Making Positive Psychology Work

Tom Rath is an author and researcher who has spent the past two decades studying how work can improve human health and wellbeing. His ten books including, "Strengths Finder 2.0", "Wellbeing", and "Eat Move Sleep", have sold more than ten million copies, and made hundreds of appearances on global bestseller lists. During his 13 years at Gallup, Tom was the Program Leader for the development of Clifton Strengths Finder, which has helped over 20 million people to uncover their talents, and went on to lead the organization’s employee engagement, wellbeing, and leadership practices worldwide. He has served for the past five years as a Gallup Senior Scientist. And he's also an advisor, investor, and partner in several start-ups. In this podcast, we explore how small changes in the way you eat, move and sleep can improve your wellbeing and performance at work. Connect with Tom Rath:  http://www.tomrath.org You’ll Learn: [04:29] - Tom explains how the small choices around how we eat, move and sleep each day can have a big impact on our wellbeing and performance at work. [08:16] - Tom outlines why tackling the way we eat, move, and sleep simultaneously is a better way to improve our energy levels. [11:38] - Tom offers some small choices that can improve the way we’re eating each day. [15:44] - Tom provides some tips to help leaders improve the way people eat at work together. [18:18] - Tom explains why sitting is our biggest health challenge at work and the easy ways we can get people moving more at work. [21:35] - Tom explains why lack of sleep is the most underestimated threat to our wellbeing and performance at work. [25:17] - Tom completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Range by David Epstein Loonshots by Safi Bahcall 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 Tom!

Jane Dutton is a Professor Emerita of Business Administration and Psychology at the University of Michigan. Jane's research focuses on how organizational conditions enable human thriving, and in particular, how the quality of connection between people at work affects individual and organizational flourishing. Her research explores compassion in organizations, resilience in organizations, as well as energy in organizations, and she's published over 100 articles and book chapters, edited 12 books, and written a book for managers called Energise Your Workplace: How To Build And Sustain High-Quality Connections At Work. In 2012, Jane was awarded the Scholarly Contributions in Management Award for the Academy of Management, which is a lifetime achievement award. In this week’s podcast, we explore the value of creating high-quality connections with people at work and the simple steps you can take to authentically connect with anyone – even your most challenging colleagues. Connect with Jane Dutton:  https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/ You’ll Learn: [02:23] - Jane defines what creates a high-quality connection for us at work. [04:43] - Jane explains the difference between high-quality connections and Professor Barbara Fredrickson’s micro-moments of connections. [06:37] - Jane outlines the benefits of prioritizing high-quality connections when it comes to our wellbeing and performance at work. [10:11] - Jane shares what her latest research is finding out about the ability of high-quality connections to improve psychological safety in teams. [11:58] - Jane offers some tips on how high-quality connections can help ease the rising rates of loneliness in workplaces. [14:33] - Jane explains how leaders can create cultures that prioritize high-quality connections among their workers. [17:33] - Jane offers some simple suggestions for convincing leaders of the need to prioritize high-quality connections in our workplaces. [21:32] - Jane offers some practical suggestions for us to create more high-quality connections in our relationships at work. [25:11] - Jane shares what her research is finding can help us manage our corrosive connections and more challenging relationships at work. [30:04] - Jane completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Books by Jody Hoffer Gittell Relational Coordination Research Collaborative 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 Jane!

