Making Positive Psychology Work

Michelle McQuaid

If you believe as we do that by uncovering tested, practical ways to help people move from functioning to flourishing at work, we can better navigate the incredible challenges and opportunities our world faces, then this podcast is for you. Our goal each week is to give you access to the world’ leading positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship and neuroscience researchers and practitioners to explore their latest research findings on how you can improve wellbeing, develop strengths, nurture positive relationships, make work meaningful and cultivate the grit to accomplish what matters most. If you want evidence-based approaches to bringing out the best in yourself and others at work, then consider this podcast your step-by-step guide.

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Top 10 Making Positive Psychology Work Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Making Positive Psychology Work episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Making Positive Psychology Work for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Making Positive Psychology Work episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Are You Too Positive? with James Pawelski

Making Positive Psychology Work

10/06/16 • 26 min

James Pawelski is the director of education and senior scholar in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the author of the book The Dynamic Individualism of William James. He serves as the founding director of the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology program for more than 10 years, where he teaches courses on positive interventions, the humanities, and human flourishing. James is an international keynote speaker who regularly makes presentations in English and Spanish. He has spoken in more then twenty countries and on six continents. In addition, he also holds paid leadership positions as the founding executive director of the International Positive Psychology Association, member of the steering committee of the International Positive Education Network, and president of the William James Society.

James Pawelski's website: (https://jamespawelski.com/)

In this discussion, James and I talk about the relationship between positive psychology and philosophy, the roots of positive psychology and why we should understand them, the role of the humanities in understanding, and what the positive in positive psychology is. James tells us about some of his favorite books for gaining insight into human flourishing as well as why he thinks literature and story telling are so important for a happy life.

You'll Learn:

1:43 – You will learn about James’ recent talk at the European Conference on Positive Psychology about the importance of theory for research and practice. He talks about the interesting things that happen when you ask careful questions deeply.

3:50 – James talks about what positive psychology means by positive.

5:30 – We hear of how positive psychology, with its focus on what is going well with a person, is complementary to mainstream psychology, which focuses on the negative psychological aspects such as depression or anxiety.

6:58 – James goes into more detail about the relationship between the positive and negative.

8:20 – James answers the question, “Is positive psychology fundamentally about the best things in life, or is it fundamentally about living the best life we can?”

10:40 – We talk more about the importance of a comprehensive approach to positive psychology.

12:00 – The question is raised, “What happens if various positives are in conflict?”

14:28 – James discusses the connection between positive psychology and the humanities.

17:04 – We go into the intersection of positive psychology and the humanities in the workplace.

20:06 – The importance of stories and story telling to a happy life is discussed.

20:36 – James tells us how using the Values in Action Classification of Strengths and Virtues has helped in his own life.

21:27 – He talks about two of his favorite books to help people bring out the best in themselves and others.

22:58 – James talks about a few of the books he is currently reading and why he recommends people studying mindfulness meditation.

24:08 – We hear why James is not a fan of the term optimism and why he prefers the term meliorism.

Your Resources:

James Pawelski’s website (https://jamespawelski.com/)

European Conference on Positive Psychology (www.enpp.eu)

Positive Psychology program (www.PositivePsychologyProgram.com)

International Positive Psychology Association-Learning Library

(Learning Library)

James’ Book List:

Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman

The Upside to Your Dark Side by Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener

Positive Emotion: Integrating the Light Sides and Dark Sides by June Gruber and Judith Tedlie Moskowitz

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

“Neighbour Rosicky” by Willa Cather

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

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.

Also, 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 finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free! Special thanks to Sue for joining me this...

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Are You Maximizing Your Learning Experiences? with Chris Myers

Making Positive Psychology Work

06/14/19 • 27 min

Chris Myers is an assistant professor in the management and organization discipline, the academic director of executive education at the John Hopkins University Carey Business School and holds a joint appointment in anesthesiology at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. Chris' research and teaching focuses on individual learning, leadership development and innovation with particular attention to how people learn vicariously and share knowledge and his work has been recognized with several scholarly awards and has been featured in a range of leading academic journals and popular media articles and outlets.

In this week’s podcast, we explore why focusing on learning opportunities can help workers to manage their levels of stress and how opportunities for coactive vicarious learning ensures there are no passive observers to the learning process.

