Making Positive Psychology Work

Paul Zak is the founding director of the Centre for Neuroeconomic Studies and professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University. Paul is part of the team of scientists that first made the connection between oxytocin and trust, and this TED Talk on the topic has received over a million views. His latest book, Trust Factor, The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies uses neuroscience to measure and manage organizational cultures to inspire teamwork and accelerate business outcomes. In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing the effects of oxytocin on trust and how heightening the OXYTOCIN factors can help to build stronger and more effective teams in workplaces. Connect with Paul: Website: pauljzak.com [free_product_purchase id="26345"] You’ll Learn: [01:57] - Paul explains how neuromanagement works. [04:33] - Paul outlines the OXYTOCIN factors that workplaces can build to improve trust in organizations. [08:30] - Paul explains how to confidently share neuroscience findings as researchers continue to learn more about the brain. [14:34] - Paul shares the bottom-line benefits of trust in workplaces. [17:30] - Paul outlines the research on how oxytocin impacts people’s ability to trust. [21:28] - Paul shares why new studies have found oxytocin can stimulate envy. [23:17] - Paul completes the lightning round. Your Resources: Making Positive Psychology Work on Facebook - Free Gift Gwynne Shotwell's TED Talk Eat People by Andy Kessler Trust Factor by Paul J Zaj & Dan John Miller 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 Paul!

Dr. Elaine O’Brien is an educator, trainer, author, presenter, speaker, and pioneer in the Health, Exercise, and Fitness Industry, as well as a leader in the burgeoning science of Applied Positive Psychology. She is CEO of Lifestyle Medicine Coaching & Training, a consultancy, & FitDance: Move2Love providing training, presentations, and program content development around positive health, whole fitness, optimal performance, exercise and aging well through the lifespan. Elaine delivers positive exercise programming, and training protocols to help boost motivation, exercise adherence, enjoyment, and whole health and wellbeing across domains and through the lifespan.  In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing the psychology of human movement and the small steps you can take in workplaces to keep people’s bodies, hearts and minds functioning at their best. Connect with Elaine: Website: Elaine O'Brien (LinkedIn) [free_product_purchase id="26102"] You’ll Learn: [02:07] - Elaine explains the psychology of human movement and how understanding this can help to improve people’s wellbeing. [06:07] - Elaine shares why workplaces are becoming more intentional in finding ways to help people move more during their days to improve our ability to learn, connect and flourish. [08:22] - Elaine explains how workplaces can use energy breaks to improve people’s mood and sense of connection with each other. [12:16] - Elaine shares how energy breaks can be a great opportunity for people to practice their growth mindset, develop their strengths and engage their self-compassion. [14:32] - Elaine shares the latest thinking on how much movement we should be aiming for to maintain our wellbeing. [16:07] - Elaine offers some tips for workplaces wanting to engage their people in their more authentic, joyful and positive movement programs. [21:42] - Elaine completes the lightning round. Your Resources: Making Positive Psychology Work on Facebook - Free Gift 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 Elaine!

Rick Hanson is a psychologist, Senior Fellow at the Greater Good Science Centre at UC Berkeley, and New York Times bestselling author. Founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, he’s been an invited speaker at NASA, Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, and other major universities, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. His books are available in 26 languages and include Hard Wiring Happiness, and his newest book, Resilient, has been featured on the BBC, CBS, and NPR. In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about how to develop the traits of resilience to help people manage their levels of anxiety and stress in the workplace. Connect with Rick: Website: www.rickhanson.net/ [free_product_purchase id="25900"] You’ll Learn: [02:12] - Rick explains why modern life is neurologically heightening our levels of anxiety. [04:38] - Rick explains how we can be more resilient in the face of constant change, uncertainty and complexity in workplaces. [07:37] - Rick shares the three simple steps people can take to build resilience practices. [10:48] -  Rick gives several quick techniques for improving resilience that take less than 5 minutes per day. [11:47] - Rick shares the 12 neurological muscles for resilience that people can build. [13:06] - Rick explains how the intensity of positive emotions impact our levels of resilience. [17:44] - Rick points out the difference between building positive emotions that are state-to-state and those that are sustainable traits that boost our resilence. [26:44] - Rick completes the lightning round. Your Resources: Resilient by Rick Hanson Resilience training resource Fred Rogers acceptance speech 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 Rick!

