Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast

Michael Steger is the founder and director of the Centre for Meaning and Purpose, and a professor of psychology at Colorado State University. Endlessly curious about learning how to create a life worth living, Michael has spent the better part of two decades studying the vital role that meaning and purpose play in our work, health, relationships, growth, and happiness. His research has been featured in academic and general publications around the world, and he's also written several books on this topic, including Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace. In this week’s episode, we explore how meaning can be found in any job, and how workplaces can help people find the right balance to minimize both boredom and burnout. Connect with Michael Steger:  http://www.michaelfsteger.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:29] - Michael explains why a growing number of workplaces have become interested in helping their people find more meaning in their work. [05:40] - Michael shares what the research is finding when it comes to creating

Ethan Kross is a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan's top-ranked social psychology programme. He's an award-winning scientist and teacher who studies how the conversations people have with themselves impact their health, performance, decisions, and relationships. And his research has been published in academic journals and featured in the New York Times, the Economist and the New Yorker, to name just a few. In this week’s episode, we explore how we can avoid being sucked into negativity vortex by using self-distancing and other simple hacks to improve our self-regulation at work. Connect with Ethan Kross:  Emotion & Self-Control Lab at The University Of Michigan You’ll Learn: [02:03] - Ethan outlines the consequences of becoming stuck in a negativity vortex at work. [03:38] - Ethan explains how the practice of self-distancing can help us to avoid the negativity vortex. [05:14] - Ethan provides examples of how the language we use can help us to self-distance during moments of ruminati

Jeremy Clifton is a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Martin Seligman, who is often regarded as the founder of positive psychology. After an initial career in urban economic development strategy, Jer has spent five years creating a foundational, empirically-derived typology of primal world beliefs, and his research examines many of these variables and their impact on well-being, personality traits and character strengths, professional success, depression, and voting behaviour. In this podcast, we explore how our primal beliefs about the world impact our levels of wellbeing, trust, and success at work. Connect with Jeremy Clifton:  https://myprimals.com/ You’ll Learn: [03:07] - Jer explains what his research is finding out about our primal world beliefs. [05:36] - Jer helps us to understand how primals differ from our other beliefs like growth mindsets. [06:58] - Jer outlines the 26 primal beliefs his research has uncovered. [09:56] - Jer helps us to understand wha

Sigal Barsade is a professor of management at the Wharton School of Business and focusses her research on emotional intelligence, organizational culture, unconscious bias, teamwork, leadership, and organizational change. Having consulted for organizations of all sizes across a myriad of industries, including Cisco, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Google, the NBA, and the United Nations, Sigal’s research has been featured in leading academic research journals and in media outlets around the world. In today’s episode, we explore why loneliness in workplaces is on the rise, how it impacts our wellbeing and performance, and how we can tackle it together. We also learn more about the contagion of loneliness and other emotions in the workplace and how we can manage this better. Connect with Sigal Barsade:  https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/barsade/ You’ll Learn: [02:25] - Sigal explains the impact of loneliness in workplaces on our wellbeing and performance. [08:57] - Sigal helps us understand why loneliness is on the

Dr. Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University. As a pioneer in the field of science help, her mission is to translate insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support personal wellbeing and strengthen communities. Kelly is the author of several books, including the international bestseller, The Willpower Instinct, The Upside Of Stress, and her upcoming book, The Joy Of Movement. Her TED Talk, How To Make Stress Your Friend, is one of the most viewed TED Talks of all time with over 20 million views. In today’s podcast, we explore how we can tap into our different stress responses to shape our wellbeing and performance at work. Connect with Kelly McGonigal:  http://kellymcgonigal.com/ You’ll Learn: [03:12] - Kelly shares some of the latest research insights on the upside of stress when it comes to our wellbeing and performance at work.] [06:45] - Kelly explains biologically how our fight-or-flight stress response helps us to engage better wit

