Making Positive Psychology Work

Thea O'Connor is a senior workplace wellbeing advisor, presenter, journalist, and coach. Thea has more than 20 years experience in the health sector, including her background as a dietitian and workplace health consultant, she is the founder of Nap Now and a committed nap-tivist.

In this week's episode, Thea O'Connor explains why we need to raise people's levels of body intelligence at work and the simple steps workplaces can take to help workers connect, listen, and respond to their bodies wellbeing needs as they go about their jobs.

Connect with Thea O'Connor:

• https://www.thea.com.au/

• [02:01] - Thea explains why improving people's levels of body intelligence is an essential step for maintaining our wellbeing at work.
• [04:52] - Thea provides some tips on how we can connect, listen, and respond better at work to what our bodies need to maintain our levels of energy.
• [08:02] - Thea helps us to understand the importance of having a wellbeing rhythm in our days.
• [09:45] - Thea explains the difference between our bodies circadian rhythm and ultradian rhythm and how we can manage these at work.
• [12:21] - Thea shares the latest research on how chronotypes (body clocks) can influence people's wellbeing and productivity at work.
• [15:14] - Thea shares some examples of how teams can help look after each other's physical wellbeing at work.
• [17:23] - Thea explains how multitasking can undermine our wellbeing and performance at work and how we can break this bad habit.
• [19:53] - Thea shares why she believes nap breaks should be the new coffee breaks in workplaces and how we can implement this practically.
• [24:17] - Thea completes the Lightning Round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Find out more about the perfect power nap

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 Thea!

Dr. Toni Noble who is an adjunct professor in the Institute for positive psychology and education at the Australian Catholic University and is widely known in education as the coauthor of the multiple award-winning positive education programme, Bounce Back. Toni's government projects include the national safe schools' framework, the scoping study on student wellbeing and resourcing the student wellbeing hub. And she's worked with an international expert group in Bhutan to develop a new paradigm for the United Nations to promote wellbeing and happiness as a global goal.

In this week's episode, Dr. Toni Noble explains why perfectionism and loneliness are rising in our schools and workplaces and what we can do practically to help people navigate these challenges to their wellbeing.

Connect with Dr. Toni Noble:

• http://bounceback.com.au/

• [02:19] - Toni explains why the rise of perfectionism is an issue workplaces need to be mindful of when it comes to improving people's wellbeing
• [07:30] - Toni shares why dealing with perfectionism takes more than just practicing a growth mindset
• [10:09] - Toni explains why self-compassion is such an important skill to develop when it comes to taming perfectionism
• [13:37] - Toni outlines why loneliness is also becoming a growing issue in workplaces and what we can do practically to improve people's relationships at work
• [21:35] - Toni completes the Lightning Round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• https://happinessanditscauses.com.au/
• https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/

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 Toni!

Elise Morris, who is a disruptor of conventional leadership and people management practices and co-founder of the Strengths Lab. With more than 25 years of global and local human resources experience in corporate and public sector organizations and a masters of applied positive psychology, Elise's diverse background allows her to straddle the commercial realities of organizations while forming deep human connections to facilitate positive change and extraordinary outcomes.

In this week's episode, Elise Morris explains how a strengths-focus can be infused across people management processes in workplaces.

Connect with Elise Morris:

• The Strengths Lab

• [02:28] - Elise explains why strengths interventions in workplaces need to be more focused on how teams and organizations can support the development of people's strengths.
• [04:01] - Elise shares how the employee lifecycle or employee experience can be used to infuse a strengths focus throughout a workplace.
• [05:40] - Elise offers some practical tips for strengths focused recruiting, from job descriptions to job advertisements, and job interviews.
• [07:21] - Elise explains why she doesn't generally recommend using strengths assessment surveys during the recruitment process.
• [08:33] - Elise shares why the onboarding experience is a critical opportunity to help people embrace a strengths focus as they join a workplace.
• [10:32] - Elise explains why it's important that we are willing to be vulnerable with each other about our strengths and we experiment and learn how to use them more intelligently.
• [11:28] - Elise offers some advice on how to address weaknesses in strengths focused workplaces.
• [14:39] - Elise explains how leaders can have more meaningful strengths conversations with their people and provide some simple questions any leader can use.
• [18:20] - Elise shares the steps workplaces can take to help develop people's strengths as they go about their work.
• [23:30] - Elise offers some ideas for how workplaces can be more strengths focused when people are leaving their organization and why this is worth the effort.
• [25:44] - Elise completes the Lightning Round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• The Power of Moments by Chip & Dan Heath

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 Elise!

Ashley Goodall is a senior executive, talent expert, and author who spent his career exploring large organizations from the inside. Ashley currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Leadership and Team Intelligence at Cisco, a new organization that is built to focus entirely on serving teams and team leaders. He is also the coauthor with Marcus Buckingham of the wonderful new book Nine Lies About Work: A Free Thinking Leader's Guide to the Real World, and they've recently published two cover stories in the Harvard Business Review, The Feedback Fallacy and Reinventing Performance Management.

In today's episode, Ashley Goodall shares the common mistakes most workplaces make when it comes to giving people feedback and the simple steps leaders and workplaces can take to build strengths-focused teams.

Connect with Ashley Goodall:

• Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn

• [02:18] - Ashley explains what his research with Marcus Buckingham found were the defining characteristics of the best teams at Deloitte's
• [03:54] - Ashley shares how he applied these insights to build a new organization at Cisco focused on serving teams and team leaders
• [07:10] - Ashley offers tips for helping teach team leaders how to develop their own strengths and their people's strengths
• [08:53] - Ashley explains why leaders are rarely reliable raters of their people's performance and what they can do instead.
• [11:00] - Ashley provides an example of what a strengths-based conversation might sound like between a leader and a team member
• [15:00] - Ashley explains how leaders can still address people's weaknesses and areas for improvement whilst still being strengths-focused
• [16:48] - Ashley shares why the approach most people take to developing people's potential at work is a lie.
• [20:25] - Ashley provides suggestions for leaders who may have employees who are disengaged and have no interest in developing their strengths
• [22:49] - Ashley offers advice to help align people's strengths to their work, even when the opportunities are challenging.
• [25:28] - Ashley completes the Lightning Round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall
• The Halo Effect by Phil Rozenzweig

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 Ashley!

Dr. Jillian Darwish currently serves as President and CEO of Mayerson Academy, a non-profit dedicated to transforming individuals, teams, and organizational performance. Under her leadership, the Academy has become the exclusive education partner to the VIA Institute, working with schools, universities, organizations, and communities to utilize the science of character strengths to transform cultures. The Academy's work has been featured in EdWeek, Live Happy, and US News and World Report and Dr. Darwish has been invited to share the Academy's work around the globe, including presentations in China, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and Hong Kong.

In today's episode, Dr. Jillian Darwish shares the surprising findings of a recent study with 1,000 American workers about if, how, and why people are using their strengths each day at work and the practical steps many workplaces may be missing.

Connect with Jillian Darwish:

• https://www.mayersonacademy.org/

• [01:45] - Jillian shares what a recent study of 1,000 people representative of the American workforce has discovered about if, when, and why people use their strengths – the things they good at and enjoy doing – at work each day.
• [05:41] - Jillian explains why workers may feel that their workplaces are less committed to developing their strengths.
• [09:57] - Jillian outlines why having psychological safety in our teams, leaders who are able to have meaningful strengths conversations, and organizations who are committed to building our strengths is so important.
• [11:40] - Jillian offers some tips for helping more leaders have the willingness and confidence to have meaningful strengths conversations with their workers.
• [13:38] - Jillian shares the three important steps workplaces can use to help their people use their strengths each day at work.
• [15:55] - Jillian offers an important caution for workplaces trying to activate people's strengths.
• [22:41] - Jillian completes the Lightning Round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• The Strengths Lab 2019 Workplace Survey

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 Jillian!