Connect with Chris Myers:

http://christophergmyers.net/

You’ll Learn:

[02:53] - Chris explains why focusing on learning opportunities, rather than gritting our teeth, grinding through or taking a break, can be a more effective way of dealing with stress at work.
[05:59] - Chris offers some tips to help us reach for learning opportunities during moments of stress.
[07:56] - Chris shares some examples of how workplaces are encouraging their workers to reach for more learning opportunities.
[09:34] - Chris explains why when teams engage together in learning behaviour, they report significantly lower levels of burnout.
[11:08] - Chris outlines how learning together in teams helps to improve workers growth mindsets and their levels of psychological safety.
[12:07] - Chris explains why the process of vicarious learning has been found to be one of the most effective ways for teams to learn together.
[13:53] - Chris walks us through how coactive vicarious learning takes our ability to learn together a step further, by ensuring there are no passive observers to the learning process.
[18:19] - Chris provides some tips on how the process of coactive vicarious learning could be used to amplify the use of wellbeing strategies in workplaces.
[20:20] - Chris offers some caveats and cautions for supporting coactive vicarious learning in your workplace.
[22:58] - Chris completes the Lightning Round.

Your Resources:

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 Chris!

Could You Be A Positively Energizing Leader? with Kim Cameron

Making Positive Psychology Work

08/06/21 • 41 min

Kim Cameron is a professor of management and organizations at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. He’s co-founder of the Centre for Positive Organizational Scholarship and professor of higher education in the school of education at the University of Michigan. Kim is recognized as among the top 10 organizational scholars in the world and his work on virtuousness, downsizing, effectiveness, corporate quality culture, and the development of leadership excellence has been most frequently downloaded on Google. He has also published more than 140 academic articles and 15 scholarly books, the most recent of which is Positively Energizing Leadership, which is due for release in August this year.

In this week’s episode, Dr. Paige Williams talks to Prof. Kim Cameron about Positively Energizing Leadership.

Connect with Kim Cameron:

https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/

You’ll Learn:

[03:47] - Kim explains the inherent tendency in all living systems that underpin positively energizing leadership
[06:05] - Kim explains how the heliotropic effect translates into leadership and organizations
[09:14] - Kim describes how we might recognize positive energy at work
[10:42] - Kim describes how positively energizing leadership differs from other types of leadership
[12:55] - Kim explains why we may not be a positive energizer for everyone
[16:33] - Kim shares research that shows the impact positively energizing leadership has
[21:47] - Kim shares examples of positively energizing leadership in action
[27:29] - Kim explains how team members can help their leaders be more positively energizing
[31:55] - Kim lets us know of the cautions and caveats we need to be aware of as we work to be a positively energizing leader
[35:52] - Kim completes the lightning round!

Thanks for listening!

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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, Kim!

Should Your Language Be More Positive? with Linda Robson

Making Positive Psychology Work

10/26/17 • 28 min

Linda Robson is a scholar practitioner, blending work in executive education with consulting and coaching around the elevation of organizations and the individuals who work within them. Linda received her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. She studied with David Cooperrider and Ron Frey. She is an advisor at the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value. Linda also helped write The Flourishing Enterprise: The New Spirit of Business.

In this conversation, you will hear Linda share her fascinating research on the language used by high performing teams and why the words we speak impact the results we are able to achieve particularly in organizational change programs. Linda also shares while simply being more positive is not enough, why we need to acknowledge the sense of loss that any change in our workplaces can bring and the practical things leaders can do to use language to improve people's wellbeing at work.

Connect with Linda Robson:

Email - [email protected]

You’ll Learn:

[02:20] - Linda explains why Professor David Cooperrider believes her research will be so influential in helping organizations navigate change.
[04:23] - Linda defines and describes mirror flourishing.
[06:55] - Linda shares why language plays such a large role in our interactions with each other and our willingness to embrace and act upon change.
[07:48] - Linda talks about what positive and negative language sounds like, in the workplace.
[09:07] - Linda explains that the use of positive language is a missed opportunity.
[12:18] - Linda shares what we can do to help leaders be more strategic in their language.
[14:40] - Linda talks about the idea of some forms of negative language being helpful with change in workplaces.
[20:20] - Linda explains what a flourishing enterprise looks like.
[22:56] - The Lightning Round with Linda Robson.

Your Resources:

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.

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!

Can You Thrive At Work? with Gretchen Spreitzer

Making Positive Psychology Work

08/05/16 • 23 min

Gretchen Spreitzer is the faculty director for the Center of Positive Organizations at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

In this interview, you will hear Gretchen talk about enabling sustainable performance. There are several factors that make it quite easy to get burned out at work and organizations need to implement certain things to promote sustainable performance and allow individuals to thrive. Gretchen gives practical ways for organizations to do this through her four levers to promote sustainability. Gretchen also shares some basic and easily implemented tactics for individuals to thrive.

