The Indigo Podcast

Is the boss always watching you? With the proliferation of employee monitoring technologies, it's becoming increasingly likely. But employee surveillance--electronic or otherwise--must be handled with care. In this episode, we discuss:

• What is employee surveillance
• Forms and negative reactions to employee surveillance
• Implications for people, leaders and organizations

Links and Other Information

• News about H&M and employee surveillance: BBC and NY Post
• Yost, A. B., Behrend, T. S., Howardson, G., Darrow, J. B., & Jensen, J. M. (2019). Reactance to electronic surveillance: A test of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Business and Psychology, 34(1), 71-86. Click here

What is humor? Why does it matter with regard to the workplace? How can it help organizations and leaders? In this episode, we talk with comedian and speaker David Horning about the changing nature of work and how humor fits into it all. Specifically, we discuss:

• The work landscape
• Why humor helps
• How to--how NOT to--incorporate humor into the workplace and leadership

Links and Other Information

• David Horning's website
• David's organization, Water Cooler Comedy
• David's podcast, You Can't Laugh at That
• David on Twitter
• Avolio, B. J., Howell, J. M., & Sosik, J. J. (1999). A funny thing happened on the way to the bottom line: Humor as a moderator of leadership style effects. Academy of Management Journal, 42(2), 219-227. Click here
• Pundt, A., & Venz, L. (2017). Personal need for structure as a boundary condition for humor in leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(1), 87-107. Click here
• Huo, Y., Lam, W., & Chen, Z. (2012). Am I the only one this supervisor is laughing at? Effects of aggressive humor on employee strain and addictive behaviors. Personnel Psychology, 65(4), 859-885. Click here

Dealing with bad news is a fundamental part of being a leader or a manager. Focusing on how to deal with bad news within the organization, we discuss the research on delivering bad news and distill some actionable insights. Specifically, we explore:

• How sharing bad news is hard and painful, but it's necessary
• Why and how fairness matters with regard to sharing bad news
• Implications for people, leaders, and organizations

Links and Other Information

• Bies, R. J. (2013). The delivery of bad news in organizations: A framework for analysis. Journal of Management, 39(1), 136-162. Click here
• Lavelle, J. J., Folger, R., & Manegold, J. G. (2016). Delivering bad news: How procedural unfairness affects messengers' distancing and refusals. Journal of Business Ethics, 136(1), 43-55. Click here
• Firing via Zoom: At the scooter-sharing startup Bird and at WW International Inc.

What is talent management, anyway? And what does it have to do with how the workplace is changing? We explore these questions and more in this phenomenal episode with Marisa Carson, Ph.D. Specifically, we discuss:

• How an organizational psychologist ended up working in talent management
• How the workplace is changing amid COVID and other social shifts
• Implications for talent management in the future

Links and Other Information

• Related episode: Enrica Ruggs on Race, Organizations, and the Role of Leaders

Training at work is often terrible--but it doesn't have to be. In this episode, we unpack some of the basic--yet essential--ideas behind creating training that has a real and sustained impact. Specifically, we address:

• What is training and why does it matter
• Ways to design training so that it helps people learn
• Key takeaways for people, leaders, organizations

Links and Other Information

• Association for Talent Development: website and state of the industry
• The International Society for Performance Improvement: website
• The Thiagi Group: games and other training-related resources
• Aguinis, H., & Kraiger, K. (2009). Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organizations, and society. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 451-474. Click here

Being ostracized is painful, regardless of whether it occurs in our non-work or work lives. We explore workplace ostracism in this episode with Josh Cogswell, an assistant professor of management at Nicholls State University who recently published a meta-analysis on workplace ostracism in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Specifically, we discuss:

• What is ostracism and why does it matter in the workplace
• Outcomes of ostracism
• What leads to ostracism and implications for people, leaders, and organizations

Links and Other Information

• Josh Cogswell: LinkedIn or at the Nicholls State University College of Business Administration
• Howard, M. C., Cogswell, J. E., & Smith, M. B. (2019). The antecedents and outcomes of workplace ostracism: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology. Click here

To develop as a leader, stretch assignments or "crucibles" are critical. We discuss in more detail, using Mormon missionary experiences and the Hells Angels motorcycle runs as examples. Specifically, we explore:

• Why people need "crucibles" to grow and develop
• What is a stretch assignment
• Implications for people, leaders, and organizations

Links and Other Information

• Thomas, R. J. (2008). Crucibles of leadership development. MIT Sloan Management Review, 49(3), 15. Click here
• Fernández-Aráoz, C. 21st-Century Talent Spotting. Harvard Business Review.
• Yost, P. R., & Plunkett, M. M. (2009). Real Time Leadership Development (Vol. 7). John Wiley & Sons. Click here

Dave Schramm is a no-kidding family and relationships scholar--but he also does tremendous work bringing that research-based knowledge to the general public. He's an expert on what makes good relationships and good families, and he has great ideas on how those concepts can apply in the workplace. In this episode, we discuss:

• Promoting happy and healthy relationships
• The marriage and family help landscape and Dave's assessment of it
• How families and organizations can benefit from this field of knowledge

Links and Other Information

• Dave's website: https://www.drdavespeaks.com/
• Dave on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDaveUSU/
• The Gottman Institute: https://www.gottman.com/
• VIA Character Strengths: free assessment
• Related episode: Clayton Christensen--How Will You Measure Your Life

Drawing upon decades of research, we describe what science suggests regarding how leaders actually develop. Specifically, we explore:

• What is leader development and why does it matter
• What do we know about leader development and how does it happen
• Implications for people and organizations

Links and Other Information

• McCall Jr, M. W. (2010). Recasting leadership development. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 3(1), 3-19. Click here

• Day, D. V., Fleenor, J. W., Atwater, L. E., Sturm, R. E., & McKee, R. A. (2014). Advances in leader and leadership development: A review of 25 years of research and theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 63-82. Click here

• Related episodes: Mentoring, Managers as Coaches, Creating a Feedback Culture

Justin Trudeau, Jair Bolsonaro, Angela Merkel: three distinct leaders with three distinct approaches toward the COVID pandemic. We unpack their charismatic, ideological, and pragmatic approaches with Matt Crayne of the University at Albany and Kelsey Medeiros of the University of Nebraska Omaha. Specifically, we discuss:

• Three ways to think about leadership
• Profiles of three world leaders during COVID
• Implications for people and organizations

Links and Other Information

• Matt Crayne: website and Twitter
• Kelsey Medeiros: website, ethics consulting firm, and Twitter
• Crayne, M. P., & Medeiros, K. E. 2020. Making Sense of Crisis: Charismatic, Ideological, and Pragmatic Leadership in Response to COVID-19. The American Psychologist. Click here
• Baran, B. E., & Scott, C. W. (2010). Organizing ambiguity: A grounded theory of leadership and sensemaking within dangerous contexts. Military Psychology. Click here
• Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy: video
• Managing the Unexpected: book