Ways to Change the Workplace with Prina Shah

What if rest is not a reward for finishing work, but part of what makes good work possible? Prina Shah speaks with Penelope Barr about sleep, energy, work design and letting go of exhaustion as a badge of honour.

In this episode of Ways to Change The Workplace Podcast, Prina Shah talks with Penelope Barr about the relationship between sleep, energy and the quality of our work. Penelope shares how a poor night's sleep can affect concentration, patience, creativity and the way we interpret other people.

They discuss why workplaces often organise around time while overlooking energy, how teams can map when people do their best thinking, and why breaks and transitions matter during demanding days. Penelope also explains her 6-3-3 approach: six months of paid work, three months to create and three months to rejuvenate.

The conversation challenges the idea that exhaustion proves commitment. Rest can support clearer thinking and better work. Penelope suggests asking, “What is the work I can do today that matters?” and noticing whether an activity is restoring you.

Listen for practical ideas including an energy audit, protecting time for deep work, taking a short walk or pause between meetings, and experimenting with rest in ways that suit you.

Connect with Penelope: https://www.linkedin.com/in/penelopebarr/

What is one small change that would help you protect your energy at work this week?

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
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• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
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• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

Tiny Culture Change Series - The Most Dangerous Words in Workplace Culture

"That's just how we do things around here."

Six words that can quietly kill curiosity, discourage improvement and keep outdated workplace practices alive.

In this week's Tiny Culture Change, Prina Shah challenges leaders to replace this familiar phrase with one simple question:

"Is this still working for us?"

It's a small shift in language that can open the door to better processes, more effective ways of working and a culture where people feel empowered to question the status quo.

Rather than redesigning everything, Prina encourages leaders to identify one process, report or workplace habit that has passed its use-by date and invite the people closest to the work to improve it.

In this episode:

• Why "that's how we've always done it" can discourage curiosity.
• How leaders can challenge established practices without dismissing what works.
• Why the people closest to the work should help shape improvements.
• How one question can encourage continuous improvement.
• Why tradition should never outrun usefulness.

Your tiny culture change this week:

The next time someone says, "That's just how we do it around here," ask:

"Is this still working for us?"

If it is, keep doing it.

If it isn't, ask what could make it easier, better or more useful.

Because cultures stagnate when tradition outruns usefulness.

Listen to Ways to Change the Workplace for practical ideas to improve leadership, workplace culture and the way people work together.

Subscribe to Prina Shah's newsletter for more practical workplace culture and leadership insights.

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

We complain that there isn’t enough time to get the work done.

And then we fill our calendars with meetings that achieve very little.

In this short Tiny Culture Change episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah challenges leaders to make one deceptively simple change: cancel one recurring meeting that adds no real value — and don’t replace it.

Because time is one of your people’s most valuable resources.

And your calendar is your culture in pixels.

What does your organisation’s calendar say about what you really value? Focus and meaningful work? Or availability, busyness and back-to-back meetings?

Your Tiny Culture Change

Look at your calendar for the coming week.

Identify one recurring meeting that no longer has a clear purpose or creates genuine value.

Cancel it.

And tell people why:

“I’m cancelling this so that you can have focus time back. If we need to connect, we will do it with a clear purpose.”

Then comes the important part:

Don’t replace it with another meeting.

Protect the space.

When leaders demonstrate that they are willing to protect people’s attention rather than constantly consume it, they send a powerful message about the culture they want to create.

Reflection questions

• Which recurring meeting on your calendar has outlived its usefulness? 
• How much focus time does your team genuinely have each week? 
• Are meetings your default response when another form of communication would work better? 
• What does your calendar tell people about what your workplace truly values? 
• What could your people achieve if you gave them some of their attention back? 

Take the challenge

Cancel one unnecessary meeting this week.

Don’t replace it.

Give people their time back.

And see what happens.

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

What if your employees’ lack of trust isn’t a culture problem?

What if mistrust is actually a perfectly rational response to the workplace you’ve created?

In this solo episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, Prina Shah challenges one of the most common assumptions about workplace culture: that trust is something leaders need to build, demand or manufacture.

Instead, Prina argues that trust is an outcome.

Employees gather evidence every day about what happens when they take small interpersonal risks. Can they disagree with their manager? Admit they don't know? Ask for help? Raise bad news? Make a mistake? Challenge a decision?

Every interaction gives them information about whether doing those things is safe.

And they adjust their behaviour accordingly.

That means the more useful leadership question isn't:

"Why don't my people trust me?"