Gretchen Spreitzer’s website: https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/spreitzer/home

You’ll Learn:

● [1:43] - In today’s world, it is easy to get burned out and we need to make performance sustainable. ● [3:44] - Gretchen shares the four levers organizations can use to promote sustainability. ● [7:42] - Gretchen talks about the balance of responsibility between organizations and individuals in regards to employee growth and sustainability. ● [8:40] - What can individuals do when their organization doesn’t promote growth and sustainability? ● [12:05] - Gretchen discusses about her findings that co-working spaces lead to higher mean scores of thriving. ● [15:47] - Gretchen talks about resilience for people in difficult situations. Thriving is not about bouncing back, it’s about bouncing better. ● [17:43] - Thriving and growing proactively, when there isn’t a difficulty or challenge. ● [19:13] - Should organizations expect and encourage an approach of thriving when someone is struggling, personally? ● [20:04] - The lightning round with Gretchen Spreitzer

Your Resources:

Reflected Best Self Exercise - http://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/cpo-tools/reflected- best-self-exercise-2nd- edition/

How to Be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact - Jane E. Dutton and Gretchen M. Spreitzer - https://amzn.com/1626560285

The Positive Organization: Breaking Free from Conventional Cultures, Constraints, and Beliefs - Robert E Quinn - https://amzn.com/1626565627

Finding Purpose: Environmental Stewardship as a Personal Calling - Andrew J. Hoffman - https://amzn.com/1783533722

Positive Business Conference - http://positivebusinessconference.com

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.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

Special thanks to Gretchen for joining me this week. Until next time, take care!

Is Your Energy, Attitude and Mindset AntiFragile? with Dr. Paige Williams

Making Positive Psychology Work

07/31/20 • 33 min

Today we're talking to Dr. Paige Williams, co-founder of the Leaders Lab, an honorary fellow, and researcher at the Center for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne. Paige works to create practical evidence-based pathways that use the latest research in neuroscience, positive psychology, leadership, and systems thinking to help leaders leverage their energy, attitudes, and mindsets to benefit from the dynamic, complex, and uncertain environment in which most organizations now operate.

She is determined to help leaders move beyond just the need for resilience so that they can become anti-fragile. This is the focus of her new book, Becoming Anti-fragile, Learning to Thrive Through Disruption, Challenge, and Change, which we're going to explore together today.

In this week’s episode, we explore how we can leverage the physical, emotional, and mental energy, attitude and mindsets of anti-fragility to create positive change.

Connect with Dr. Paige Williams:

https://drpaigewilliams.com/

You’ll Learn:

[02:30] - Paige explains what antifragility is and why it is important.
[04:27] - Paige shares some real-life examples of antifragility in action.
[07:14] - Paige explains the robust principles that we can use as touchstones to becoming antifragility.
[09:45] - Paige explains why energy, attitude, and mindsets are the building blocks to being antifragile.
[13:17] - Paige explains the nuances of energy – the physical, mental and emotional components.
[15:10] - Paige describes antifragile attitudes.
[17:43] - Paige describes the antifragile mindset.
[21:17] - Paige explains how to scale up antifragile principles and building blocks for teams and organizational systems.
[26:00] - Paige enters the lightning round.

Your Resources:

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.

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, Paige!

Can You Unleash Your Inner HERO? with Fred Luthans

Making Positive Psychology Work

10/18/18 • 32 min

Today we’re talking to Fred Luthans, who is a distinguished professor of management emirates at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and whose research is focused on what he founded and has turned to positive organizational behavior and psychological capital. A former president of the Academy of Management, Fred has received many awards, edited three top journals, authored several well-known books, and over 250 academic articles and chapters, and lectured in most countries around the world.

In this episode, we explore how Fred led the creation of the concept of Psychological Capital, the impact of building the psychological resources of hope, optimism, resilience and efficacy, and how this can be achieved in workplaces.

Connect with Fred:

Website: https://business.unl.edu/people/fluthans

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You’ll Learn:

[03:14] - Fred explains what psychological capital is and how the concept emerged for improving resilience in workplaces.
[08:38] - Fred shares what researchers around the world have been learning about the benefits of building psychological capital in workplaces.
[13:18] - Fred shares tips on how psychological capital can be practically developed for people in workplaces.
[16:37] - Fred shares how sustainability boosters can help people to build and maintain their levels of psychological capital.
[19:47] - Fred explains why PsyCap has been found to have more impact in the United States and in services industries.
[23:36] - Fred shares some of the other positive psychological resources that studies have found also impact resilience and wellbeing in the workplace.
[25:07] - Fred completes the lightning round.

