Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast

Garry Davis’ corporate career has included more than a decade in executive HR and OD roles in public and private sectors.  His work in leadership development and applied positive psychology has been recognized through various awards.   In this conversation, you’ll hear Garry share his award-winning approach to introducing positive leadership into organizations and his tips for embedding these behaviors to create lasting changes.  Garry also shares the surprising truths he learned about organizational cynics and how to manage them through the change process. Connect with Garry Davis: Website - thestylewisegroup.com [01:47] – Garry shares takeaways from his award-winning work.  He explains the importance of context.   [05:13] – Garry explains why a one-size fits all approach may not work when considering smaller teams within an organization.  There can be different cultures with these teams. [07:18] – Garry shares his award-winning case study for the introduction of positive leadership into a workplace. [09:19

Sue Ashford is a professor in management and organization at the University of Michigan.  Her research interests include leader effectiveness and development, issue selling, self-management and feedback processes in organizations.   Are you keen to step up to a leadership role but worried you aren’t quite ready?  Sue suggests that everyone has leadership potential, and you learn leadership mostly from experience.  But if you’re racing through your experiences mindlessly, you could be missing out on a lot of learning.  By mindfully engaging in your experiences, and being open to growing, developing your skills and getting feedback you can be more effective at learning leadership skills. Connect with Sue Ashford: Sue’s Website You’ll Learn: [01:42] – Sue will be presenting at the upcoming Positive Business Conference on ‘Control Your Own Destiny: Leadership Development through Mindful Engagement.’ [03:41] – Sue discusses the leadership is part skill, part mindset, and in part risk. [05:32] – Sue defines ‘mindf

Edwin Locke is the Dean’s Professor of Motivation and Leadership Emeritus at the University of Maryland.  He has published over 300 chapters and articles in professional journals on topics such as motivation, job satisfaction, incentives and the philosophy of science.  He is internationally known for his research on goal-setting. Goals are critical in helping us create change in our lives, and yet most people struggle to stick with the goals they set. In this conversation, you’ll hear Ed explain the importance of setting goals and what his 35 years of research has discovered about setting effective goals and why SMART goals may not be as smart as you thought they were. Connect with Edwin Locke: Website: http://edwinlocke.com You’ll Learn: [01:37] – Ed explains that life is a goal-directed process and if we remain passive in setting goals it’s unlikely we will thrive. [04:44] – Ed shares why people struggle with goals.   [06:14] – Ed explains why we should be setting difficult goals for ourselves. [07:08] – E

Peggy Kern is a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education in the Center for Positive Psychology. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, and her research addresses the question, “Who flourishes, and why?” Are we oversimplifying positive psychology?  While the field has made much progress over the last 15 years in helping people find ways to improve their wellbeing, however, at best interventions are only beneficial for some people, some of the time, and are far from a magic bullet for everyone in all situations.  Peggy suggests combining positive psychology’s focus on the individual with systems science to take into account the complex reality of our everyday contexts, could assist target interventions for individuals and the collective good. Connect with Peggy Kern: Website: http://peggykern.org You’ll Learn: [01:36] – Peggy has been working with a team of collaborators at Melbourne University that merges positive psychology with systems science to create positi

Professor Carol Dweck is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of personality, social psychology, and developmental psychology.  She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the US Academy of Sciences and won nine lifetime achievement awards for her research.  Her work is used by organizations around the world to transform their cultures. In this conversation, you will hear Carol talk about fixed and growth mindsets and how her research has found they can impact our performance at work.  She draws on her experience of helping organizations implement this type of mindset to share the small changes workplaces can make to cultivate growth mindset environments and where this can go wrong.  Connect with Carol Dweck: Website: http://mindsetonline.com/abouttheauthor/ You’ll Learn: [02:10] – Carol explains the differences between fixed and growth mindsets, according to her research. [04:56] – Carol shares how her studies have found that when there is a fixed

Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley.  He is also the faculty director of The Greater Good Science Center. Dacher’s research focuses on the biological and evolutionary origins of compassion, love, beauty, power, social class, and inequality. Do you run towards or away from having more power?  Often perceived as the need to manipulate, coerce or dominate others, it turns out that power is actually the ability to make a difference in the world by influencing others.   As a result power is not something to be taken, but given to us through the practices of empathy, kindness, generosity and gratitude.  The paradox however is that as our power grows from these practices, it often ends up disconnecting us from the very people we serve.  So how can we navigate the power paradox? Connect with Dacher Keltner: Website – http://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/dacher-keltner You’ll Learn: [01:35] – Dacher defines “power” as your capacity to influence other people. [06:53] – Dacher explains that ther

Vanessa King is a board member of Action for Happiness, which is a UK-based not-for-profit that focuses on proactively building skills for psychological well-being and resilience. She’s also the architect of the Ten Keys to Happier Living. She joins me on this episode to talk about In this episode, you will hear Vanessa’s Ten Keys to Happier Living, which form the acronym, GREAT DREAM.  Vanessa lists these ten keys and describes how they can bring about happier living.  She also talks about her program, Doing Well From the Inside Out and describes some of the success she’s seen through that program with building well-being in the workplace.  As technology changes the landscape of business and the future becomes more difficult to predict, getting back to the basics with well-being is more important than ever. Connect with Vanessa King: Action for HappinessTen Keys to Happier Living You’ll Learn: [01:45] - Vanessa explains that the Ten Keys to Happier Living are areas that we can take action in to help oursel

George Bonanno is professor of clinical psychology, Director of the Lost Trauma and Emotion Lab, and Director of The Resilience Center for Veterans and Families at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. George’s research focuses on resilience in the fact of loss and traumatic events.   Most of us have the natural tools to deal with extreme adversities in our lives. We cope well when extreme things happen to us.  To deal with the world around us, it takes a repertoire of behaviors.  Sometimes, this involves what George calls “coping ugly.”  Sometimes we might need to do something that doesn’t seem pretty but is reasonably effective.   Connect with George Bonanno: Website for Lost Trauma and Emotion Lab You’ll Learn: [01:55] - George will be presenting on loss, trauma, and resilience at the 5th World Congress on Positive Psychology.  He shares what he would like attendees to take home from his presentation.  [03:45] - Media coverage ensures that we are aware of negative events.  The negative psychological co

Jeffrey Auerbach designs and delivers executive coaching and emotionally intelligent leadership programs.  He is the founder and President of The College of Executive Coaching, and past Vice President of the International Coach Federation Global Board of Directors. In this conversation, you will hear Jeffrey talk about the well-being coaching he does with people in the workplace.  The biggest part of well-being is career well-being.  Jeffrey explains the importance of using strengths intelligently, and when one can’t rely on their strengths, doing the work to learn something new.  A weakness is sometimes a strength that is overplayed.  Jeffrey shares examples of coaching clients to demonstrate how these strategies can be implemented to make positive lifestyle changes. Connect with Jeffrey Auerbach: Website: http://executivecoachcollege.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-e-auerbach-4155722b/ You’ll Learn: [01:45] - Jeffrey will be presenting at the 5th World Congress on Positive Psychology. He’

Angela Duckworth is a professor at The University of Pennsylvania. She is also the founder and scientific director of The Character Lab. She has advised the White House, professional sports teams and Fortune 500 CEO’s.   In this conversation, you will hear Angela discuss the research that she is doing on character with children and teachers in middle schools.  Character is not one thing, it is many.  Various character strengths fall into three dimensions: interpersonal character, intellectual character, and intrapersonal character.  Angela also talks about these types of characters in regards to the workplace.  You will also hear Angela talk about grit, and her opinions on the things workplaces are doing to try to cultivate grit.  Connect with Angela Duckworth: CharacterLab.org You’ll Learn: [01:59] - Angela shares some of the takeaways from her upcoming presentation on character at the 5th World Congress in Positive Psychology.   [03:53] - In Angela’s research, she looked at a subsets of strengths in the VI