Dr. Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur who mentors CEOs and senior executives of major global organizations and is lead faculty for the Forward Institute's responsible leadership programme. She is the author of five books including Willful Blindness which was named one of the most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times, and in 2015 she was awarded the transmission prize for her book A Bigger Prize. Margaret's Ted talks have been seen by over seven million people.

In today's episode, Dr. Margaret Heffernan shares what researchers have learned about the impact competition has on our performance and wellbeing, and gives us some practical tips on building psychological safety in our organizations

Connect with Margaret Heffernan:

• http://www.mheffernan.com/?location=GB

• [01:45] - Margaret explains what research William Muir discovered about how competition impacts productivity and why every leader needs to be mindful of this research in workplaces
• [05:41] - Margaret explains why leaders may remain willfully blind to the cost on performance and wellbeing of fiercely competitive environments in workplaces
• [09:57] - Margaret explains how willful blindness is driven by our theories of the world and how this impacts our ability to take in data that challenges our ideas
• [11:40] - Margaret offers some tips for nudging leaders out of their willful blindness so they can appreciate the importance of their people's wellbeing
• [13:38] - Margaret shares why and how institutionalizing dissent in workplaces can help to lower levels of willful blindness for ourselves and others
• [15:55] - Margaret explains how we can improve our ability in workplaces for "scrapping" as we learn to navigate conflict in healthy ways with each other
• [19:24] - Margret offers some tips for improving social capital in busy workplaces and the impact it can have on the bottom line in workplaces
• [22:41] - Margaret completes the Lightning round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook

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 Margaret!

As Professor Emerita of Management at California State University East Bay, Loretta's research explores how people can discover their power over their mammalian operating system(laughs). The author of several books, including her newest one Tame Your Anxiety which is being released shortly, she has shared her research and talks all over the world

In today's episode, we explore, how we can tame the anxiety our mammalian brains when facing challenges at work.

Connect with Loretta Breuning:

• https://innermammalinstitute.org/

• [02:15] - Loretta explains how anxiety can impact us neurologically at work when we're facing challenges.
• [05:13] - Loretta explores why we might have become too anxious about being anxious at work.
• [06:43] - Loretta outlines how rewards can create a treadmill system for behaviors that can make us feel more anxious at work.
• [09:39] - Loretta explains how we can prepare ourselves to better navigate our feelings of anxiety at work.
• [14:31] - Loretta shares a tool she has created to encrypt self-soothing to help manage the anxiety that can come with learning in workplaces.
• [16:50] - Loretta offers some simple suggestions to help others tame their anxiety at work.
• [21:25] - Loretta outlines some of the pitfalls for taming anxiety in workplaces.
• [225:30] - Loretta completes the Lightning round.

• Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes by Frans De Waal

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 Lorettaa!

Today we're talking to Wayne Baker, who's a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and faculty director of the Centre for Positive Organisations. Wayne's teaching and research focuses on social capital, social networks, generosity, positive organizational scholarship, and values. And his latest book is Permission to Ask, which is coming out in 2020. He's also a founder and board member of Give and Take Inc., developers of the Givitas collaborative technology platform.

In this week's episode, we explore how individual and organizational levels of energy impact our performance and wellbeing, and the small steps we can take to boost, maintain, and our renew our energy levels at work.