Dr. Steven Rogelberg is an organizational psychologist who holds the title of Chancellor's Professor at UNC Charlotte for distinguished national, international and interdisciplinary contributions. He's an award-winning teacher and recipient of the very prestigious Humboldt Award for his research with over 100 publications, addressing issues such as team effectiveness, leadership, engagement, health and employee wellbeing, meetings at work and organizational research methods. His latest book, The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance, was recognized by the Washington Post as the number one leadership book to watch for in 2019 and has been featured in media outlets around the world In this week’s podcast, we explore the simple steps you can take to run more positive and productive meetings at work. Connect with Steven Rogelberg:  https://www.stevenrogelberg.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:27] - Steven explains how workplace meetings offer opportunities to improve our individual and collective wellbeing. [03:22] - Steven outlines what his research is finding out about the best meetings in workplaces. [05:13] - Steven outlines why so many workplaces meetings struggle to bring out the best in people. [06:44] - Steven explains how we can design meetings in ways that allow us and others to be more effective givers at work. [08:57] - Steven outlines why planning your meetings to create a little stress can be beneficial for all participants. [10:22] - Steven shares what his research has found about the ideal length of our meetings. [11:31] - Steven offers some practical tips on how many people to invite to a meeting. [14:14] - Steven explains why meetings leaders need to be mindful of the mood of their meetings and how can they shape this practically. [17:44] - Steven explains how silence can be used to improve our meetings. [19:21] - Steven offers some tips for team members to improve meetings. [20:42] - Steven explains how we can make virtual meetings more productive and supportive of our wellbeing. [23:36] - Steven completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Stop Worrying & Start Living by Dale Carnegie 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 Steven!

Alissa Daire Nelson is a certified strength strategy coach who gives people the tools and guidance to put their strengths to work. She's the host of the Maximize Your Strengths podcast, and author of From Frustrated To Frickin' Awesome: 4 Steps to Achieve the Success You're Wired For. Alissa's work has been featured in media outlets all over the world. In this week’s episode, we explore the practical steps we can take to spot and develop people’s strengths – the things we’re good at and enjoy doing – using tools like Clifton Strengths in workplaces. Connect with Alissa Nelson:  https://www.daire2succeed.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:13] - Alissa explains why people’s strengths can help us quickly strengthen our relationship at work. [04:49] - Alissa explains how tools like Clifton Strengths can give us a language to spot and understand the strengths in each other. [08:04] - Alissa explains how we can use the talents that tools like Clifton Strengths surface for us as we go about our jobs to improve our performance and wellbeing at work. [11:06] - Alissa explains why it's helpful to understand the contributions our strengths can make and the needs we each have to support our strengths at work. [14:11] - Alissa explains how we can become aware and manage the triggers that occur when our strengths are overlooked or undervalued by others we work with. [19:37] - Alissa offers some tips to help us get better at noticing how we can develop our strengths more effectively at work. [22:36] - Alissa offers tips for leaders to help develop their people’s strengths more at work. [26:37] - Alissa completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Brene Brown Talks Dare to Lead by Brene Brown Leadership & Self-Deception by The Arbinger Group 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 Alissa!

Wendy Wood is a professor at the University of Southern California and visiting faculty at Insead Business school in France. Wendy has spent the last 30 years studying people's habits and understanding how to change them, and her research has been featured in media publications all over the world and is the focus of her forthcoming book Good Habits, Bad Habits. In this week’s episode, we explore what the latest research is finding out about how we can create and sustain good habits to support our wellbeing. Connect with Wendy Wood:  http://goodhabitsbadhabits.org/ You’ll Learn: [02:38] - Wendy explains why creating good habits can be challenging for many of us. [04:27] - Wendy shares what her research is finding about how we can develop good habits. [06:22] - Wendy shares why her research has found that it doesn’t take 21 days to build a habit. [08:40] - Wendy explains why thinking about the context for the habits we want to create is so important and offers some tips to make it easier to activate the habits we want to build. [11:24] - Wendy explains the power of repetition when it comes to building the habits we most want. [13:09] - Wendy outlines the role rewards play in creating our habits and what kind of rewards work best. [16:13] - Wendy offers some tips for aligning our goals and our habits to make them easier to sustain. [17:28] - Wendy explains the surprising finding in her research on the impact our habits have on our levels of self-control. [19:47] - Wendy helps us understand how stacking or swapping habits can make it easier to create changes in our behavior. [22:26] - Wendy offers some cautions and caveats for building good habits in ways that are good for you and others. [24:29] - Wendy offers tips for breaking bad habits like constantly checking our mobile phones. [27:20] - Wendy shares why she believes friction is important for our habits. [28:24] - Wendy completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Nudge by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Atomic Habits by James Clear 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 Wendy!