Martin Seligman is a leading authority in the fields of positive psychology, resilience, learned helplessness, depression, optimism, and pessimism.  He is the director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center, the Penn Master of Applied Positive Psychology program.  In this conversation, you will hear Martin share what he would like attendees to take away from his presentation at the 5th World Congress on Positive Psychology.  He talks about changes he is seeing with governments as they implement positive psychology practices.  Martin believes well-being should be one of the principle goals of political policy around the world.   Martin also talks about positive psychology in the workplace. He shares one small change that he believes can make a big impact on workplaces.  He also shares that increases in occupational well-being should decrease accidents and increase safety in the workplace. Connect with Martin Seligman: Website - http://authentichappiness.org You’ll Learn: [02:02]  - Martin will be speaking at

Sonja Lyubomirsky is a professor of Psychology at the University of California - Riverside. Her research on the science of happiness has been the recipient of many honors.  She is a best-selling author of the books The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want and The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn’t, What Shouldn’t Make You Happy, but Does. In this conversation, you will hear Sonja share her thoughts and findings on happiness.  Sonja shares some of her findings that prove that positive activity interactions work.  Sonja also talks about some of the myths of happiness, which is the topic of her latest book.  She talks about the identification process to determine which interactions may work for individuals.  She also talks about happiness in group dynamics, specifically the workplace.  Sonja must present these interventions in various ways, depending on the environment and situation and she explains how she does that.   Connect with Sonja Lyubomirsky: Website:

Paula Davis Laack is a former practicing lawyer, an internationally published writer, media contributor, and a stress and resilience expert.  She has designed and taught burnout prevention and resilience workshops for thousands of professionals around the world. She also taught resilience skills to more than 25,000 soldiers.   While a lot of people are familiar with the term “burnout”, they don’t know what it is and how it develops.  In this conversation, you will hear Paula talk about burnout and how individuals can avoid it. She also discusses the strategies that organizations can implement to help team members avoid burnout. Connect with Paula Davis Laack: Website: http://pauladavislaack.com You’ll Learn: [01:55] - Paula explains why burnout is such an issue in workplaces, even though businesses have been addressing this issue for a long time. [03:45] - Paula defines “burnout” as a process of chronic stress.  She explains the difference between stress and burnout. [05:18] - Paula addresses how individuals

Carin Rockind is the creator of Purpose Girl, a movement to empower purpose-driven living.  She is also a leading happiness expert who works with companies around the world, teaching real-life strategies to help people live to their fullest potential of success and well-being.   In this conversation, you will hear Carin talk about purpose. Carin explains why purpose is a verb. She describes how you can find purpose in your life, even in existing situations.  She also talks about purpose in the workplace and how leaders can help individuals find more purpose in their work. Connect with Carin Rockind: Website: CarinRockind.com You’ll Learn: [01:15] - Carin believes purpose is the driving force behind who we are. She explains why purpose is so important. [02:32] - Carin explains why it’s so difficult people to discover their purpose. [05:19] - Carin talks about finding purpose in your existing situation.   [11:00] - “Start where you are.”  Carin talks about how the start the process of identifying and working t

Russ Harris is the author of the international best-selling self help book, The Happiness Trap.  He is a therapist and coach, as well as a world renowned trainer of acceptance and commitment therapy, otherwise known as ACT.  He has provided ACT training to over 20,000 people all around the world. In this conversation, you will hear Russ talk about the ACT approach. He explains how individuals and organizations can use the ACT approach to work through negativity and be comfortable with accepting rather than solving. Connect with Russ Harris: Website: ActMindfully.com.au You’ll Learn: [01:28] - Russ talks about finding healthy ways to accept things that seem completely unacceptable.   [04:07] - Russ shares how those of us that are used to a CBT approach to our challenges can get comfortable with accepting rather than solving.   [07:55] - Self-compassion is an important skill to normalize being able to get comfortably uncomfortable.  Russ explains how the ACT approach works through negativity.   [09:54] - Russ

