Curious Minds: Innovation in Life and Work

In those moments when we want to disagree, why do we often stay silent? At those times when we want to opt out, why do we often just go along? A key reason is that it's hard to defy. It's hard to question the way something's always been done. To challenge comments, behaviors, and systems. Yet it's in those moments of defiance that we flex our values and craft an identity. That's why I wanted to talk to Sunita Sah, organizational psychologist at Cornell University and author of the book, Defy: The Power of No in a World that Demands Yes. Her research reveals the importance of defiance and the skills we need to do it well. In her book – and in this conversation – she shares ways we can practice it and support others doing the same. Related Links Interview with Vanessa Patrick, author of The Power of Saying No Speak up at Thanksgiving. Your Health Demands It. America Thinks It's a Country of Free Thinkers. But We're Actually Compliant The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Making changes in our own lives is hard enough. It's even more challenging when we need to lead our teams or organizations to do it. That's why I invited Dan Heath back to the podcast. Dan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments. This time he's here to talk about his latest book, Reset: How to Change What's Not Working. Dan shares powerful stories of leaders who've helped their teams and organizations make high-impact changes. He discusses the tools they used and leverage points they prioritized. This book takes change management to a whole other level.   Related Links What's the Goal of the Goal? Dan Heath on Innovative Problem Solving (interview) Dan Heath on Creating Moments that Matter (interview) The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Most of us dislike networking. At its best, it's exhausting. At its worst, it can feel inauthentic, even manipulative. But what if it didn't have to be that way? What if, instead, we could focus on helping others in ways that, in the long run, benefit us, as well? Rosalind Chow is an associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University. She's learned that when we use our status to sponsor others, we gain status and sponsorship for ourselves. Her findings can fundamentally change how we think – and feel - about networking. In this conversation, I talk to Rosalind about her book, The Doors You Can Open: A New Way to Network, Build Trust, and Use Your Influence to Create a More Inclusive Workplace. It's an inspiring playbook for helping others – and ourselves. Related Links ‘Sponsorship' – Not Mentorship – Will Help You Land a Job Out of College Interview with Alison Fragale The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

At some point in every leader's career, they'll experience a moment of crisis. And in these moments of enormous pressure and uncertainty, a leader's actions can mean the difference between an organization's survival or its demise.   Dan Dworkis is an emergency room physician and professor of emergency medicine who's built his career on moments like this. He not only understands how to approach them, but also how to learn from them. And his book, The Emergency Mind: Wiring Your Brain for Performance under Pressure captures the wisdom he's gained. Related Links Layer Cake Debriefing: A Smarter Way to Learn from Crisis Decisions Shape Culture; Culture Shapes Decisions Interview with Steve Magness on Real Toughness The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

As you move up in leadership roles, you gain more power. Initially, you may take it in stride, thinking it's something you earned and something you'd never let get in the way of being the manager you want to be. But as the pressure to perform grows, the gap in power between you and your team creates blind spots that can erode these relationships. Former Microsoft executive and Fortune 500 coach, Sabina Nawaz, experienced these challenges in her own career and, today, she coaches executives working through them. It's why she wrote the book, You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need). And in this conversation, she shares tools to help leaders manage their blind spots. Related Links To Make a Habit, Try Micro Habits How to Build a Relationship between Your Employee and Your Boss Interview with Mithu Storoni on Working Smarter The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Managing up is crucial for your success. It's about knowing your career goals and aligning them with your manager's needs and priorities. Yet it's a skill we're rarely taught and one we rarely see done well.   For Melody Wilding, this gap in how to manage her career became clear when it caused her to lose her job. It's what made her want to write her latest book, Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge. In this conversation we talk about how to get aligned with your manager on what's most important to them in ways that also help you, how to engage in effective networking, and how to promote yourself in the workplace. Related Links Why Managing Up is the Most Critical Career Skill in 2025 4 Signs You're too Emotionally Invested in Your Work (and How to Fix It) Skip-Level Meeting Success: How to Connect with Your Boss's Boss The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