Dr Peggy Kern who is an associate professor at the Centre for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education. Her research is collaborative in nature and draws on a variety of methodologies to examine questions around who thrives in life and why. She is the world’s leading researcher on measuring wellbeing using the PERMAH pillars, and has published 2 books and over 80 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. In today’s episode, we explore how systems informed positive psychology is can help workplaces to think more holistically about their wellbeing strategies and the tools that researchers and practitioners can use to help them take a systems approach. Connect with Peggy Kern:  http://www.peggykern.org/ You’ll Learn: [02:37] - Peggy explains why we need a systems-informed approach when it comes to improving wellbeing in our workplaces. [04:01] - Peggy defines how a systems-informed positive psychology approach makes visible what is invisible. [05:19] - Peggy shares some of

Jerry Colonna is the CEO and Co-Founder of reboot.io, an executive coaching and leadership development firm dedicated to the notion that better humans make better leaders. After many years as a partner and founder of private equity firms, Jerry has spent the last 20 years using the knowledge gained as an investor, an executive, and a board member for more than 100 organizations, to help entrepreneurs and others to lead with humanity, resilience, and equanimity to overcome the psychological baggage that has held them back professionally. In his new book 'reboot, leadership and the art of growing up', Jerry captures his unique blend of Buddhism, Jungian therapy and entrepreneurial insight.  In this week’s episode, we explore why better humans make better leaders, and what we can do practically to improve our leadership and resilience skills as we work. Connect with Jerry Colonna:  https://www.reboot.io/ You’ll Learn: [02:37] - Jerry explains why better humans make better leaders. [04:01] - Jerry shares why s

Nataly Kogan is the creator of the Happier Method, and an entrepreneur, speaker, and author, whose mission is to help millions of people optimize their emotional health through science-backed practical skills, so they can thrive in work and life. She's the founder of Happier, whose online courses, Happier@Work Training Programmes, and her book Happier Now, have helped more than a million people live their best life. In this week’s episode we explore why happiness is a set of skills that workers can build in any organization, and the small, practical ways this can be incorporated into even the busiest of days. Connect with Nataly Kogan:  https://www.happier.com/ You’ll Learn: [03:11] - Nataly shares the many benefits researchers are finding of having happier employees in workplaces. [05:53] - Nataly offers some tips for helping skeptical leaders discover the value of having happier employees. [09:02] - Nataly explains why our goal shouldn’t be perfecting the skills of happiness if we want to be happier. [11

Mandy O'Neill is an associate professor of management at the George Mason University School of Business. Mandy's research focuses on how conceptualizing organizational culture as a function of emotions and gender enhances the link between culture and a number of individual teams, organizational processes, and outcomes, including decision making, attitudes, career success, health behavior, corporate strategy, and financial performance. Her research has been featured in journal and media publications all over the world. In this week’s episode, we explore why leaders and teams need to invest in creating healthy emotional cultures and the practical steps they can take based on the latest research in workplaces. Connect with Mandy O'Neill:  https://www.highqconnections.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:54] - Mandy explains what her research has found about the importance and bottom-line value of intentionally, managing the emotional culture of an organization. [04:48] - Mandy outlines what an emotional culture strategy mi

Chris Myers is an assistant professor in the management and organization discipline, the academic director of executive education at the John Hopkins University Carey Business School and holds a joint appointment in anesthesiology at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. Chris' research and teaching focuses on individual learning, leadership development and innovation with particular attention to how people learn vicariously and share knowledge and his work has been recognized with several scholarly awards and has been featured in a range of leading academic journals and popular media articles and outlets. In this week’s podcast, we explore why focusing on learning opportunities can help workers to manage their levels of stress and how opportunities for coactive vicarious learning ensures there are no passive observers to the learning process.   Connect with Chris Myers:  http://christophergmyers.net/ You’ll Learn: [02:53] - Chris explains why focusing on learning opportunities, rather than gritt