Cy Wakeman is a drama researcher, global thought leader, and New York Times bestselling author, recognized for cultivating a counter-intuitive, reality-based approach to leadership. Cy has helped companies such as Google, Facebook, NASA, and many others to navigate our rapidly changing world, using good mental processes to harness energy wasted in workplace drama, and reinvest that effort into achieving profound business results. Her work has been featured in several media outlets around the world. The author of several books, her latest is No Ego: How to Cut the Cost of Drama and Entitlement, and Drive Big Results. In this week’s episode, we explore at why most of us waste 2.5 hours a day on average in emotional workplaces dramas and the simple steps we can take to ditch the drama, improve our wellbeing and save ourselves time, energy, and money. Connect with Cy Wakeman:  https://www.realitybasedleadership.com/ You’ll Learn: [02:36] - Cy explains why workplaces lose billions of dollars every year due to the emotional waste of employees. [03:29] - Cy outlines what her research has found drives drama in workplaces. [05:23] - Cy shares why most of us lose 2.5 hours a day in unnecessary dramas at work. [08:07] - Cy provides some questions leaders can use to help their people ditch the drama. [14:23] - Cy shares why leaders can find it hard to ditch the drama in workplaces. [15:54] - Cy outlines why a lack of accountability drives drama in many workplaces and how this can be addressed. [20:24] - Cy shares why fostering engagement without accountability often leads to entitlement in workplaces. [24:29] - Cy shares her insights on why change management should die as an organizational practice in order to minimize drama in workplaces. [27:27] - Cy explores how managing our emotional waste better can improve psychological safety in workplaces. [29:52] - Cy explains why it’s not enough for employees to just manage their own emotional waste, but why leaders and organizations need to support these behaviours. [31:26] - Cy completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook No Ego by Cy Wakeman Melody Beattie Books Loving What Is by Byron Katie 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 Cy!

Rachael Powell is the Chief Customer, People and Marketing Officer at Xero, a cloud-based accounting platform for small and medium businesses around the world. She's an experienced business executive with a demonstrated success across strategy, marketing, and human resources. Rachael has a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Melbourne and is passionate about enabling people to do the best work of their lives. In this week’s episode, we explore how Xero, a cloud-based accounting platform for small and medium businesses around the world, are using positive psychology to help their people thrive as they do the best work of their lives. Connect with Rachael Powell:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/powellrachael/ You’ll Learn: [02:29] - Rachael explains how she began applying what she learned in the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology to her leadership of the people and culture function at Xero. [04:22] - Rachael shares why Xero chose Professor Martin Seligman’s PERMAH framework to guide their wellbeing strategy. [05:32] - Rachael outlines how Xero operationalized the PERMAH framework across five different continents in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment. [10:14] - Rachael shares her tips for what’s worked best when it comes to embedding a wellbeing strategy across the workplace. [13:05] - Rachael talks about the struggles of embedding a wellbeing strategy across a workplace and how Xero is working to overcome these. [17:43] - Rachael shares her biggest a-ha when it comes to taking the science of positive psychology and applying it practically in a workplace. [19:50] - Rachael shares her thoughts on the role CEOs and leadership teams play in the success or failure of wellbeing strategies in workplaces. [21:53] - Rachael offers some cautions and caveats for people trying to improve wellbeing in workplaces. [23:09] - Rachael completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky Give & Take by Adam Grant 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 Rachael!

