David Bright is a professor of organizational behavior and organizational development, and Chair of the Department of Management and International Business at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. An award-winning teacher with over 20 years of experience as a professional facilitator and executive coach, with expertise in organizational development, strategic planning, and change management, David is the co-author of Becoming a Master Manager, a textbook that features a values-based approach to leadership development.

In this episode, we explore how the state of an organization - dysfunctional to extraordinary -  impacts whether focusing on strengths or fixing weaknesses will be the best way to create positive changes, and how an appreciative lens can help the find the possibilities in any problems.

Connect with David Bright: 

• David Bright

You’ll Learn:

• [02:27] - David explains how the Competing Values Management framework can help leaders and organization positively navigate the many paradoxes workplaces face today.
• [08:16] - David shares how he has been practically applying the competing values framework as a leader during his university’s strategic planning process.
• [13:53] - David outline why cynical conversations can provide positive experiences and outcomes in change processes and how to harness this energy.
• [18:13] - David explains why it's important to assess the current state of a workplace – whether it leans towards dysfunction or extraordinary functioning – before deciding if a generative conversation or appreciative inquiry approach will be the best way to create positive changes.
• [26:11] - David completes the Lightning Round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Leadership & Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute
• The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute
• The Outward Mindset by the Arbinger Institute

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 of 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 David!

Thea O'Connor is a senior workplace wellbeing advisor, presenter, journalist, and coach. Thea has more than 20 years experience in the health sector, including her background as a dietitian and workplace health consultant, she is the founder of Nap Now and a committed nap-tivist.

In this week’s episode, Thea O’Connor explains why we need to raise people’s levels of body intelligence at work and the simple steps workplaces can take to help workers connect, listen, and respond to their bodies wellbeing needs as they go about their jobs.

Connect with Thea O'Connor: 

• https://www.thea.com.au/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:01] - Thea explains why improving people’s levels of body intelligence is an essential step for maintaining our wellbeing at work.
• [04:52] - Thea provides some tips on how we can connect, listen, and respond better at work to what our bodies need to maintain our levels of energy.
• [08:02] - Thea helps us to understand the importance of having a wellbeing rhythm in our days.
• [09:45] - Thea explains the difference between our bodies circadian rhythm and ultradian rhythm and how we can manage these at work.
• [12:21] - Thea shares the latest research on how chronotypes (body clocks) can influence people’s wellbeing and productivity at work.
• [15:14] - Thea shares some examples of how teams can help look after each other’s physical wellbeing at work.
• [17:23] - Thea explains how multitasking can undermine our wellbeing and performance at work and how we can break this bad habit.
• [19:53] - Thea shares why she believes nap breaks should be the new coffee breaks in workplaces and how we can implement this practically.
• [24:17] - Thea completes the Lightning Round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Find out more about the perfect power nap 

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 of 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 Thea!

Dr. Toni Noble who is an adjunct professor in the Institute for positive psychology and education at the Australian Catholic University and is widely known in education as the coauthor of the multiple award-winning positive education programme, Bounce Back. Toni's government projects include the national safe schools' framework, the scoping study on student wellbeing and resourcing the student wellbeing hub. And she's worked with an international expert group in Bhutan to develop a new paradigm for the United Nations to promote wellbeing and happiness as a global goal.

In this week’s episode, Dr. Toni Noble explains why perfectionism and loneliness are rising in our schools and workplaces and what we can do practically to help people navigate these challenges to their wellbeing.

Connect with Dr. Toni Noble: 

• http://bounceback.com.au/

You’ll Learn:

• [02:19] - Toni explains why the rise of perfectionism is an issue workplaces need to be mindful of when it comes to improving people’s wellbeing
• [07:30] - Toni shares why dealing with perfectionism takes more than just practicing a growth mindset
• [10:09] - Toni explains why self-compassion is such an important skill to develop when it comes to taming perfectionism
• [13:37] - Toni outlines why loneliness is also becoming a growing issue in workplaces and what we can do practically to improve people’s relationships at work
• [21:35] - Toni completes the Lightning Round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• https://happinessanditscauses.com.au/
• https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/

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 of 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 Toni!

Elise Morris, who is a disruptor of conventional leadership and people management practices and co-founder of the Strengths Lab. With more than 25 years of global and local human resources experience in corporate and public sector organizations and a masters of applied positive psychology, Elise's diverse background allows her to straddle the commercial realities of organizations while forming deep human connections to facilitate positive change and extraordinary outcomes.

In this week’s episode, Elise Morris explains how a strengths-focus can be infused across people management processes in workplaces.

Connect with Elise Morris: 

• The Strengths Lab

You’ll Learn:

• [02:28] - Elise explains why strengths interventions in workplaces need to be more focused on how teams and organizations can support the development of people’s strengths.
• [04:01] - Elise shares how the employee lifecycle or employee experience can be used to infuse a strengths focus throughout a workplace.
• [05:40] - Elise offers some practical tips for strengths focused recruiting, from job descriptions to job advertisements, and job interviews.
• [07:21] - Elise explains why she doesn’t generally recommend using strengths assessment surveys during the recruitment process.
• [08:33] - Elise shares why the onboarding experience is a critical opportunity to help people embrace a strengths focus as they join a workplace.
• [10:32] - Elise explains why it’s important that we are willing to be vulnerable with each other about our strengths and we experiment and learn how to use them more intelligently.
• [11:28] - Elise offers some advice on how to address weaknesses in strengths focused workplaces.
• [14:39] - Elise explains how leaders can have more meaningful strengths conversations with their people and provide some simple questions any leader can use.
• [18:20] - Elise shares the steps workplaces can take to help develop people’s strengths as they go about their work.
• [23:30] - Elise offers some ideas for how workplaces can be more strengths focused when people are leaving their organization and why this is worth the effort.
• [25:44] - Elise completes the Lightning Round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• The Power of Moments by Chip & Dan Heath

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 of 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 Elise!

Ashley Goodall is a senior executive, talent expert, and author who spent his career exploring large organizations from the inside. Ashley currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Leadership and Team Intelligence at Cisco, a new organization that is built to focus entirely on serving teams and team leaders. He is also the coauthor with Marcus Buckingham of the wonderful new book Nine Lies About Work: A Free Thinking Leader's Guide to the Real World, and they've recently published two cover stories in the Harvard Business Review, The Feedback Fallacy and Reinventing Performance Management.

In today's episode, Ashley Goodall shares the common mistakes most workplaces make when it comes to giving people feedback and the simple steps leaders and workplaces can take to build strengths-focused teams.

Connect with Ashley Goodall: 

• Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn

You’ll Learn:

• [02:18] - Ashley explains what his research with Marcus Buckingham found were the defining characteristics of the best teams at Deloitte’s
• [03:54] - Ashley shares how he applied these insights to build a new organization at Cisco focused on serving teams and team leaders
• [07:10] - Ashley offers tips for helping teach team leaders how to develop their own strengths and their people’s strengths
• [08:53] - Ashley explains why leaders are rarely reliable raters of their people’s performance and what they can do instead.
• [11:00] - Ashley provides an example of what a strengths-based conversation might sound like between a leader and a team member
• [15:00] - Ashley explains how leaders can still address people’s weaknesses and areas for improvement whilst still being strengths-focused
• [16:48] - Ashley shares why the approach most people take to developing people’s potential at work is a lie.
• [20:25] - Ashley provides suggestions for leaders who may have employees who are disengaged and have no interest in developing their strengths
• [22:49] - Ashley offers advice to help align people’s strengths to their work, even when the opportunities are challenging.
• [25:28] - Ashley completes the Lightning Round.

Your Resources:

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall
• The Halo Effect by Phil Rozenzweig

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 of 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 Ashley!