Johann Berlin is the CEO of the T-lex Institute, who work with fortune 500 companies to create resilience in businesses by using restorative techniques and authentic engagement to strengthen the energy and connections between individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve a greater purpose. Featured in the Harvard Business Review, the New York Times and Washington Post among many other publications. Johann, who shared his work at Tedx in London and with leading universities all over the world. In this week’s podcast, we explore why we need to create spaces for recovery breaks in our work days, and how we can find ways to fit these moments into even the most demanding of roles and workplaces. Connect with Johann Berlin:  https://tlexinstitute.com/ You’ll Learn: [03:23] - Johann explains why making space for recovery can be so challenging in our workplaces. [07:16] - Johann provides some examples of how workplaces are making recovery breaks a social norm to help people look after their wellbeing. [11:37] -

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 workplac

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 diff

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 s

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 ti

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 Del

Dr. Jillian Darwish currently serves as President and CEO of Mayerson Academy, a non-profit dedicated to transforming individuals, teams, and organizational performance. Under her leadership, the Academy has become the exclusive education partner to the VIA Institute, working with schools, universities, organizations, and communities to utilize the science of character strengths to transform cultures. The Academy’s work has been featured in EdWeek, Live Happy, and US News and World Report and Dr. Darwish has been invited to share the Academy’s work around the globe, including presentations in China, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and Hong Kong. In today’s episode, Dr. Jillian Darwish shares the surprising findings of a recent study with 1,000 American workers about if, how, and why people are using their strengths each day at work and the practical steps many workplaces may be missing. Connect with Jillian Darwish:  https://www.mayersonacademy.org/ You’ll Learn: [01:45] - Jillian shares what a recent study o

Dr. Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur who mentors CEOs and senior executives of major global organizations and is lead faculty for the Forward Institute’s responsible leadership programme. She is the author of five books including Willful Blindness which was named one of the most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times, and in 2015 she was awarded the transmission prize for her book A Bigger Prize. Margaret’s Ted talks have been seen by over seven million people. In today’s episode, Dr. Margaret Heffernan shares what researchers have learned about the impact competition has on our performance and wellbeing, and gives us some practical tips on building psychological safety in our organizations Connect with Margaret Heffernan:  http://www.mheffernan.com/?location=GB You’ll Learn: [01:45] - Margaret explains what research William Muir discovered about how competition impacts productivity and why every leader needs to be mindful of this research in workplaces [05:41] - Margaret explai

As Professor Emerita of Management at California State University East Bay, Loretta's research explores how people can discover their power over their mammalian operating system(laughs). The author of several books, including her newest one Tame Your Anxiety which is being released shortly, she has shared her research and talks all over the world In today’s episode, we explore, how we can tame the anxiety our mammalian brains when facing challenges at work. Connect with Loretta Breuning:  https://innermammalinstitute.org/ You’ll Learn: [02:15] - Loretta explains how anxiety can impact us neurologically at work when we’re facing challenges. [05:13] - Loretta explores why we might have become too anxious about being anxious at work. [06:43] - Loretta outlines how rewards can create a treadmill system for behaviors that can make us feel more anxious at work. [09:39] - Loretta explains how we can prepare ourselves to better navigate our feelings of anxiety at work. [14:31] - Loretta shares a tool she has creat

Today we're talking to Wayne Baker, who's a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and faculty director of the Centre for Positive Organisations. Wayne's teaching and research focuses on social capital, social networks, generosity, positive organizational scholarship, and values. And his latest book is Permission to Ask, which is coming out in 2020. He's also a founder and board member of Give and Take Inc., developers of the Givitas collaborative technology platform. In this week’s episode, we explore how individual and organizational levels of energy impact our performance and wellbeing, and the small steps we can take to boost, maintain, and our renew our energy levels at work. Connect with Wayne Baker:  waynebaker.org You’ll Learn: [03:06] - Wayne explains how emotional energy, relational energy, and organizational energy can impact our wellbeing and performance at work. [06:41] - Wayne shares what he and other researchers are finding about the benef