Zoe Galvez and Betsy Crouch, co-founders of ImprovHQ, help leaders and organizations develop effective communication, exceptional collaboration, and engaged cultures through interactive learning experiences, based on the principles of improvisation and positive psychology. They deliver workshops, keynotes, and executive coaching programmes, to workplaces that include Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Dropbox, and many more. Today we’ll be discussing how the principles and practices of improvisation can be used to teach people the skills of positive psychology in workplaces. Connect with Betsy and Zoe: Website: improvhq.com [free_product_purchase id="25798"] You’ll Learn: [02:36] - Zoe and Betsy explain how positive psychology practices can be fused with improvisation techniques to help people flourish at work. [05:40] - The Improv HQ team give examples of how improvisation skills can develop people’s resilience. [09:02] - Zoe explains why every conversation at work is an opportunity for connection or confusion, and how improv can build trust and psychological safety between people. [10:47] - Betsy shares how improv practices can be a great opportunity to spot people’s strengths and put them to work. [12:43] - Zoe explains how improv can be an emotional rope course in workplaces and how they teach leaders to build a resilient response to failure. [18:03] - Zoe shares how improv can help to build a giving culture in teams. [18:59] - Betsy shares how AI Summits are using improv to supercharge results for participants. [21:04] - Betsy and Zoe explain the six improv principles unscripted leaders use to thrive at work. [26:58] - Betsy & Zoe complete the lightning round. Your Resources: improvhq.com/free-training 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 Betsy and Zoe!

Dr. Tal Ben Shahar is the co-founder of the Happiness Studies Academy and the creator and instructor of the Certificate in Happiness Studies Programme. Known around the world for teaching two of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history, Positive Psychology and the Psychology of Leadership, Tal is also an international best-selling author and the co-founder of Potential Life and Happier TV. Today we’ll be exploring the concept of wholebeing and why our happiness at work and in life is interconnected. Connect with Tal-Ben Shahar: Website: talbenshahar.com [free_product_purchase id="25707"] You’ll Learn: [01:37] - Tal shares the impact positive psychology has had over the last decade in workplaces. [02:30] - Tal talks about the need to bring together different scientific disciplines in order to further the study of happiness. [04:23] - Tal introduces the concept of wholebeing and why people need to SPIRE. [06:38] - Tal explains why our happiness is interconnected with our environment and what this means practically. [09:36] - Tal shares how workplaces can leverage interconnectedness to improve people’s sense of wholebeing. [11:47] - Tal explains how Sainsbury grocery stores in the UK are working to improve the happiness of their employees. [13:38] - Tal outlines how workplaces can help people to change and sustain the behaviors that may make them happier at work. [16:49] - Tal outlines how high-intensity interval training can help to embed happiness behaviors. [19:08] - Tal completes the lightning round. Your Resources: The Power of Full Engagement by Tony Schwartz & Jim LoehrThe Courage to Teach by Parker J. Palmer Books by Tal-Ben Shahar 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 Tal!

Jenn Lim is the CEO of Delivering Happiness, a company she and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, co-founded to inspire passion and purpose as part of their profitable happiness business model. To achieve this, Jenn delivers talks, interactive workshops, executive alignment sessions and culture team training for companies all over the world, and with the help of her team, they also create some wonderful tools to measure and improve happiness in workplaces. In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing how to leverage Self-Determination Theory practices to help employees feel happier, ensure customers are more satisfied and deliver and improve the bottom line for your workplace. Connect with Jenn Lim: Website: deliveringhappiness.com [free_product_purchase id="25441"] You’ll Learn: [02:00] - Jenn shares the story of Zappos and how they have created a flourishing culture. [06:21] - Jenn explains how Self-Determination Theory provides the foundation for a happiness business model. [07:36] - Jenn shares practical examples of how to improve autonomy and competence in workplaces. [10:57] - Jenn explains how Zappos helps build relatedness in the workplace between managers and their teams [13:45] - Jenn shares some tips and tricks for helping people in your organizational live the cultural values. [17:43] - Jenn explains why Zappos offer people money to quit during their induction to ensure they have the right cultural fit. [20:06] - Jenn shares some real-world examples of the kind of business outcomes organizations are achieving by investing in the happiness of their employees. [24:07] - Jenn completes the lightning round. Your Resources: Scary Close by Donald Miller Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh 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 Jenn!

Dr. Timothy Sharp runs one of Australia’s most respected clinical psychology practices, is a highly regarded executive coaching practice, and is the founder and chief happiness officer of the happiness institute, Australia’s first and now largest organization devoted solely to enhancing happiness in individuals, families, and workplaces. An adjunct professor in positive psychology at the University of Technology in Sydney and RMIT University, Tim is a sought-after public speaker who makes frequent media appearances, and is the author of, among other things, “100 Ways to Happiness: A Guide for Busy People” and most recently, “Live Happier, Live Longer: A Guide to Positive Ageing”. In today’s episode we’ll discuss how to help people find the time to integrate wellbeing practices into their workplace. Connect with Tim Sharp: Connect with Tim Sharp: Website: www.drhappy.com.au/ [free_product_purchase id="25009"] You’ll Learn: [03:28] - Tim details the acronym CHOOSE, which relates to the idea of choosing happiness for our own lives. [08:07] - Tim gives tips on how to make time for happiness practises. [12:27] - Tim discusses how a workplace could embed happiness practises into the everyday lives of their employees, using the approach of mental health organisation Batyr as an example. [17:48] - Tim talks about making happiness practises work for the long term, by embedding and reinforcing key principles within the organisation. [21:03] - Tim gives examples of some support and activities that can be provided to improve mental health in the workplace. [22.58] - Tim explains how to navigate the cynics when trying to implement wellbeing practises within a workplace. [25:25] - Lightning round with Tim Sharp. Your Resources:  100 Ways to Happiness by Tim Sharp Live Happier, Live Longer by Tim Sharp 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 Tim!