Connect with Wayne Baker:

• waynebaker.org

• [03:06] - Wayne explains how emotional energy, relational energy, and organizational energy can impact our wellbeing and performance at work.
• [06:41] - Wayne shares what he and other researchers are finding about the benefits of intentionally managing our emotional, relational, and organization energy in workplaces.
• [08:34] - Wayne provides some examples of how workplaces are intentionally creating strategies to manage people's energy at work.
• [11:26] - Wayne explains how we can help people understand that unlike machines our energy ebbs and flows during a day, and the small things they can do to maintain higher levels of energy.
• [13:53] - Wayne outlines how psychological safety and the willingness to ask for help shape the levels of organizational energy a workplace experiences.
• [17:44] - Wayne shares why leaders often find looking after the energy of their organization so challenging.
• [19:36] - Wayne offers for some tips for leaders to embed behaviors that help people to renew and sustain their energy in their workplaces.
• [22:09] - Wayne explains how we can maintain our energy wisely, so we avoid burning ourselves or others out at work.
• [23:06] - Wayne completes the Lightning round.

• https://giveandtakeinc.com/

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 Wayne!

Today we're talking to Michelle Etheve, who specializes in enabling people to create purposeful, strength-based change. With a Master's of Science in Coaching Psychology from the University of Sydney, post-graduate studies in Positive Psychology and Education, and experience utilising human centred design and appreciative inquiry, Michelle is sought around the world for her ability to create and deliver highly engaging learning and positive change experiences that enable people and teams to thrive.

In this episode, we explore how you can create more positive changes in your workplace by creating a coaching culture that supports continuous learning. We also explore where and why organizational changes often come unstuck.

Connect with Michelle Etheve:

• The Change Lab

• [02:26] - Michelle explains how new research has found that organizational approaches to change can improve people's wellbeing and create a virtuous cycle
• [04:01] - Michelle provides a practical example of how one company is fusing wellbeing and changes approaches together as they deliver business outcomes
• [08:09] - Michelle offers some tips for leaders to have more inclusive and meaningful conversations that invite people to take ownership of the changes that need to be created
• [12:12] - Michelle shares some simple questions to help us support continuous learning as changes are implemented in our workplaces
• [17:20] - Michelle shares an antidote to the "I'm too busy" stories that often bring change unstuck in workplaces
• [18:46] - Michelle completes the Lightning round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Teaming by Amy Edmonson

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 Michelle!

Today we're talking to Jon Berghoff, who is the co-founder and managing partner of the Flourishing Leadership Institute, and has designed and facilitated whole system change efforts through large group collaborative summits for the U.S. Navy, the United Nations, BMW and businesses and institutions of all sizes. Known for bringing out the "group genius" in high stakes, complex environments, with speed, ease, and playfulness, Jon is sought around the world for his ability to create powerful learning experiences around Appreciative Leadership, Emotionally Intelligent Negotiations, and Influence.

In this episode, Jon shares the insights from the new Change Lab 2019 Workplace Survey including why the quantity of change is not the real challenge workplaces face when it comes to supporting people's wellbeing.

Connect with Jon Berghoff:

• https://www.lead2flourish.com/

• [02:42] - Jon shares what The Change Lab 2019 Workplace Survey found when it comes to creating successful changes that support people's wellbeing at work
• [05:18] - Jon outlines why it is the quality of change experiences, not the quantity of change experiences that are burning people out in workplaces
• [08:58] - Jon shares why having a clear organizational purpose has such an impact on creating successful changes in workplaces
• [11:28] - Jon shares the three questions any workplace can use to help make changes more personally meaningful for workers
• [14:07] - Jon outlines the six strengths-focused questions that workplaces can ask to make change more successful
• [19:05] - Jon explains why 40% of workers might still believe that fixing weaknesses in their workplace is the best way to create successful changes
• [20:56] - Jon shares how organizations can use an invite-and-inquire approach to creating change to drive more ownership and accountability for action
• [24:56] - Jon outlines how the virtuous cycle between successful change and wellbeing in workplaces works and what we can do to harness it
• [28:56] - Jon completes the Lightning round.

• MPPW Podcast on Facebook
• Conversations Worth Having by Jacqueline Stavros & Cheri Torres
• Follow Your Different Podcast Episode 207 - Future Hacking w/ Bix & Joe Bickson

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 Jon!