Making Positive Psychology Work

Today we're talking to Darren Coppin, who is a Ph.D. researcher and businessman, who implements positive psychology methods, not because of any deep-seated faith in the movement's principles, but because it works. Darren's mother is an outrageous hippy who is at one with the universe, so Darren over-zealously tries to ensure that everything he says and does is evidence-based. In that vein, since 2014, over 105000 people have been through his government-funded model to increase the return to work rates for welfare recipients, and these tools are now being adopted by higher education and apprenticeship institutions around the world. In this episode, we discuss how to optimize people's motivation and resilience for work. Connect with Darren: Website: Darren Coppin on LinkedIn You'll Learn: [02:01] - Darren explains how the motivation for behavior change is often misunderstood in workplaces. [03:26] - Darren shares how he's applied the principles of behavior change to help long-term unemployed people find work. [06:23] - Darren outlines how he's applied the principles for motivation to help secure funding for his program from key stakeholders. [08:45] - Darren shares what his research has found about the most effective positive psychology practices for improving resilience and accomplishment for job seekers. [10:49] - Darren explains why fusing resilience interventions and coaching can be a powerful way to create behavior change. [14:43] - Darren explains how workplaces can provide the right type of support at the right time to improve people's resilience. [16:12] - Darren explains how workplaces can better support people's levels of resilience. [20:28] - Darren shares the impact teaching resilience skills to long-term unemployed job seekers has been having. [21:23] - Darren completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook How Sadness Survived: The Evolutionary Basis of Depression by Paul Keedwell & Philip Barker 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 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 Darren!

Today we're talking to James and Janice Prochaska. Jim is the Director of the Cancer Prevention Research Center and Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Rhode Island and is internationally recognized for his work as a developer of the stage model of behavior change for which he has won numerous awards, including being one of the Top Five Most Cited Authors in Psychology from the American Psychology Society. He is the author of over 400 publications, including four books of which the latest is Changing to Thrive which he co-authored with his wife Janice, who is one of the most published authors in the field of social work having applied the model of behavior change to cutting-edge issues. In this episode, we discuss the stages of change most people move through and how understanding this process can help to improve people's wellbeing and enable leader's to embed positive changes in workplaces. Connect with James & Janice: Website: jprochaska.com You'll Learn: [02:13] - Jim outlines the stages that his research has found people move through when they are creating changes. [06:41] - Jim explains some of the new breakthroughs his research has found recently about how changes can be made to enhance people's wellbeing. [08:23] - Jim shares why it's important to meet people where they are when it comes to creating change in order to move them into action. [11:21] - Jan shares her tips for helping people to take effective actions to create the changes they want. [13:15] - Jim shares his tips for how we can maintain our motivation for the changes we've started making. [18:43] - Jim explains what happens when our desired change behaviors become unstuck. [20:00] - Jim explains how the stages of change can overlap. [21:58] - Jim outlines how leaders can use the stages of change to help people thrive at work. [24:42] - Jim completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook www.prochange.com Changing to Thrive by James & Janice Prochaska 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 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 Jim & Jan!

Today we're talking to Dr. Acacia Parks, who is the chief scientist at Happify, an online platform that turns the science of happiness into activities and games to create lasting changes and whose research focuses on self help methods for increasing happiness via books and digital technology with an emphasis on objective, observable outcomes such as physical health indicators. Acacia regularly publishes articles in scientific journals, has edited three books, and is also the associate editor at The Journal of Positive Psychology. In this episode, we explore how positive psychology and wellbeing interventions can be delivered in workplaces through technology platforms like Happify to create behavior changes that stick. Connect with Acacia: Website: happify.com You'll Learn: [02:05] - Acacia explains how positive psychology interventions can be delivered through technology platforms to create behavior change that sticks [03:19] - Acacia outlines how the Happify technology platform works [04:40] - Acacia shares the STAGE framework Happify uses to classify different types of wellbeing interventions for users [07:16] - Acacia weighs up the pros and cons of using technology to improve people's wellbeing [09:31] - Acacia explains some behavior changes are better suited for technology platforms than others [11:32] - Acacia explores the potential of wearable devices to improve our wellbeing [13:23] - Acacia provides an example of how workplaces are using wellbeing technology platforms like Happify to improve their employees' wellbeing [14:40] - Acacia explains how artificial intelligence may shape wellbeing interventions in the future [17:48] - Acacia shares the impact Happify is having on people's wellbeing [22:54] - Acacia completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook How Digital DNA Could Help You Make Better Health Choices - TED Talk with Jun Wang Thirteen Reasons Why on Netflix 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 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 Acacia!