Stella Grizont is a graduate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology programme and is an executive coach who has worked with over 14,000 people in 21 countries. Stella has also delivered workshops to organizations including Google, Johnson and Johnson, Young & Rubicam to inspire their employees to develop a positive work culture. Her unique approach to loving your work has been featured on MSNBC, ABC news and the Today Show. In today’s episode Stella explains the power of playful mindset to help us avoid getting stuck in the common mind traps most of us struggle with at work. Connect with Stella Grizont: Website: www.woopaah.com  You’ll Learn: [05:06] – Stella explains how the playful mindset can help approach uncertain situations with curiosity rather than fear at work. [10:38] – Stella shares how complaining can become a common mind trap, because it triggers our negativity bias over and over again. [11:56] – Stella talks about how comparing yourself to others is another mindtrap in which people often become stuck. [13:56] – Stella outlines her “Vision Generator” exercise, and how it can help you to generate your vision and clarify how you want to be to avoid comparisons with others. [14:34] – Stella explains how criticism – especially of ourselves – gets many of stuck when it comes to our work and what we can do to be more supportive of ourselves. [19:29] – Stella shares what she wishes she known when she first graduated from the Masters of Positive Psychology program. [21:24] – Lightning round with Stella Grizont. Your Resources: www.workhappinessmethod.com/vision 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 Stella!

Dr. Diana Whitney is the founder and president of Positive Change, a global consultancy that helps executives and their teams design and facilitate high engagement, appreciative inquiry processes in support of business goals, strategies and innovation. Diana is also the co-founder of the Taos Institute, an education think-tank with over 500 international associates, teaching and doing research into constructive, relational processes in business, education families and communities. Diana is also the author of 18 books and dozens of articles and chapters including the Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change. She has more than 30 years of experience in helping make change happen, and teaching people how to make change happen around the world. In today’s episode, Diana shares how she uses appreciative inquiry approaches to help organizations have a curious mindset and discover what gives life to their people to help systems create changes that work.  Diana shares several case studies and what her research has found enables appreciative inquiry approaches to improve relationships and bottom-line business outcomes. Connect with Diana Whitney: Website: positivechange.org You’ll Learn: [02:22] - Diana talks about how to introduce appreciative inquiry to clients that you work with. [04.24] - Diana gives an example of how this could be approach could be applied in an organization. [07:40] - Diana talks about the fear surrounding things that aren’t working well in an organization if they aren't openly discussed. [09:42] - Diana explains how successful organisations "nurture out" their staff into roles that are most suitable to them. [10:46] - Diana discusses the key skill of flipping or reframing the narrative, to shift the organisation and the thinking of people from what the problems are, known as deficit, into more life affirming, positive possibilities. [14:45] - Diana shares the the incredible case study of Hunter Douglas Window Fashions. [19:18] - Diana talks about why appreciative inquiry delivers these kind of outcomes. [22:00] - Lightning round with Diana Whitney Your Resources: 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 Diana!

Reuben Rusk is the founder of Mind Quip, a social enterprise in Christ Church New Zealand whose vision is to create a happier and more productive workforce. Reuben is a lifelong learner and a big picture thinker who's passionate about teaching people to improve their lives and their wellbeing by distilling large amounts of research into down to earth training about what matters most. An experienced presenter and recognized expert in well being and resilience, Reuben’s research has been published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, the psychology of wellbeing, and the Journal of Happiness studies. In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about the five domains Rueben’s research has found lie at the heart of more than 18,000 peer-reviewed positive psychology intervention articles and how these can be combined to create a synergistic and holistic approach to create wellbeing behavior changes that work. Connect with Reuben Rusk: Website: mindquip.com [free_product_purchase id="24176"] You’ll Learn: [02:00] - Reuben identified more than 18,000 documents, and here talks about what he found that can help us to improve our well being? [03:47] - Reuben discusses the five clusters of terms that he identified. [07:09] - Reuben talks about how the synergistic change model might help to shape our wellbeing. [08:59] - Reuben explains how the synergistic change model provides a framework to think through some important complexities. [11:41] - Reuben talks about how he helps people understand how to navigate emotional and social complexities. [12:50] - Reuben discusses the concept of relapse. [14:45] - Reuben explains how to think synergistically across those five domains of emotions, attention and awareness, comprehension and coping, goals and habits and social relationships, when trying to make a positive intervention. [15:58] - Reuben talks about the environmental factors that can affect positive interventions. [18:38] - Reuben discusses how the simpler option is not necessarily easier, and how simplifying complex systems can do more harm than good. [21:37] - Lightning Round with Reuben Rusk Your Resources:  mindquip.com 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 Reuben!