The Connection Effect with Bill Groner

What if the most powerful act of connection takes only forty seconds?

In this episode of The Connection Effect, Bill Groner sits down with Dr. Jane Dutton — professor emerita at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and co-founder of the field of positive organizational scholarship — who spent decades studying something most of us have felt but never had words for: the micro-moment of human connection that leaves both people more alive.

Jane co-coined the term high-quality connection, or HQC, to describe these brief, spontaneous interactions defined by three qualities: positive regard, mutuality, and vitality. An HQC can last seconds. It can happen in a grocery line, a hospital room, or a role-play in a classroom. And research shows its effects can be measurable weeks and even months later.

In this conversation, Bill and Jane explore what an HQC actually is and how to recognize one, the four pathways for building more of them — in organizations, classrooms, and everyday life — and why Jane believes this work may be, in her words, life-saving for the planet.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-dutton-2212484/
• Faculty page: https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/faculty/jane-dutton
• Books: Energize Your Workplace; Awakening Compassion at Work; Positive Organizational Scholarship; How to be a Positive Leader
• Center for Positive Organizations

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

00:00 Introduction to Connection

01:07 Meet Dr Jane Dutton

02:44 What is an HQC

05:38 Bill's Birth Moment

07:55 Three Qualities of HQCs

16:00 HQCs in Organizations

21:34 Four Pathways to Connection

31:04 The Billing Department Story

34:35 HQCs in the Classroom

38:42 The 20 Second Exercise

41:11 Broaden and Build Theory

44:23 Personal Application and Habits

49:08 Hope for the Future

52:04 Closing Reflections

In this aftershow episode of The Connection Effect, host Bill Groner reflects on his recent conversation with Josh Howard. Bill is joined by Harry Hofer (Executive Coach), Dee Sullivan (Marketing Director), and Laura Onelio (Internal Family Systems practitioner).

While the main episode made a case for the positive potential of social media, this conversation gets personal and honest. Each member of the group arrives with their own complicated relationship to the platforms they use every day, and together they work through what Josh's research actually means for how they scroll, post, and connect.

Together, the group explores:

• Whether social media does more harm or good — and how listening to Josh shifted more than one person's default answer
• How the five elements of PERMA show up in real, everyday social media use — from memes becoming inside jokes to a Facebook group that rebuilt a sense of hometown community
• The fine line between doom scrolling and gratitude scrolling, and what it actually looks like to cross it on purpose

The conversation closes with a line from Josh that Bill carried into the aftershow: "Social media is a tool, and a tool is only as good as the intention we bring to it." This group spent the conversation proving exactly why that's easier said than done — and worth trying anyway.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

00:43 How Bill Knows Josh

01:19 Is Social Media Good

07:02 Which Platforms We Use

09:59 PERMA and Wellbeing

13:42 Relationships and Community

18:40 Gratitude vs Doomscrolling

22:11 Comparison and Reality Filters

28:58 Dopamine and Time Limits

34:52 Social Media Not Real Life

42:08 New Intentions and Wrap Up

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack

• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

What if social media isn't the problem — it's how we're using it?

In this episode of The Connection Effect, Bill Groner sits down with Josh Howard, social media strategist, LSU adjunct professor, and MAPP alumnus, whose research makes a case you don't hear often enough: that social media, used with intention, can be a genuine tool for human flourishing.

Drawing from his MAPP capstone on social media and well-being, Josh applies Seligman's PERMA framework to our digital lives — exploring how platforms we scroll through every day can foster real relationships, deepen meaning, build a sense of belonging, and even spark joy. His argument isn't that the dangers aren't real. It's that the conversation has been lopsided, and the possibilities largely ignored.

Josh offers a simple reframe to take with you: turn doom scrolling into gratitude scrolling. Because there's another human on the other side of that screen — and how we show up online matters more than we think.