On the surface, trust seems simple. You either trust someone or you don't. That's why I was so intrigued by Charles Feltman's book, The Thin Book of Trust: An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work. Charles is a leadership coach and trust expert. And where others view trust as binary, he sees it in four dimensions. He describes what each dimension looks like and explains how to assess the gaps. Then he talks about how we can address those gaps in ourselves – and with others, including our managers. I'm able to see trust in a completely different way and think you will, too. Related Links Interview with Michael Wenderoth The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We're all virtual communicators. Even if we don't work remotely, we're texting, using social media, and making phone calls. But the question is, are we good at it? Do we know the best practices that can set us apart? Andrew Brodsky can teach us. He's a management professor and virtual communication expert. In this episode, we discuss his book, Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication. We talk about ways to build trust, increase likability, and manage digital conflicts. He shares insights we can immediately put into action. Related Links Your Company is Watching You. And Probably Doing It All Wrong. The Rules for Making a Good Impression on Zoom and Emails No, Remote Employees Aren't Becoming Less Engaged The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Most advice on power is about why we need it or how we can get it. And it's typically focused on things outside us, like titles or promotions. While these external markers are important, they can leave us empty inside.  Advice that focuses solely on external power leaves out how to build and maintain the crucial internal power we need.  That's why Chris Lipp decided to mine the research on personal power and, ultimately, to write a book on it. In this interview we talk about his latest book, The Science of Personal Power: How to Build Confidence, Create Success, and Obtain Freedom.  Chris's book gives us an opportunity to build the inner foundation for success, so we can match it with external achievements. If you're looking for a book with concrete ways to center and inspire you in your work - and in your life - you'll find it here. Related Links Interview with Mary Anderson on Success without Stress The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Adam Galinsky is a social psychologist and the Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. He believes leaders are made, not born, and he's spent decades proving it. In this interview, we talk about his findings and how they apply to today's leaders. We also discuss his latest book, Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others. In it, he shares three characteristics people repeatedly bring up when describing truly great leaders: they act as visionaries, exemplars, and mentors. Adam's written an insightful guide for current and aspiring leaders looking to take their craft to the next level. Related Links How to be an Inspirational Force in an Infuriating World One Small and Powerful Thing You Can Do to be a More Inspiring Leader Interview with leadership expert Frances Frei The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Conversations play a big role in our personal and professional lives. It'd be hard to build or maintain a relationship without them.   That's why Alison Wood Brooks, Harvard Business School Professor and conversation expert, has written the book, Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves. She's found that if we improve our conversations, even a little, the results can be game changing. In this interview, we talk about the framework she's developed to help us do that. We also discuss how to improve our one-on-one and group conversations. Finally, we learn effective ways to manage difficult conversations, including apologies. Related Links How to Have the Perfect Conversation – and Why It's Good for You Desperate for Better Dialogue? Interview with Jeff Wetzler on Deepening Connections The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

With few exceptions, we have digital footprints. And each time we scroll social media, run a Google search, or use a smartphone to navigate, we're adding data to that footprint. While we gain a lot from our ability to do all these things, we also feed companies the data they need to target us. Sandra Matz is a computational social scientist and professor at Columbia Business School. Over the course of her career, she's consulted with companies eager to profit from our data. In recent years, she's intentionally shifted her consulting work in support of organizations that want to protect consumer data. In this interview, I talk to Matz about her book, Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior. We discuss the methods companies use to profile us and how that profiling puts all the power in their hands. We also discuss promising ideas for pushing back, including solutions to empower and unite us. Matz has written an accessible, highly readable book that anyone with a smartphone needs to read.  Episode Links Now Isn't the Time to Give Users Control of Their Data Divided We Stand Interview with Eric Johnson on the Science of Decision-Making The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We go to the dentist, get our eyes checked, and get our cars inspected. These regularly scheduled health and safety audits let us know how we're doing. But we rarely audit how we spend our time. Sure, most of us have a calendar. Yet few of us study how these calendar events impact our happiness. We rarely track the connection between what we spend our time doing and how well we're flourishing. As a result, we can find ourselves feeling unhappy, frustrated, and what scientists call “time poor.” Researchers like Cassie Holmes want to change that. They've learned there's a strong connection between how we spend our time and how happy we feel. In her book, Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, she shares ways we can optimize our calendars for happiness, including ways to avoid distraction, extend joy, create a meaningful schedule, and avoid regret. Holmes' tips on time tracking and time auditing are simple and powerful. As the year draws to a close, this may be just the book you're looking for as we head into a new year. Episode Links Having Too Little or Too Much Time is Linked to Lower Subjective Well-being Our Flawed Pursuit of Happiness – and How to Get It Right A Valuable Lesson for a Happier Life (video) Trust by Hernan Diaz The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