Your Resources:

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.

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 Fred!

Can You Practice Polarity Thinking? with Cliff Kayser

Making Positive Psychology Work

06/19/20 • 26 min

Cliff Kayser is a consultant who brings 25 years of experience with senior-level OD internal positions with the Washington Post and the National Cooperative Bank, as well as his external consultancies and coaching practice with experienced and successful partners, polarity partnerships and the Institute for the Polarities of Democracy. Cliff is on faculty at American university’s master’s in OD, and a coaching fellow for George Mason University Center for the Advancement of well-being, which is where he and I met.

In this week’s episode, we explore how to balance “either/or” thinking with the need for “and” so we honor competing polarities when it comes to the way we work together.

Connect with Cliff Kayser:

https://www.experienceit.com/

You’ll Learn:

[01:40] - Cliff explains what polarity thinking is and why it matters in workplaces.
[02:26] - Cliff offers some examples of the common polarities workplaces have been grappling with over the last 12 months.
[03:38] - Cliff explains how teams and workplaces can navigate the polarities of “me and we” and “us and them”.
[06:07] - Cliff provides an example of how a healthcare company has navigated the polarities of centralized and decentralized resources.
[10:05] - Cliff shares a case study on polarities of how Charleston Police Department navigate the tension of law enforcement and community engagement.
[15:47] - Cliff explains why polarity thinking is common sense but not common practice.
[18:32] - Cliff shares where OR thinking can be useful.
[22:48] - Louis asks cliff if he’s ready for the lightning round.

Your Resources:

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.

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, Cliff!

Do You Practice Racial Empathy? with Valorie Burton

Making Positive Psychology Work

06/12/20 • 34 min

Valorie Burton is the founder and CEO of the Coaching and Positive Psychology Institute and a best-selling author, international speaker, and life strategist. Valorie has a master’s in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and her company provides coaching, coach training, and resilience training and has served clients in all 50 American states and 15 countries on six continents. Since 1999, she has written 13 books on personal development, including the best sellers Successful Women Think Differently and What’s Really Holding You Back? And she’s been featured in media outlets around the world.

In this week’s episode, we explore how to practice racial empathy in workplaces and the simple steps workers can take to be respectful and effective white allies.

Connect with Valorie Burton:

https://valorieburton.com/

You’ll Learn:

[03:13] - Valorie explains how the murder of George Floyd caused her to speak out on the need for racial empathy.
[07:28] - Valorie shares why in order to become unstuck on the issue of racism in workplaces we need to start telling the truth.
[11:29] - Valorie helps us understand why it often difficult for people of color to talk about what’s happening and the impact that racism has on them at work.
[15:07] - Valorie offers suggestions for how white allies can help better support people of color in their workplace.
[21:39] - Valorie provides some tips for how people of color – if they wish – can encourage white allies to take action.
[25:16] - Valorie explains people of color often don’t need help from white allies but do need them to listen.
[29:46] - Valorie enters the lightning round.

Your Resources:

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.

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, Valorie!

Are You Being Called by the Future? with David Yaden

Making Positive Psychology Work

09/06/19 • 27 min

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:

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.

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!

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FAQ

How many episodes does Making Positive Psychology Work have?

Making Positive Psychology Work currently has 257 episodes available.

What topics does Making Positive Psychology Work cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Management, Leadership, Resilience, Community, Productivity, Podcasts, Business, Diversity and Wellbeing.

What is the most popular episode on Making Positive Psychology Work?

The episode title 'Are You Too Positive? with James Pawelski' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Making Positive Psychology Work?

The average episode length on Making Positive Psychology Work is 29 minutes.

How often are episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work released?

Episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Making Positive Psychology Work?

The first episode of Making Positive Psychology Work was released on Jun 15, 2016.

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Making Positive Psychology Work

Michelle McQuaid

Top 10 Making Positive Psychology Work Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Making Positive Psychology Work have?

What topics does Making Positive Psychology Work cover?

What is the most popular episode on Making Positive Psychology Work?

What is the average episode length on Making Positive Psychology Work?

How often are episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work released?

When was the first episode of Making Positive Psychology Work?

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