Today we're talking to Alex Linley and Trudy Bailey from Capp, whose vision is to match the world to their perfect job. Alex is one of the early leaders in positive psychology and its applications, particularly around strengths, and he's the author of From Average to A+. Trudy's been responsible for the relaunch of Capp's Strength Profile tool and ensuring that practitioners have access to the tools to build a strengths-based culture that's sustaining. In this episode, we discuss the business case for understanding how the use, energy, and performance of our strengths can improve our performance, wellbeing and business outcomes. Connect with Alex & Trudy: Website: www.capp.co/Home www.strengthsprofile.com/ You'll Learn: [02:22 - Alex summarizes his three most important findings on developing people's strengths at work. [04:25] - Trudy shares new research on how using our strengths can help us to achieve our goals. [05:48] - Trudy explains how the Strengths Profile tool works to help people develop their strengths. [07:32] - Alex explains how understanding the use, energy, and performance impact of our strengths is so important for their development. [10:05] - Trudy offers some practical tips on how to make the most of people's strengths at work. [12:47] - Alex outlines how a strengths approach can be used to help match people to their perfect jobs and the business benefits it can bring. [17:10] - Trudy provides some practical approaches for leaders to develop their people's strengths as they go about their jobs. [19:04] - Alex shares his three alarm bells when it comes to workplaces wanting to take a strengths approach. [21:52] - Alex shares his thoughts on the single biggest challenge for organizations to remain strengths focused. [23:44] - Alex & Trudy completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz 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 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 Alex & Trudy!

Pernille is an experienced Business Consultant, Trusted Advisor, Facilitator, Board Member, Author and Speaker with a specialty within the Future of Leadership & Work, Change Management & Strategy Execution, Organizational Culture and Development. Passionate about developing Organizations, Leaders, and Leadership Teams from a Strengths-Based Perspective, focusing on their Core Ideology and how to add value to the world. In today's episode, we cover the strengths-based approach to leadership and team development, and how focusing on these strengths has greater effectiveness than trying to improve peoples weaknesses. Connect with Pernille: Website: https://hippebrun.com/ You'll Learn: [01:51] - Pernille gives the business case for a strengths-focused approach. [06:05] - Pernille explains how the acronym IDEAL PIT helps to remember the philosophy behind a strengths-based approach. [10:47] - Pernille explains how to run strengths-based meetings at work. [12:46] - Pernille covers using a strengths-focused approach for conflict resolution [14:46] - Pernille talks about giving strength-based feedback. [18:46] - Pernille completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Marcus Buckingham Books Diana Whitney Books Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal 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 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 Pernille!

Rasmus Hougaard is the founder and managing director of Potential Project, a global leadership training, organizational development and research firm, who help leaders and organization to enhance performance, innovation, and resilience through mindfulness and other practices grounded in neuroscience and research. Rasmus writes for the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Business Insider, and has led more than 1500 keynotes and workshops around the world. His most recent book, The Mind of the Leader, is based on research with more than 35,000 leaders and executives and provides a pathway to great leadership in the 21st century. In today's episode, Rasmus explains why 21st century leaders need to cultivate the qualities of mindfulness, selflessness and compassion for themselves, their teams and their organizations and how this can be practically achieved. Connect with Rasmus: Website: www.potentialproject.com You'll Learn: [02:11] - Rasmus explains why 86% of leaders rate themselves as inspiring and good role models, but 82% of employees see their leaders as fundamentally uninspiring. [03:28] - Rasmus explains how leaders can better understand themselves and their impact on others. [04:56] - Rasmus shares the mental qualities needed for leaders to be effective in the 21t century based on his research. [05:53] - Rasmus explains why the state of flow can impede our ability to be more mindful at work. [07:38] - Rasmus shares how our daily focus pattern can help us to be more mindful at work. [09:33] - Rasmus explains what leaders can do practically to improve their levels of selflessness and confidence. [11:44] - Rasmus shares his suggestions for finding the balance between self-confidence and selflessness at work. [13:57] - Rasmus explains why more leaders are rating compassion important or extremely important for effective leadership. [17:04] - Rasmus explains how teaching leaders compassion can improve kindness and psychological safety in workplaces. [22:43] - Rasmus shares some of his favorite ways to help leaders be more mindful, selfless and compassionate. [17:23] - Rasmus completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman 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 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 Rasmus!