It's:

"What are they seeing that makes mistrust useful?"

Prina explores the relationship between trust, control, accountability, transparency and workplace systems — including why excessive monitoring can create a vicious cycle in which mistrust creates control, control signals mistrust, and mistrust grows.

She also explores why organisational memory matters, why trust is really tested in the aftermath of mistakes, and why making trust less dangerous and more reversible could help people take more interpersonal risks at work.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why trust isn't simply a feeling — it's a prediction
• The tiny interpersonal risks employees take every day
• Why demanding trust can actually increase suspicion
• How excessive monitoring can create a surveillance trap
• Why workplace systems reveal more about culture than values statements
• The difference between healthy trust and blind trust
• Why high trust and high accountability can coexist
• Why the real test of trust is what happens after something goes wrong
• How organisational memory shapes employees' willingness to trust
• Why mistrust isn't always cynicism — sometimes it's intelligent adaptation
• How inconsistency quietly destroys trust
• Why transparency and verification can strengthen rather than weaken trust
• How leaders can communicate uncertainty without undermining confidence
• Why making decisions reversible can make trust safer
• Five practical experiments leaders can use to examine trust in their workplace

The Trust Battery

Think of trust as a battery.

Every workplace interaction either adds a little charge or drains some away.

A manager promises to respond on Tuesday and doesn't? Drain.

Someone shares something confidential and you protect it? Charge.

Leadership asks for employee feedback but nobody ever hears what happened to it? Drain.

Someone challenges an idea and the leader responds, "That's useful. Tell me more." Charge.

Trust rarely arrives through one enormous gesture.

It grows — or disappears — through hundreds of seemingly insignificant moments.

A challenge for leaders

If people aren't speaking honestly, challenging decisions, asking for help or taking ownership, don't immediately assume you have an attitude or engagement problem.

Ask what your workplace has taught people.

Because sometimes what looks like disengagement is actually intelligent adaptation to the environment.

Five workplace trust experiments

1. Audit unnecessary proof.
Where are employees repeatedly required to prove they're working, sick, competent or trustworthy?

2. Watch what happens to bad news.
Pay particular attention to your first reaction when someone brings you a problem.

3. Separate mistakes from misconduct.
A genuine mistake, poor judgement and deliberate dishonesty are not the same thing.

4. Make uncertainty speakable.
Create room for leaders and employees to say, "I don't know," "I may be wrong," and "We need more information."

5. Ask the uncomfortable question.
What happens here that makes people cautious about trusting each other?

Then listen without explaining, defending or correcting.

Questions to reflect on

• What does your workplace make it rational for people to do?
• What happens when someone brings leaders bad news?
• What happens when somebody makes an honest mistake?
• Can people disagree with authority without damaging their career?
• Do your systems communicate trust — or suspicion?
• What promises have employees seen broken?
• Where has control become a substitute for relationships?
• What would make trusting someone less dangerous in your workplace?
• And perhaps most importantly: what are your people seeing that makes mistrust useful?

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

In this episode of Ways to Change The Workplace, Prina Shah sits down with Petra Zink to unpack a concept most leaders talk about - but few truly understand: trust as a measurable return on investment.

Petra challenges the idea that trust is just a “nice-to-have” and instead reframes it as a strategic, compounding asset that directly impacts decision-making, influence, and commercial outcomes.

Together, they explore why so many leaders remain “best kept secrets,” how trust is built (and broken) across different levels, and why the real work starts with trusting yourself first.

This conversation goes deep into leadership behaviour, decision-making under uncertainty, and what it actually takes to become a trusted authority in today’s workplace.

Connect with Petra
• LinkedIn
• Website
• Book: Return on Investment of Trust

In this episode, we discuss:

•Why trust should be treated as a return on investment, not a soft skill
•The Trust Stack: individual → team → cross-functional → organisational → industry
•Why leaders struggle with decision-making in uncertain environments
•How low trust shows up as indecision, delays, and bottlenecks
•The concept of on-the-go credibility (and why polished posts no longer cut it)
•Why we’ve outsourced trust to titles, credentials, and institutions
•The impact of predictability vs perfection in leadership
•How silos, incentives, and “job hugging” erode trust internally
•The authority cliff: why technical experts struggle when promoted to leadership
•The four types of leadership:

• People leadership
• Project leadership
• Change leadership
• Thought leadership

•What breaks trust fastest: unkept promises
•How to rebuild trust through consistency and over-delivery

Key Insight
“Predictability is more important than perfection.
People don’t need you to be right every time — they need to know how you think and how you’ll respond.”

