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The Anxious Achiever

The Anxious Achiever

Morra Aarons-Mele

Host Morra Aarons-Mele is on a mission to reframe how we think about anxiety and mental health in the workplace. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. We desperately need better models for leadership and a more holistic view of mental health. Our culture tells those of us who suffer from anxiety and depression that we can’t succeed, but we tell a different story — without sugarcoating the tough stuff. We feature stories from people who’ve been there and experts who can help you thrive. Listen in your favorite podcast app: https://pod.link/1480904163
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Top 10 The Anxious Achiever Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Anxious Achiever episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Anxious Achiever 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 The Anxious Achiever episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Many high-powered jobs require people to work long hours and give up sleep. But for people who suffer from anxiety and depression, lack of sleep can also create downward spirals that make those issues worse. Sleep researcher Christopher Barnes, an associate professor of management at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, explains how sleep deprivation can affect your mental health – and your career.

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What’s it like to lead a team when optimizing self-care and emotional wellness is the point of their work? Goop, a company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, explores all aspects of mental and physical health and advocates for a rarefied and often controversial brand of self-care. Elise Loehnen, Chief Content Officer at Goop, discusses her own experiences with anxiety at work, how she manages employees and their mental health, and what self-care really means.

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Just as members of a family have different roles to play and different patterns of behavior they keep, so too can our family dynamics play out in the workplace. We bring with us to work our feelings about how we should assert ourselves, ask for help, deal with failure and more - all behaviors we learn in our family system growing up.

Deborah Ancona, a Professor of Organization Studies, and the Founder of the MIT Leadership Center at the MIT Sloan School of Management, calls these behaviors “ghosts,”and they’re not all bad. Ancona shares her research and experience on how family systems affect us at work.

Check out our previous episode on family systems theory: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ZNknArKLeGB9JATPFZkJb

Read Deborah's Artile: https://hbr.org/2022/01/family-ghosts-in-the-executive-suite

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The Anxious Achiever - Anxiety, Depression, and Working Moms in a Pandemic
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11/30/20 • 38 min

Sociologist Jessica Calarco has been studying women struggling to balance work and parenting during the Covid-19 pandemic – and how workplaces can help. She says societal pressures, ideas about motherhood, and systemic failures are causing working mothers to suffer greater anxiety and depression than before the pandemic.

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The Anxious Achiever - How Your Family History - and Tensions - Affect You At Work
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11/22/23 • 38 min

Many in the U.S. this week are celebrating the holiday of Thanksgiving - which, unfortunately for many, can mean difficult conversations with family about money, politics, and even the past. At a time when old habits can re-emerge for people, host Morra Aarons-Mele revisits a conversation with Kathleen Smith about family systems theory. The role we played in our family of origin shapes how we show up as a leader and colleague. Smith is a writer, therapist, and associate faculty member at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family.

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The Anxious Achiever - Burnout, Balance, and Why Work From Home Isn’t Working
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06/12/24 • 42 min

Shirley Leung is a columnist at the Boston Globe and host of the podcast Say More, and in 2020, she hit “rock bottom.”Being stretched on all sides for years finally took its toll and she realized her work life balance needed a change. Four years later, Shirley went on a quest to better understand how to deal with and prevent burnout at work. In this episode, she talks with host Morra Aarons-Mele about how working from home no longer works for many people, the mental health challenges we still feel post pandemic, and being realistic about our priorities.

Listen to Shirley’s burnout series on Say More: https://link.chtbl.com/saymore?sid=anxiousachiever

The No Club Book: https://www.amazon.com/No-Club-Putting-Womens-Dead-End/dp/1982152338

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The Anxious Achiever - How Vulnerability Can Be a Leadership Superpower
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05/04/20 • 33 min

Jason Rosario discusses his own journey with depression and anxiety, and the lessons he’s learned about vulnerability, masculinity, and leadership. Rosario left a career in finance to found The Lives of Men, a social impact and creative agency focused on decoding masculine psychology and challenging false concepts of masculinity.

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The Anxious Achiever - Toxic Bosses, Mean Girls, and Trusting Yourself
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02/21/24 • 45 min

You know the feeling when you know that something is off with a relationship at work, but feel like you can’t speak up? Many of us have felt this feeling but haven’t known how to describe it or work through it in a healthy way. Toxic bosses and coworkers are super common, and can send negative ripple effects throughout the organization, far beyond a one on one relationship.

Benish Shah was a trusted colleague of mine and she wrote the column “Is it Toxic?” to help workers navigate tricky situations in their jobs. In this episode, we get her expertise on how to deal with toxic bosses and coworkers in helpful and strategic ways.

We lost Benish suddenly in December, but I’m honored to share some of the work that was so important to her and to help continue her impact.

Read Benish’s column here: https://www.themuse.com/advice/is-it-toxic-column-supportive-manager-180-grilling-nitpicking-micromanaging

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Dean Yates was a foreign correspondent and worked for Reuters for decades until the traumatic events he witnessed took their toll. Over time, he realized he was struggling with PTSD - while at the same time realized his company was pushing him out. He shares his story of why he began reporting in the first place, the uncomfortable truths about PTSD, and how he wants workplaces to change.

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The Anxious Achiever - Psychological Safety in Theory and In Practice
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12/20/21 • 58 min

What does psychological safety at work mean for people with anxiety and other mental health challenges? Host Morra Aarons-Mele speaks with Amy Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor, who has long studied psychological safety, and Christopher Yates, Ford Motor Company’s chief talent officer, about how to build a culture of psychological safety at work.

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Anxious Achiever have?

The Anxious Achiever currently has 214 episodes available.

What topics does The Anxious Achiever cover?

The podcast is about Management, Podcasts, Business and Careers.

What is the most popular episode on The Anxious Achiever?

The episode title 'How the Cult of Sleep-Deprivation Affects Work and Mental Health' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Anxious Achiever?

The average episode length on The Anxious Achiever is 42 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Anxious Achiever released?

Episodes of The Anxious Achiever are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of The Anxious Achiever?

The first episode of The Anxious Achiever was released on Sep 19, 2019.

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