Dr. Jason Fox is a motivational speaker, best selling author, leadership advisor and wizard rogue of ace repute. Often sought for his fresh perspectives, contemporary philosophies, and deep expertise in motivation design, Jason shows forward-thinking leaders around the world how to unlock new progress and pry deeper into uncharted territory. His clients include Fortune 500 companies around the world, and he's also the best selling author of "The Game Changer" and "How to Lead a Quest: A Handbook for Pioneering Leaders". His research has been featured in the likes of Smart Company, Huffington Post, BRW, and the Financial Review. In today's episode, we discuss how leaders can challenge the mindsets that keep them stuck in conventional thinking, by embracing the principals of motivational design and framing change opportunities as quests. Connect with Jason: Website: www.drjasonfox.com You'll Learn: [02:14] - Jason explains how game design can be used to motivate behavior change in workplaces. [04:13] - Jason explains where gamification often goes wrong when it comes to creating meaningful behavior change. [05:02] - Jason shares how a quest – rather than a game – can help leaders bring out the best in themselves and others. [08:30] - Jason explains some of the thinking patterns in workplaces that can limit our ability to create change. [13:18] - Jason shares how he runs leadership programs to help leaders challenge their traditional ideas about what being a successful leader looks like. [15:43] - Jason shares how he helps leaders to maintain momentum for behavior change following workshops and training programs. [17:23] - Jason completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Finite & Infinite Games by James Carse How to Lead a Quest by Dr. Jason Fox 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 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 Jason!

Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts is a teaching professor of management at Georgetown University, whose research examines how leaders cultivate positive identities in diverse work organization. Laura's publications 'How to Apply Your Strengths' and 'Creating A Positive Professional Image' are among the most popular articles from Harvard Business Publishing and have been featured in several media outlets. She's the editor of numerous books including Exploring Positive Identities in Organizations with Jane Dutton and is a co-founder of RPAQ Solutions, a research and consulting firm that brings strength-based practices to leaders who seek extraordinary performance and personal fulfillment. In today's episode, we discuss creating a positive work identity, and the effect it has on our personal brand, our sense of meaning and our relationships at work. Connect with Laura: Website: lauramorganroberts.com You'll Learn: [02:43] - Laura explains what it means to have a positive work-related identity [09:32] - Laura introduces the GIVE model to help us build more positive identities at work. [15:36] - Laura explains how cultivating a positive identity can shape your personal brand. [19:23] - Laura shares how psychological safety can impact people's ability to build a positive work-related identity. [24:23] - Laura completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Brene Brown Videos Mellody Hobson - Color Brave Ted Talk 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 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 Laura!

Leah Weiss is a researcher, lecturer, consultant, and author who teaches compassionate leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she created the perennially waitlisted course, Leading With Mindfulness and Compassion. Leah is a principal teacher, and a founding faculty member of Stanford's Compassion Cultivation Programme conceived by the Dali Llama. Her first book "How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim your Sanity and Embrace the Daily Grind" focuses on developing compassionate and soft skill-based leadership, while also offering research backed actionable steps towards finding purpose at work. In today's episode, Leah talks to us about why business leaders are lining up to learning how to be more compassionate in workplaces and how this is helping them to harness the wisdom of their emotions, to fail better in order to learn and to find more purpose in their work. Connect with Leah: Website: leahweissphd.com You'll Learn: [02:01] - Leah explains why graduate students are lining up to learn how to be more compassionate leaders in workplaces. [04:17] - Leah explains why practicing compassion at work doesn't mean we need to be doormats for others to take advantage of. [06:32] - Leah explains the difference between compassion and empathy. [09:44] - Leah provides some practical tips to harness the wisdom of our emotions at work instead of suppressing our feelings. [17:03] - Leah explains how leaders can help their people to fail better at work. [19:56] - Leah provides her tips on how we can mindlessly going through our work days. [21:32] - Leah completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Kelly Mcgonigal Ted Talk - How to Make Stress Your Friend The Upside of Stress by Kelly Mcgonigal 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 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 Leah!

Susan David is an award willing psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, co-founder, and co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, and CEO of Evidence Based Psychology, a boutique business consultancy. She's the author of the number one Wall Street Journal best selling book "Emotional Agility," based on her concept that Harvard Business Review heralded as a management idea of the year, and has been featured in numerous leading publications including The New York Times, Washington Post and Time Magazine, and has worked with the senior leadership of hundreds of major organisations including the United Nations, Ernst & Young, and the World Economic Forum. In today's episode, we'll discuss why emotions are not simply positive or negative, and how we can navigate the way we feel in more agile and effective ways at work. Connect with Susan: Website: http://www.susandavid.com/ You'll Learn: [02:20] - Susan explains why thinking of emotion as positive or negative can undermine people's ability to thrive. [07:25] - Susan suggests that thinking of emotions as data, rather than as good or bad, can help people develop emotional agility. [14:40] - Susan shares her recommendations for ensuring people own their emotions, rather than letting their emotions call the shots. [19:16] - Susan provides tips for how teams can practice emotional agility. [20:43] - Susan shares how the skills of emotional agility can build psychological safety in teams. [22:39] - Susan explains how self-compassion can make it easier to be emotionally agile. [26:09] - Susan shares how tiny tweaks and the willingness to keep pushing beyond our comfort zones can enable emotional agility. [24:29] - Susan completes the lightning round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook Adam Grant's Worklife Podcast 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 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 Susan!