Reflection Questions
•Where are you outsourcing trust instead of building it internally?
•What decisions are being delayed because no one wants accountability?
•Are your values truly non-negotiable — or only when convenient?
•Where might you need to show more of your process, not just your outcomes?
•What is one promise you’ve made that needs to be followed through?

About the Guest
Petra Zink works with leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs to systemise their intellectual property and position themselves as trusted authorities.
She is the creator of the Trusted Authority Framework and is currently writing her second book focused on the Return on Investment of Trust.
Petra helps professionals move from being overlooked to becoming the go-to voice in their industry by building credibility, clarity, and influence.

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

Tiny Culture Change: Say Thank You in Detail

“Thanks, team” is nice. But it’s also easy for people to tune out.

In this short episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah shares a tiny culture change leaders can put into practice immediately: make your thank you specific.

Instead of offering generic praise, name three things:

• The behaviour — what did the person actually do? 
• The effort — what did it require from them? 
• The impact — what difference did their actions make? 

For example:

“Thank you for staying calm with that difficult client, for protecting the rest of the team’s focus, and for documenting everything so clearly afterwards.”

Why does this matter?

Because specific gratitude does more than make someone feel appreciated. It shows people exactly what good looks like.

When leaders recognise the behaviours, effort and impact they want to see more of, they reinforce those behaviours and make workplace expectations clearer.

And unlike another engagement initiative or survey, this culture change costs nothing and can start today.

Try this today

Think of one person you need to thank.

Don’t stop at “great job” or “thanks for your help”.

Tell them specifically what they did, the effort you noticed, and the impact it had.

That’s your tiny culture change for this week.

Reflection question

When was the last time someone thanked you specifically enough that you knew exactly what they valued about your contribution?

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

Loneliness is one of the most overlooked challenges facing today's workplaces.

In this solo episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, Prina Shah explores the hidden reality of workplace loneliness and why it affects everyone-from graduates to CEOs.

Despite constant communication, many people have never felt more disconnected. Surrounded by colleagues, sitting in packed meetings, or spending the day on Zoom doesn't necessarily create genuine connection.

Drawing on research from Dr Vivek Murthy, Brené Brown, Amy Edmondson and Gallup, Prina unpacks why belonging, psychological safety and authentic relationships are no longer "nice to have"-they are essential for healthy workplaces, effective leadership and sustainable performance.

This episode challenges leaders and employees alike to rethink what connection really looks like and offers practical ways to create workplaces where people feel seen, heard and valued.

In this episode we discuss

•Why loneliness is different from simply being alone

•The hidden loneliness experienced by leaders

•How remote work can increase isolation despite constant communication

•The difference between fitting in and truly belonging

•Why psychological safety reduces loneliness

•What Gallup discovered about having a best friend at work

•Practical ways to create genuine connection every day

•Why small conversations often matter more than formal team-building

•The leadership behaviours that build belonging

Reflection Questions

•When was the last time you genuinely connected with someone at work?

•Do people know the real you, or only your professional armour?

•What conversations are you avoiding because they feel uncomfortable?

•How psychologically safe does your workplace really feel?

•Who in your workplace might quietly be feeling invisible?

•What one action could you take this week to help someone feel they belong?

Resources Mentioned
•Dr Vivek Murthy - Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection
•Brené Brown - Research on Belonging and Vulnerability
•Amy Edmondson - Psychological Safety
•Gallup Workplace Research

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

What if the most important relationship you'll ever build isn't with your partner, your colleagues or your team—but with yourself?

In this episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, Prina Shah sits down with psychologist, workplace wellbeing expert and author Dr Marny Lishman for a deeply honest conversation about one of the most overlooked workplace skills: self-awareness.

Drawing on her latest book, Only You, Marny challenges the common belief that being alone automatically means being lonely. Instead, she explores how periods of solitude can become powerful opportunities for growth, emotional agility and personal transformation.

Together, Prina and Marny discuss why so many high-performing professionals stay busy to avoid themselves, how uncomfortable emotions can become valuable data rather than something to suppress, and why learning to understand yourself ultimately makes you a better leader, colleague and human being.

This conversation is a reminder that before we can lead others, influence culture or change workplaces, we must first understand the person doing the work.

After all...

You are the greatest project you will ever work on.