Robert Quinn is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, one of the co-founders of the field of positive organizational scholarship, and a co-founder of the Ross Centre for Positive Organisations. Bob's research and writing focuses on purpose, leadership, culture and change,and he is in the top 1% of professors cited in organizational behaviour textbooks. The recipient of multiple teaching awards, Bob was recently named one of the top speakers in the world on the topics of organisational culture and related issues. And last year, his talk on personal purpose went viral and has been viewed by over 16 million people. Bob has published 18 books, and his most recent book, The Economics of Higher Purpose, has just been released. In this week’s podcast we explore the economics of higher purpose in our workplaces and how we can find and consistently honor our purpose. Connect with Robert Quinn:  http://robertequinn.com/ You’ll Learn: [03:22] - Bob explains why the economics of higher purpose is a conversation every workplace should be exploring at the moment. [07:33] - Bob outlines why a higher purpose shifts our mindsets and commitment from being employees or agents to owners in our workplaces. [11:51] - Bob shares how workplaces can envision being a higher purpose organization and overcome the thought walls that might get in their way. [16:03] - Bob explains why organizations need to discover – rather than invest – their higher purpose. [22:13] - Bob shares his tips for embracing the messy and magical process of bringing a higher purpose to life across a workplace. [27:30] - Bob shares the story of how KPMG gave their people the freedom to self-organize and take responsibility for the things that matter most to them in relation to the higher purpose. [33:05] - Bob completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook The Economics of Higher Purpose by Robert Quinn All You Have to Do is Ask by Wayne Baker 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 Bob!

David Bryce Yaden is a Research Fellow and PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania, where he works in the Positive Psychology Centre. David's research focus is on the psychology and neuroscience of spiritual, self-transcendent and other positively transformative experiences. Specifically, he's interested in understanding how these experiences can result in longterm changes to wellbeing. And how they alter fundamental faculties of consciousness, such as the sense of time, space, and self. He's the editor of the book, Being Called. And he's currently writing a book called, The Varieties of Spiritual Experiences: A Twenty-First Century Update. His work is being covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, New York Magazine, and NPR. In this week’s podcast, we explore how positively transformative experiences can leave us feeling called to our futures and the impact they can have on our wellbeing and performance. Connect with David Yaden:  https://www.varietiescorpus.com/ You’ll Learn: [03:53] - David explains why we’re called by our futures – not just pulled by the past - and what impact this has for our wellbeing. [06:28] - David outlines the difference between trying to find meaning and purpose in our work, to being called to the work we do. [09:07] - David shares what his research is finding makes a positively transformative moment possible for each of us. [11:06] - David explores if positively transformative experiences can be created or need to be allowed to spontaneously occur. [13:13] - David outlines what his research is finding in terms of the impact the positively transformative moments might have for us or others. [16:58] - David explores potential interventions workplaces can use to create positively transformative experiences for people and their limitations. [20:33] - David outlines ways workplaces can help people to feel more called to their work. [22:30] - David completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Being Called by David Yaden The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James & Martin E. Marty Doug Hubbard on the Rationally Speaking Podcast 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!

Loretta Breuning is the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, which helps people manage the ups and downs of their mammal brain. As professor emerita of management at California State University East Bay, Loretta's research explores how people can discover the power of their mammalian operating system. The author of several books, including Habits of a Happy Brain, Loretta had shared her research, and talks all over the world. In this week’s podcast, we explore our brain’s happy chemicals and how we can create more happy chemicals as we work. Connect with Loretta Breuning:  https://innermammalinstitute.org/ You’ll Learn: [02:11] - Loretta explains how dopamine work and why it is important for us at work. [05:10] - Loretta offers some practical ways to spark more dopamine at work. [06:33] - Loretta outline how endorphins help our brains to perform. [09:00] - Loretta explores if endorphins might help ease social or emotional pain at work. [10:15] - Loretta explains the upside and the downside of oxytocin at work. [13:01] - Loretta explores how oxytocin can help us to build belonging and psychological safety in workplaces. [16:44] - Loretta explains how serotonin shapes our relationships at work. [21:35] - Loretta outlines how we can create happy brain habits to stimulate these chemicals. [23:43] - Loretta completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook 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 Loretta!