Jo Murray is a facilitator and change consultant with a Masters in Positive Psychology from Melbourne University.  Jo is specifically interested in how leaders in organizations can use the concept of psychological capital to improve the engagement and wellbeing of their employees.    While your organization may measure and track your economic, human or even social capital, have you ever considered the psychological capital?  Psychological capital is about understanding what individuals uniquely bring to their role and the organization to give it life and vitality, and their potential to be great and perform at extraordinary levels.  By providing meaningful and productive feedback to your staff based on the components of psychological capital  - hope, self-efficacy, resilience, optimism -  you can unlock the performance potential of your team.   You’ll Learn: [01:33] - Jo explains that psychological capital is simply described as the notion of who you are and, more importantly, who you’re becoming. [02:44] –

Kathleen Cator is a clinical psychologist and former nurse with over 20 years’ experience as a health professional. Kathleen leads self-compassion and mindfulness based training and therapies in public, education, and health care settings. Self-compassion is about treating yourself during difficult or challenging times as you would a good friend - with kindness, understanding and encouragement. While it’s easy to believe that by being critical of your faults and failings you are more likely to be motivated to make changes, however this has actually been found to undermine your progress. However, when you practice self-compassion you are more likely to learn from your mistakes, and improve your motivation, performance, and wellbeing. Connect with Kathleen Cator Website:  http://mettahp.com.au/ You’ll Learn: [01:24] - Kathleen explains how you can use the same principles of showing compassion to others, to be compassionate to yourself. [02:43] – Research has found that self-compassion improves your emotional a

Louisa Jewell is a speaker, author, facilitator, and wellbeing teacher who has inspired thousands of people worldwide to be more confident.  She founded the Canadian Positive Psychology Association and her work has been featured in numerous publications. In this conversation, you will hear Louisa share her thoughts on developing more confidence, to help you and your organization become more innovative.  Louisa believes confidence is finding the courage to act in the moment you want to put a great idea forward.  While some self-doubt can be motivating, too much self-doubt and self-questioning can stop you in your tracks and undermine your wellbeing. Connect with Louisa Jewell Website - http://positivitymatters.com Twitter - @LouisaJewell You’ll Learn: [01:48] - Louisa talks about the importance of innovation in today’s business-world, and to be innovative organizations need people with the confidence to speak up about their great ideas. [04:05] - Louisa shares how confidence means having the courage to act

Dr. Barbara Fredrickson is a distinguished professor of psychology and neuroscience.  She is the director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  With 140 peer-reviewed articles published and translated into a dozen languages, her research is funded by the US National Institute of Health.   “Positive psychology is not just for when things are going well.”  This conversation may be exactly what some of you need in these times of global political uncertainty and fear.  Barbara talks about maintaining positivity and functioning or flourishing in times of negativity.   Connect with Barbara Fredrickson Barbara Fredrickson’s page on the Social Psychology Network You’ll Learn: [01:50] - As 2016 concludes, there is a lot of uncertainty and fear in the world due to political changes.  Barbara talks about the role of positive psychology in these times. [03:35] - Barbara shares her thoughts on maintaining positivity in the face of fear. [05:40] - Barbara ta

Monica Worline is an organizational psychologist, speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of Alive and Work, an organization that teaches businesses how to tap into courageous thinking, compassionate leadership, and the curiosity to bring their best work to life. In this conversation, you will hear Monica Worline describe the importance of compassion, specifically within organizations.  Monica shares components of her personal blueprint for compassion that she explains, in-depth in her upcoming book, Awakening Compassion at Work.   Business leaders may resist compassion in their organization because it’s perceived as “soft”, but Monica shares that research shows that embracing compassion can positively impact the business financially.  Monica also describes the dilemmas that organization leaders can face when embracing compassion in the workplace. Connect with Monica Worline Website - MonicaWorline.com or TheCompassionLab.comTwitter - @monicaworline You’ll Learn: [02:02] - Monica talks about compassion and