In this episode we discuss

• Why you are the greatest project you'll ever work on 
• The difference between solitude and loneliness 
• Why busy professionals often avoid self-reflection 
• Emotional agility as an essential workplace skill 
• Listening to your emotions instead of distracting yourself 
• Why uncomfortable emotions contain valuable information 
• The importance of metacognition and observing your own thinking 
• How self-awareness improves leadership and workplace performance 
• Practical ways to reconnect with yourself 
• Why connection with yourself strengthens your connection with others 
• Building resilience before life forces you to slow down 
• Why emotional agility should be taught in every workplace 

Reflection Questions

• What part of yourself have you been too busy to listen to? 
• What discomfort have you been trying to outrun? 
• If your emotions are data, what are they trying to tell you? 
• Are you leading your life—or reacting to it? 
• What would change if you invested in yourself the same way you invest in your career? 
• How can you create more intentional moments of reflection each week? 

About Dr Marny Lishman

Dr Marny Lishman is a psychologist, workplace wellbeing expert, keynote speaker and author who helps individuals, leaders and organisations improve mental health, resilience and performance.

Her work focuses on supporting the person behind the professional—helping busy people better understand stress, anxiety, burnout and emotional wellbeing while building healthier and more sustainable lives and careers.

Her latest book, Only You, explores how learning to embrace solitude can become a catalyst for greater self-awareness, emotional wellbeing and meaningful connection.

Connect with Dr Marny Lishman

• Website
• LinkedIn

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

Tiny Culture Change: Share a Win That Isn't Yours

Leadership isn't just about what you achieve. It's about who you lift along the way.

In this short episode of Ways to Change The Workplace, Prina Shah shares one simple leadership habit that has a surprisingly powerful impact on workplace culture.

When someone praises your work, resist the temptation to quietly accept all the credit. Instead, intentionally shine the spotlight on someone else who helped make the outcome possible.

Recognition isn't a limited resource. In fact, the more generously it is shared, the stronger your culture becomes.

This tiny culture change demonstrates humility, builds trust, and creates an environment where people know their contributions are noticed and valued.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why redirecting praise is a sign of confident leadership, not weakness.
• How shared recognition strengthens workplace culture.
• Why people perform better when they know their efforts are seen.
• A simple script you can use the next time someone congratulates you.
• How leaders create cultures where success is celebrated collectively.

Reflection Questions

• When was the last time you deliberately redirected praise to someone else?
• Do the people around you regularly receive recognition for the work they do?
• How could sharing credit more often change the culture of your team?

Key Takeaway

Recognition grows when it is shared.

Leaders who openly acknowledge the contribution of others create workplaces built on trust, generosity and collaboration rather than ego.

If this episode resonated with you, share it with another leader who believes workplace culture is built through everyday actions.

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah

What if we've been thinking about work all wrong?

We often believe that what we give our employer is our knowledge, our expertise, our creativity or our effort. But beneath all of those lies something even more valuable.

Our time.

In this reflective solo episode of Ways to Change The Workplace, Prina Shah explores why time - not talent - is the true currency of work. Every working day, we exchange irreplaceable moments of our lives with our organisations. The question is whether those moments are honoured or quietly wasted.

Drawing on powerful analogies, personal reflections and practical leadership insights, Prina challenges leaders to rethink meetings, bureaucracy, workplace culture and the hidden responsibility that comes with asking people to spend part of their lives at work.

This isn't an episode about productivity.

It's an episode about stewardship.

Because every workplace is borrowing something it can never give back.

Time.

In this episode, I discuss

• Why time is the true currency of work 
• The hidden agreement every employee makes when they come to work 
• Why leaders should think of themselves as stewards—not owners—of people's time 
• The real cost of unnecessary meetings, bureaucracy and poor processes 
• The difference between being busy and creating value 
• Why meaningful work creates energy while meaningless work drains it 
• How organisations unintentionally waste human lives one hour at a time 
• Why work is part of life—not separate from it 
• What great leaders understand about respect, trust and purpose 
• The simple question every leader should ask before scheduling another meeting 

Reflection Questions

• If every hour you worked became a permanent memory, would you be glad it happened? 
• Where is your organisation unintentionally wasting people's lives? 
• What unnecessary work could you stop this week? 
• If you lead others, are you treating their time as carefully as you treat your budget? 
• What story are you writing with the eighty thousand hours you may spend working? 

Key Leadership Insights

• People don't simply give organisations their skills.
• They entrust organisations with moments of their lives.
• Leadership isn't about extracting more from people.
• It's about making the time they choose to give you worthy of the life it came from.

Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace

If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.

Say hi!

• Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter 
• Get in touch with me, Prina
• Check  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Find out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ 
• Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review.
• Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. 

Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah