Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast

Dr. Robin Stern is the co-founder and associate director for the Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence and an associate research scientist at the Child Study Centre at Yale. She is a licensed psychoanalyst with 30 years of experience treating individuals, couples, and families, and also does consulting work with schools both nationally and across the globe, as well as with large corporations, including Facebook and Google on best practice, practices for integrating the principles of emotional intelligence into training, outreach, and product design. In this week’s podcast, we explore what gaslighting is, how it can play out in our workplaces, and positive strategies we can employ when faced with it. Connect with Dr. Robin Stern: https://robinstern.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:23] - Robin shares with us what gaslighting is. [04:01] - Robin shares what gaslighting can look like at work. [06:04] - Robin shares an example of gaslighting at work. [09:49] - Robin shares the impact gaslighting has on people in the wor

Scott Donaldson is a post-doctoral scholar in evaluation, statistics, and measurement at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine Moores Cancer Centre. Scott’s research focuses on the design, measurement, and evaluation of individual workplace and community-based well-being interventions and has been published in leading journals. In this week’s episode, we explore which positive psychology interventions have been found to be the most effective in workplaces, and why. Connect with Scott Donaldson: https://www.scottdonaldsonphd.com/ You’ll Learn: [03:15] Scott explains what Dr. Seligman’s PERMA theory of wellbeing suggests about caring for our wellbeing. [06:20] Scott shares some of the recent concerns about the PERMA wellbeing theory researchers have been discussing. [13:10] Scott shares the additional wellbeing factors his research has been uncovering. [15:39] Scott explains the impact studies are finding workplace wellbeing can have on workplace outcomes. [20:37] Scott shares how differe

Rasmus Hougaard is the founder and managing director of Potential Project. He’s recognized by the Thinkers50 as one of the most important emerging business thinkers and leaders in the world. He writes for Harvard Business Review and Forbes and lectures at the world’s leading business and executive education schools like IMD, Rotman, and IESE. Rasmus has led more than 1,500 keynotes and workshops, and he’s recognized as the leading global authority on training the mind to be focused, effective, and clear for great leadership, performance, innovation, and resilience. In this week’s podcast, we find out about the difference between compassion and empathy and how wise compassionate leadership is the most effective way to lead our teams.    Connect with Rasmus Hougaard: https://www.potentialproject.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:51] - Rasmus shares what it means to do hard work the human way. [04:59] - Rasmus Explains why we need to go beyond compassion. [09:30] - Rasmus describes the four skills that underpin wise-com

Dr. Grace Lordan is the founding director of the Inclusion Initiative, director of the master’s in behavioral science, and an associate professor in behavioral science at the London School of Economics and political science. Grace’s research is focused on understanding why some individuals succeed in life and others don’t and she’s an expert on the effects of bias, discrimination, and technology and how these changes impact us. She’s also an expert advisor to the UK government sitting on their skills and productivity board and her academic writings have been published in top international journals and her new book Think Big: Take Small Steps and Build the Future You Want has just been released. In this week’s podcast, we explore how to set and reach the future goals that matter most to us, even in the face of limited time, limiting stories, and our tendencies to self-sabotage. Connect with Dr. Grace Lordan: https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/People/Dr-Grace-Lordan You’ll Learn: [03:00] - Grace explains why our futu

Michael Bungay Stanier, who helps people be a force for change. Best known for his book, The Coaching Habit, Michael’s learning and development company, Box Of Crayons, trains hundreds of thousands of managers to be more coach-like, and their clients range from Microsoft right through to Gucci. In this week’s podcast, we explore how to navigate hard changes more effectively by leveling up our individual and organizational curiosity. Connect with Michael Bungay Stanier: https://www.mbs.works/ You’ll Learn: [02:28] - Michael explains the difference between easy change and hard change. [06:51] - Michael explores how our definitions for successful change may need to be updated. [10:46] - Michael offers some tips to help us tell less and ask more in order to create the changes we want. [14:22] - Michael shares some simple questions we can ask to help us stay curious and open as we create change. [17:05] - Michael provides some simple prompts to help us tame our advice-giving monsters. [20:47] - Michael explains

Manfred Kets de Vries is a distinguished clinical professor of leadership development and organizational change at INSEAD, whose work explores the interface between management science, psychoanalysis, development psychology, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, psychotherapy, executive coaching, and consulting. Manfred is one of the pioneers in the field of global leadership. He has published more than 400 academic papers and is the author, co-author, or editor of 52 books, including his most recent publication, The CEO Whisperer: Meditations on Leadership, Life, and Change. In this week’s episode, we explore what makes an organization authentizotic, and we uncover strategies leaders can use to help people feel engaged and wholly alive in the workplace. Connect with Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries: https://www.kdvi.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:29] - Manfred shares what an 'authentizotic' organization is. [03:08] - Manfred shares the factors leaders can focus on to help create authentizotic organizations. [06:30] -

Eric Karpinski has been on the cutting edge of bringing positive psychology tools to workplaces for over 10 years with clients that include Intel, Facebook, IBM, T-Mobile, and many others where he has helped managers and executives lead with positive emotions to drive team productivity, engagement, and performance. He is a key member of Shawn Achor’s GoodThink team and Eric’s new book, Put Happiness to Work, has just been released and we highly recommend it. In this week’s episode, we explore tiny evidence-based actions and habits you can take to improve levels of happiness and engagement for yourself and others as you work. Connect with Eric Karpinski: https://puthappinesstowork.com/ You’ll Learn: [ 02:54] - Eric explains why employee engagement is generally done wrong in most workplaces. [05:12] - Eric outlines the differences between happiness and wellbeing in workplaces. [11:51] - Eric outlines the two different groups of employees who are likely to benefit most from happiness and wellbeing strategies

Stefanie Johnson is an associate professor of management at the University of Colorado, whose research focuses on the intersection of leadership and diversity. Stef works with companies to implement evidence-based practices to reduce unconscious bias and increase inclusion. She is a member of the MG 100 Coaches, was selected for the 2020 Thinkers50 Radar List, and is the author of the National Bestseller, Inclusify, harnessing the power of uniqueness and belonging to build innovative teams. In this week’s episode, we explore how supporting people to stand out whilst creating a sense of belonging can help us to thrive at work. Connect with Stefanie K Johnson: https://drstefjohnson.com/ You’ll Learn: [ 02:33] - Stef shares how we can more confidently engage in the diversity and inclusion conversation with each other, even when it’s awkward. [05:41] - Stef explains why we each long to stand out and fit in and the challenges and opportunities this creates for inclusion. [07:37] - Steph shares how leaders can h

Dr. Barbara Fredrickson is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She’s among the most highly cited and influential scholars in psychology and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and her general audience books, Positivity and Love 2.0 have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Dr. Fredrickson’s scholarly contributions have been recognized with numerous honors and her work has influenced scholars and practitioners worldwide within education, business, healthcare, the military, and beyond, and she’s regularly invited to give keynotes nationally and internationally. In this week’s podcast, we explore how positive emotions can help to broaden our minds and build our emotional, social and physical well-being. Connect with Dr. Barbara Fredrickson: https://peplab.web.unc.edu/ You’ll Learn: [ 02:58] - Barb explains why her research

Dr. Belle Rose Ragins is a Sheldon B. Lubar professor of management at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She’s an expert in the field of mentoring, diversity, and positive relationships at work. Dr. Ragins has co-authored and edited a number of books. She’s an elected fellow of five professional associations, a Fulbright Senior Specialist Scholar, and past editor of The Academy of Management Review. She’s also received numerous Lifetime Achievement Awards. Her research has over 20,000 citations, and she was recently recognized in Stanford University’s Top Two Percent of Scientists in the World. In this week’s podcast, we explore high-quality mentoring relationships and the positive impact they can have on diversity and inclusion initiatives. Connect with Dr. Belle Rose Ragins: https://uwm.edu/ragins-belle-rose You’ll Learn: [ 02:55] - Belle describes high-quality mentoring relationships and shares why they’re important. [04:09] - Belle paints a picture of who is mentoring in workplaces and what we wan

Dr. Meg Warren is an Assistant Professor of Management at Western Washington University. Meg’s award-winning research uses a positive psychology approach to study how individuals from relatively privileged groups can serve as allies to marginalized outgroups. She’s a co-editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing and the lead editor of two books, Scientific Advances in Positive Psychology and Toward a Positive Psychology of Relationships. In this week’s episode, we explore what the latest research is finding on how we can be better allies in workplaces and why many workplace diversity and inclusion policies fail to make a positive difference. Connect with Dr. Meg Warren: https://megwarren/home You’ll Learn: [ 03:15] - Meg offers some advice for how we can more readily step into conversations about allyship with each other, even when we’re worried about saying the wrong things. [07:07] - Meg shares how researchers define who is in a relatively privileged group and who is in a marginalized outgroup. [09

Dr. Michael Maddaus is a retired professor of thoracic surgery at the University of Minnesota, who has trained with Kristin Neff and Chris Germer to teach self-compassion. Michael currently works with individuals and with surgical groups to help them enhance their resilience and ability to thrive. In this week’s podcast, we discover how investing in small daily wellbeing behaviors can help workers to build a resilience bank account that helps them to avoid burnout. Connect with Dr. Michael Maddaus: https://michaelmaddaus.com/ You’ll Learn: [ 03:23] - Michael defines the three domains of burnout. [05:49] - Michael explains what radical acceptance of emotional exhaustion might look like practically in our jobs. [07:00] - Michael shares what radical acceptance of cynicism might look like practically in our jobs. [08:45] - Michael explains what radical acceptance of depersonalization might look like practically in our jobs. [10:05] - Michael shares some tips for how workplaces can support people experiencing b

Peter Senge, who has been at the forefront of organizational learning since publishing his classic text, The Fifth Discipline, in 1990, provided theories and methods to foster aspiration, develop reflective conversation, and understand complexity in service of shaping learning orientated organization cultures. Throughout Peter’s work with leading organizations around the world, he’s been asking, “How do we create the conditions for people to work together at their best, cultivating the innate system’s intelligence that is our birthright, but is all but lost in modern culture.” As an engineer by training, Peter’s work has always emphasized tools and methods, not for their own sake, but as vehicles for building individual and collective capacities. And these approaches have been captured in the many books he’s published. In this week’s podcast, we explore how to embrace the uncertainty and complexity of navigating change and unlocking learning in our workplaces. Connect with Peter Senge: https://www.solonline.

Today we’re talking to Vikki Reynolds, who’s an activist and therapist who works to bridge the worlds of social justice with community work and therapy. An adjunct professor, she’s written and presented internationally on her work, responding to the opioid catastrophe, refugees and survivors of torture, and supporting violence, mental health, substance abuse, housing, and shelter counselors in gender and sexually diverse communities. In this week’s episode, we explore how to find our zone of fabulousness and the power of collective accountability in the face of work experiences that can lead to “burnout”. Connect with Vikki Reynolds https://vikkireynolds.ca/ You’ll Learn: [01:47] - Vikki explains why our approaches to vicarious trauma and burnout in workplaces need re-thinking. [03:33] - Vikki shares how we can each find our Zone of Fabulousness when it comes to helping others at work. [04:45] - Vikki explains why the goal of ‘safe enough’ rather than psychological safety may serve us better when it comes

Today we're talking to Michael Platt, a Penn Integrates Knowledge professor with appointments in the Department of Neuroscience, the Department of Psychology, and the Department of Marketing in the University of Pennsylvania. Michael works at the intersection of economics, psychology, and neuroscience, and he is a former president of The Society for Neuroeconomics. Michael's work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Guardian, and National Geographic and his new book is called The Leader's Brain. In this week’s episode, we explore how understanding more about how our brain's work can help us to thrive at work. Connect with Michael Platt: http://plattlabs.rocks/ You’ll Learn: [01:47] - Michael shares why neuroscience is of relevance to leaders & workplaces [03:33] - Michael shares why our brains crave a sense of certainty [04:45] - Michael shows how leaders can create cohesive & effective teams [08:26] - Michael shares how we can keep the socia

