resilience through mindfulness and other practices grounded in neuroscience and research. Rasmus writes for the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Business Insider, and has led more than 1500 keynotes and workshops around the world. His most recent book, The Mind of the Leader, is based on research with more than 35,000 leaders and executives and provides a pathway to great leadership in the 21st century.

In today’s episode, Rasmus explains why 21st century leaders need to cultivate the qualities of mindfulness, selflessness and compassion for themselves, their teams and their organizations and how this can be practically achieved.

Connect with Rasmus:

Website: www.potentialproject.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:11] - Rasmus explains why 86% of leaders rate themselves as inspiring and good role models, but 82% of employees see their leaders as fundamentally uninspiring.
• [03:28] - Rasmus explains how leaders can better understand themselves and their impact on others.
• [04:56] - Rasmus shares the mental qualities needed for leaders to be effective in the 21t century based on his research.
• [05:53] - Rasmus explains why the state of flow can impede our ability to be more mindful at work.
• [07:38] - Rasmus shares how our daily focus pattern can help us to be more mindful at work.
• [09:33] - Rasmus explains what leaders can do practically to improve their levels of selflessness and confidence.
• [11:44] - Rasmus shares his suggestions for finding the balance between self-confidence and selflessness at work.
• [13:57] - Rasmus explains why more leaders are rating compassion important or extremely important for effective leadership.
• [17:04] - Rasmus explains how teaching leaders compassion can improve kindness and psychological safety in workplaces.
• [22:43] - Rasmus shares some of his favorite ways to help leaders be more mindful, selfless and compassionate.
• [17:23] - Rasmus completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Rasmus!

Dr. Jason Fox is a motivational speaker, best selling author, leadership advisor and wizard rogue of ace repute. Often sought for his fresh perspectives, contemporary philosophies, and deep expertise in motivation design, Jason shows forward-thinking leaders around the world how to unlock new progress and pry deeper into uncharted territory. His clients include Fortune 500 companies around the world, and he’s also the best selling author of “The Game Changer” and “How to Lead a Quest: A Handbook for Pioneering Leaders”. His research has been featured in the likes of Smart Company, Huffington Post, BRW, and the Financial Review.

In today’s episode, we discuss how leaders can challenge the mindsets that keep them stuck in conventional thinking, by embracing the principals of motivational design and framing change opportunities as quests.

Connect with Jason:

Website: www.drjasonfox.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:14] - Jason explains how game design can be used to motivate behavior change in workplaces.
• [04:13] - Jason explains where gamification often goes wrong when it comes to creating meaningful behavior change.
• [05:02] - Jason shares how a quest – rather than a game – can help leaders bring out the best in themselves and others.
• [08:30] - Jason explains some of the thinking patterns in workplaces that can limit our ability to create change.
• [13:18] - Jason shares how he runs leadership programs to help leaders challenge their traditional ideas about what being a successful leader looks like.
• [15:43] - Jason shares how he helps leaders to maintain momentum for behavior change following workshops and training programs.
• [17:23] - Jason completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Finite & Infinite Games by James Carse
• How to Lead a Quest by Dr. Jason Fox

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Jason!

Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts is a teaching professor of management at Georgetown University, whose research examines how leaders cultivate positive identities in diverse work organization. Laura’s publications ‘How to Apply Your Strengths’ and ‘Creating A Positive Professional Image’ are among the most popular articles from Harvard Business Publishing and have been featured in several media outlets. She’s the editor of numerous books including Exploring Positive Identities in Organizations with Jane Dutton and is a co-founder of RPAQ Solutions, a research and consulting firm that brings strength-based practices to leaders who seek extraordinary performance and personal fulfillment.

In today’s episode, we discuss creating a positive work identity, and the effect it has on our personal brand, our sense of meaning and our relationships at work.

Connect with Laura:

Website: lauramorganroberts.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:43] - Laura explains what it means to have a positive work-related identity
• [09:32] - Laura introduces the GIVE model to help us build more positive identities at work.
• [15:36] - Laura explains how cultivating a positive identity can shape your personal brand.
• [19:23] - Laura shares how psychological safety can impact people’s ability to build a positive work-related identity.
• [24:23] - Laura completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Brene Brown Videos
• Mellody Hobson - Color Brave Ted Talk

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Laura!

Leah Weiss is a researcher, lecturer, consultant, and author who teaches compassionate leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she created the perennially waitlisted course, Leading With Mindfulness and Compassion. Leah is a principal teacher, and a founding faculty member of Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Programme conceived by the Dali Llama. Her first book “How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim your Sanity and Embrace the Daily Grind” focuses on developing compassionate and soft skill-based leadership, while also offering research backed actionable steps towards finding purpose at work.

In today’s episode, Leah talks to us about why business leaders are lining up to learning how to be more compassionate in workplaces and how this is helping them to harness the wisdom of their emotions, to fail better in order to learn and to find more purpose in their work.

Connect with Leah:

Website: leahweissphd.com

You’ll Learn:

• [02:01] - Leah explains why graduate students are lining up to learn how to be more compassionate leaders in workplaces.
• [04:17] - Leah explains why practicing compassion at work doesn’t mean we need to be doormats for others to take advantage of.
• [06:32] - Leah explains the difference between compassion and empathy.
• [09:44] - Leah provides some practical tips to harness the wisdom of our emotions at work instead of suppressing our feelings.
• [17:03] - Leah explains how leaders can help their people to fail better at work.
• [19:56] -  Leah provides her tips on how we can mindlessly going through our work days.
• [21:32] - Leah completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Kelly Mcgonigal Ted Talk - How to Make Stress Your Friend
• The Upside of Stress by Kelly Mcgonigal

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Leah!

Susan David is an award willing psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, co-founder, and co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, and CEO of Evidence Based Psychology, a boutique business consultancy. She’s the author of the number one Wall Street Journal best selling book “Emotional Agility,” based on her concept that Harvard Business Review heralded as a management idea of the year, and has been featured in numerous leading publications including The New York Times, Washington Post and Time Magazine, and has worked with the senior leadership of hundreds of major organisations including the United Nations, Ernst & Young, and the World Economic Forum.

In today’s episode, we’ll discuss why emotions are not simply positive or negative, and how we can navigate the way we feel in more agile and effective ways at work.

Connect with Susan:

Website: http://www.susandavid.com/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:20] - Susan explains why thinking of emotion as positive or negative can undermine people’s ability to thrive.
• [07:25] - Susan suggests that thinking of emotions as data, rather than as good or bad, can help people develop emotional agility.
• [14:40] - Susan shares her recommendations for ensuring people own their emotions, rather than letting their emotions call the shots.
• [19:16] - Susan provides tips for how teams can practice emotional agility.
• [20:43] - Susan shares how the skills of emotional agility can build psychological safety in teams.
• [22:39] -  Susan explains how self-compassion can make it easier to be emotionally agile.
• [26:09] - Susan shares how tiny tweaks and the willingness to keep pushing beyond our comfort zones can enable emotional agility.
• [24:29] - Susan completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Adam Grant's Worklife Podcast

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing.

Until next time, take care!  Thank you Susan!