• Website: https://www.joshwhoward.com/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/joshwhoward
• Instagram: @joshwhoward https://www.instagram.com/joshwhoward/?hl=en
• X (Formerly known as Twitter): @joshwhoward https://x.com/joshwhoward

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

00:00 Welcome and Setup

01:34 Josh's Positive Psych Origin

02:44 Why Study Social Media

04:37 Capstone Goals and Hunch

05:53 Anxious Generation Debate

06:47 Contrarian Gray Thinking

07:31 Personal Social Media Habits

09:19 Flourishing Thesis Overview

10:29 PERMA Relationships Power

13:57 Meaning and Online Faith

15:23 Mattering Through Culture

18:11 Belonging and Campus Life

18:47 Belonging Through Social

19:34 Achievement Online Stories

21:14 Positive Emotions Gratitude

23:32 Boundaries and Filters

26:36 Three Tips To Flourish

28:31 How Social Changed Josh

32:31 Hope Belief For Humanity

35:27 Host Wrap Key Takeaways

In this aftershow episode of The Connection Effect, host Bill Groner reflects on his recent conversation with Dr. Lawrence Edwards. Bill is joined by three of his classmates from the University of Pennsylvania Master of Applied Positive Psychology program: Harry Hofer (Executive Coach), Gaia Uman Borrero (Operations Manager), and Sahar Emambakhsh (Director of Operations and External Affairs, PCI).

While the main episode explored the science and philosophy of meditation — from mindfulness as a starting point to the deeper meditative state — this conversation brings it home to the everyday barriers, personal struggles, and small commitments that make a practice real.

Together, the group explores the honest challenges:

• What actually pulls our awareness away throughout the day, and whether we even notice when it happens
• The difference between awareness and consciousness, and why that distinction changes how we meet our emotions
• Whether a regular meditation practice is something we build proactively, or only reach for when we're already struggling

In this aftershow, we reflect on:

• The light and the room: Lawrence's metaphor for awareness versus the contents of the mind
• How Susan David's emotional agility framework connects to what Lawrence taught
• The gap between knowing these tools and remembering to use them in a heated moment
• A 20-day meditation challenge the group commits to, live on air

This conversation closes with a memory: a sunrise on a Miami beach, the four of them meditating together years before this podcast existed. It's a quiet reminder that connection and practice have a way of finding each other.

00:00 After Show Kickoff

01:24 Meeting Laurence Edwards

03:32 Mindfulness Versus Meditation

05:24 Everyday Distractions

11:32 How Mindful Should We Be

16:22 Awareness Light Metaphor

22:07 Uncle Charlie Hypothetical

31:52 Training The Breath

34:24 Can Society Transform

41:54 Boundless Love Takeaways

43:20 Commitments And Closing

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

What if the thoughts and feelings flooding your mind aren't actually who you are?

In this episode of The Connection Effect, Bill Groner sits down with Dr. Lawrence Edwards — retired licensed psychotherapist, Jungian therapist, board-certified neurofeedback therapist, and founder of Anam Cara Meditation — who has practiced and taught meditation for over 50 years. Drawing from both Western science and Eastern contemplative tradition, Edwards explains the critical difference between mindfulness and meditation, and why that distinction changes everything about how we practice.

• Website: thesoulsjourney.com
• Anam Cara Meditation on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AnamCaraMeditation
• Anam Cara Meditation: anamcara-ny.org
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-edwards-meditationdoctor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACMeditation/

Books (The Soul's Journey, Gently Falls Her Rain Of Light

• Collected by Kalidas, and more): https://www.thesoulsjourney.com/publications-old-too/

Resources From The Episode

• How to Connect by Thich Nhat Hanh (Book)

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

Topics of Discussion:

00:00 Welcome and Big Idea

01:35 Meet Dr Lawrence Edwards

03:32 Meditation vs Mindfulness

05:14 Mindfulness Basics

13:07 How Often to Practice

14:47 Benefits and Relaxation Response

19:13 Stress Triggers and Awareness

24:07 Preparing for Difficult People

29:43 Stress Floor and Resilience

33:25 Defining the Meditative State

37:58 Prison Meditation Transformation

41:34 Science Meets Spirituality

44:38 Hope and Accessibility

48:19 End of Show

50:31 Bonus Conversation Begins

The inner work doesn't end with us. It shapes how we show up for everyone around us.

In this second reflection episode of The Connection Effect, host Bill Groner and co-host Sahar Emambakhsh revisit moments from their early conversations with Mónica Guzmán, Scott Barry Kaufman, Todd Kashdan, and Andrew Sether — exploring what it actually takes to connect across difference, disagreement, and the assumptions we carry into every conversation.

This is the second of two reflection episodes. The first explored the inner conditions for flourishing. This one turns outward.

• Mónica Guzmán — journalist and bridge-builder
• Scott Barry Kaufman — psychologist, researcher, and author
• Todd Kashdan — curiosity researcher and professor
• Andrew Sether — peak performance expert

00:00 Intro

01:25 Assumptions Before Talk

05:05 Not Enough Nuance

08:03 Cross Aisle Friendship Story

10:35 Set Conversation Intentions

14:27 Acknowledge Pain Not Agree

19:05 Friendships Beyond Ideology

25:41 Regulate Stressful States

29:24 Takeaways

31:04 Closing and Next Steps

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack: connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

Before we can connect well with others, we have to build a better relationship with ourselves.

In this first reflection episode of The Connection Effect, host Bill Groner and co-host Sahar Emambakhsh revisit the most resonant moments from the show's early conversations — with Andrew Sether, Scott Barry Kaufman, Todd Kashdan, Fred Luskin, and Mónica Guzmán — and trace a thread that runs through all of them: a progression, almost like a map, of what it takes to truly connect to ourselves.

This episode is the first of two reflection episodes. Next time, we turn outward — to the relational conditions for connection.

• Andrew Sether — peak performance expert
• Scott Barry Kaufman — psychologist, researcher, and author
• Todd Kashdan — curiosity researcher and professor
• Fred Luskin — founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project
• Mónica Guzmán — journalist and bridge-builder

• Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to The Connection Effect

02:06 What is Flourishing?

02:34 Andrew Sether - Breathwork

10:46 Scott Barry Kaufman - North Star

19:19 Todd Kashdan - Curiosity

27:53 Fred Luskin - Adversity

38:49 Monica Guzman / One Last Reflection

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack: connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

In this aftershow episode of The Connection Effect, host Bill Groner reflects on his recent conversation with peak performance expert Andrew Sether. Bill is joined by three of his classmates from the University of Pennsylvania Master of Applied Positive Psychology program: Harry Hofer (Executive Coach), Gaia Uman Borrero (Operations Manager), and Niels Gott, Leadership Transformation Architect).

While the main episode explored the science of stress and performance through elite athletics, this conversation brings it home — to the everyday moments where we all need to show up at our best, and what gets in the way.

Together, we explore the real challenges:

• The quiet accumulation of stress throughout the day, and how it shapes our decisions and interactions
• The gap between knowing these tools and actually remembering to use them in the moment
• What it means to truly resource yourself, and why that question changes everything

In this aftershow, we reflect on:

• How breathwork and mindfulness complement each other — and why they're not the same thing
• What HRV actually means, in plain language, and why it matters for everyday wellbeing
• The difference between a threat response and a challenge response — and how a simple mindset shift can change your performance
• Why stress leaves imprints on the body, and what we can do about it
• The personal mantras each of us can reach for when the mental chatter gets too loud

This conversation is a reminder that peak performance isn't reserved for athletes. It begins with awareness — of your body, your breath, and the thoughts you choose to follow.

00:00 After Show Setup

00:48 How Bill Met Andrew

01:48 Peak Performance Takeaways

03:11 Everyday Performances

08:15 Stress Awareness Tools

09:00 Resourcing and Mindful Leadership

13:12 Mindfulness Versus Breathwork

16:03 Breathwork Skeptics

19:52 Why Deep Breaths Work

22:21 Introducing HRV Basics

23:08 Wearables and HRV Basics

23:35 HRV Flexibility Explained

25:19 Alcohol and HRV Resilience

26:43 Professional Testing and Benchmarks

30:14 Physiology Before Decisions

32:42 Stress Imprints and Sleep

35:21 Stopping Negative Self Talk

36:58 Challenge Response and Performance

38:54 One Thought Forward Mantras

42:37 Closing Thanks and Community

• stress.org
• The Yerkes-Dodson Law of Arousal and Performance

Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack

Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

What if peak performance wasn't just for elite athletes, but for all of us, every day?

In this episode of The Connection Effect, Bill Groner sits down with Andrew Sether, a peak performance expert whose clients include professional athletes across the NFL, NBA, MLB, and PGA Tour. But this conversation moves quickly beyond sports.

Andrew's core insight is both humbling and hopeful: what separates athletes who perform under pressure from those who fall apart is almost entirely mental — and that mental performance is rooted in physiology. Stress and "busy brain" accumulate quietly through the day, and if we don't know how to reset, that buildup shapes everything that follows, including our ability to think clearly, connect with others, and show up at our best.

The good news is that we have a brake pedal. Through breathwork, nervous system awareness, and practical tools for managing negative self-talk, Andrew shows how anyone can learn to regulate their internal state at work, in difficult conversations, and in everyday life.

Because performance starts with connection to self. And sometimes, it begins with just one breath.

00:00 Connection Effect Intro

03:45 Meet Andrew Sether

04:01 Defining Peak Performance

05:44 Everyone Is Performing

10:38 Physiology Drives Thoughts

12:28 Golf Example Under Pressure

16:26 HRV And Resilience Explained

18:49 Parasympathetic Brake Pedal

19:50 Breathwork Technique Walkthrough

22:09 Diaphragm Breathing Reset

22:53 One Breath Technique

24:10 Stopping Negative Self Talk

26:29 Postgame Recovery Sleep

28:24 Everyday Stress Examples

29:18 Speech Nerves Mantras

33:33 Daily Breathwork Habit

35:30 Handling Heated Disagreements

38:02 Track HRV With Wearables

40:20 Stories Real World Results

42:18 Final Takeaways And Next Steps

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewsether/

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]

Curiosity isn't just a conversation skill. It's a way of orienting your life.

In this aftershow of The Connection Effect, host Bill Groner reunites with MAPP classmates Harry Hofer (Executive Coach), Noah Adams (Strategy & Operations Manager at McMaster-Carr), and Sonya Looney (World Champion Athlete and Performance Coach) to reflect on his conversation with Todd Kashdan — and what it actually means to live curiously.

What started as a discussion about dialogue and connection quickly expands into something bigger: how curiosity generates energy, dissolves judgment, sustains relationships, and can serve as a North Star for how we move through the world.

The conversation is warm, personal, and grounded — each participant bringing their own story to the themes Todd raised, from Argentine tango to powerlifting to pickleball to shower singing.

In this aftershow, we explore:

• Why curiosity is more than asking questions — and what joyous exploration actually looks like in practice
• How uncertainty anxiety keeps us from leaning in, and tools for moving through it
• The relationship between curiosity and energy: why a curious brain may actually renew itself
• Why judgment and curiosity can't coexist — and what changes when you remove evaluation from the equation
• When not to push curiosity in a difficult conversation — and why the relationship itself is sometimes the point
• How clarifying your intention before a hard conversation changes everything that follows

Bill closes with the same question he posed to Todd: Where are you leaning away from something unfamiliar — and what might happen if you leaned in?

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:02 Why Todd and Curiosity

03:44 Curiosity Beyond Questions

05:45 Joyous Exploration Stories

08:41 Uncertainty and Anxiety

14:24 Curiosity as a North Star

16:52 Energy and Brain Vitality

20:12 Judgment Free Curiosity

27:07 Curiosity in Conflict

33:17 Lean In Challenge

38:03 Closing and Community Invite

• Join the community and conversation on The Connection Effect Substack connection.net/substack
• Questions? Guest inquiries? Email: [email protected]