Today we’re talking to Jessica Amortegui, who’s the Senior Director of Learning & Development at LinkedIn where she designs and delivers programs for leaders and teams. Equipped with a conviction that we are all in beta-mode, Jess believes her work is much more than the opportunity to do what we do best. It’s a training ground to become our most evolved selves. In this week’s episode, we explore how LinkedIn’s development programs are helping their leaders to pivot and embrace their vulnerability to improve performance. Connect with Jess Amortegul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessamortegui/ You’ll Learn: [02:38] - Jess explains how workplaces can create safe and effective training grounds for their people to become their most evolved selves. [04:47] - Jess shares how we all get stuck sometimes in performing, pleasing, proving, and perfecting and the impact this has on how we show up to our work. [06:51] - Jess outlines how LinkedIn has been helping its leaders to pivot during a year of extreme uncertai

Today we’re talking to Professor Edgar Shein and Peter Shein. Ed and his son Peter together co-founded the Organizational Culture and Leadership Institute (OCLI.org) and have together published the award-winning Humble Leadership and Culture + Change + Leadership: The Corporate Culture Survival Guide, along with the upcoming second edition of Humble Inquiry that will be released in 2021. Ed is Professor Emeritus of MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University, has consulted and published extensively, and has been the recipient of two-lifetime achievement awards. Peter’s unique work draws on 30 years of industry experience in marketing and corporate development at technology pioneers including Apple, SGI, Sun Microsystems, and numerous internet start-ups. In this week’s podcast, we explore how humble leadership and humble inquiry can help to improve our workplace cultures. Connect with Edgar & Peter Schein: http://www.scheinocli.org/ You’ll Learn: [02:0

Today we’re talking to Dr. Margaret Heffernan, who’s an entrepreneur and the author of six books, including her most recent Uncharted: How To Map The Future. Margaret’s Ted talks have been seen by over 7 million people around the world. She is also the lead faculty for the Forward Institutes Responsible Leadership Program, and she mentors CEOs and senior executives of major global organizations. In this week’s podcast, we explore the difference between complicated and complex systems, and how we can help people to care for their wellbeing as they navigate unpredictable and challenging work environments. Connect with Dr. Margaret Heffernan: http://mheffernan.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:33] - Margaret explains why studies suggest we can only confidently plan the future in workplaces for approximately 150 days at a time. [06:29] - Margaret helps us explore the difference between a complicated world and a complex world and what this means for caring for wellbeing in workplaces. [11:39] - Margaret provides an exampl

Today we’re talking to Doctor Tim Lomas, a Senior Lecturer in Positive Psychology at the University of East London. Tim completed his Ph.D. with a thesis focusing on the impact of meditation on men’s health. And, since then, Tim has published over 70 papers and 11 books relating to wellbeing, linguistics, mindfulness, Buddhism, gender, art, cross-cul- cultural inquiry. His work has been featured in articles in prominent publications, like Time and The New Yorker. In this week’s episode, we explore the third wave of positive psychology recently published in the Journal of Positive Psychology and what leaders can be saying and doing to help team members navigate the complexity of our time. Connect with Tim Lomas: https://www.drtimlomas.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:21] - Tim explains the wave metaphor by sharing his views of the first wave when positive psychology was formalized as a field. [03:09] - Tim explains the second wave. [06:11] - Tim explains the third wave. [09:25] - Tim explains what teams can be thinki

In this week’s podcast, we discover how to soar into your individual or collective purpose at work with four simple but powerful questions to help us navigate uncertainty. Connect with Jackie Stavros: http://www.soar-strategy.com/ [free_product_purchase id="94846"] You’ll Learn: [02:51] - Jackie shares why purpose is so powerful in moments when work and life feel chaotic. [05:31] - Jackie explains how an appreciative inquiry approach can help us to discover the best of what is and what is possible to surface our purpose. [07:45] - Jackie gives us four simple questions to help us SOAR into our purpose. [11:08] - Jackie shares an example of how the four SOAR questions can be used to surface your what and why. [15:48] - Jackie explains how teams and workplaces can use the four SOAR questions to help surface a shared sense of purpose. [18:33] - Jackie offers advice for aligning people’s individual purpose with the purpose of a team or organization. [21:22] - Jackie shares how teams and workplaces drive radical