If you're a woman in the workplace, you know the deck is rarely stacked in your favor. For example, promotions are harder to come by. The gender wage gap is real. And power can feel elusive. Psychology professor and researcher, Alison Fragale, has studied the power problem for decades. What she's figured out is that the solution lies with status. But, as she argues in her book, Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve, if women shift their focus to cultivating status, they get further ahead in solving the power problem. Alison Fragale has unlocked the key to achieving greater status in the workplace. And she shares practical tips on how to get started. It's a book I'll be recommending to all my friends Episode Links Why Status and Now Just Power Determines Workplace Success Here's Why Women Don't Always Support Women Interview with Vanessa Patrick, The Power of Saying No The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

There are many good reasons to look to others. For example, you might need expert advice or feedback to improve your performance. But there's one reason not to, and, that is, to determine your self-worth. When you look to someone else to define you or tell you how to live your life, you lose a lot. And if you find it hard to believe you'd ever let someone else influence you in those ways, you'd be surprised. Michael Gervais is a high-performance psychologist who's worked with elite athletes, artists, and leaders. Through his work, he's learned that one of the biggest obstacles standing in their way is fear of other people's opinions. And he's seen just how crippling those fears can be. That's why he's written the book, The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying about What People Think of You. In talking to Michael, I learned how our biology sets us up to place a lot of weight on other people's opinions. I also learned how social media is designed to reinforce that fear. Fortunately, Michael shared insights on what to do. I walked away feeling empowered. Episode Links Stop Basing Your Self-Worth on Other People's Opinions Free Your People from the Need for Social Approval Build a Great Team on a Relationship-Based Culture, Not the Myth of Family Interview with Jonathan Rhodes on Getting the Life You Want The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

It's tempting to believe that the self is a constant. That it's a core component of who we are from the time we're born. But social psychologist and Stanford Professor Brian Lowery has a different view. He believes the self we are today is a product of our social relationships – our friends, our families, our communities, our technologies, even our geography. That as our circumstances change, so does the self we believe ourselves to be. In this interview, we talk about this and more from his book, Selfless: The Social Creation of You. Brian's argument explains so much about how we operate in the world, and he gives us another reason to prioritize social relationships in our lives. Episode Links A Provocative Theory of Identity Finds There is No ‘You' in Self Brian Lowery on the Myth of Rugged Individualism and What This Means for the America of the 2020s Interview with Gregory Burns The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We need pleasure in our lives. We also need meaning. Pleasure gives us joy and delight. Meaning gives us purpose and a set of goals to work toward. But have there ever been times in your life when you've experienced meaning and pleasure, yet felt something was missing? Turns out, you're not alone. What's missing, according to recent research, is something called psychological richness. Think of it as mental stimulation. A combination of curiosity and wonder. Lorraine Besser writes about this in her book, The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It. She also shares what she and her research colleagues have learned about how to get it. This is a book that takes something we know we need – mental challenge and stimulation – and calls it out as a key component for living a good life. Episode Links What If You Pursued What's Interesting Instead of Happiness? How Novelty Positively Impacts Your Brain Interview with Rainesford Stauffer The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

When we're looking for insights on how to make friends, manage our anxiety, or just live a happier life, we rarely look to the past. Instead, we tend to focus on what today's thinkers have to say. But what if the recipe for happiness lies in the past, specifically the 2000-year-old past? What if the ancient writings of Greek philosopher Epicurus hold the answers? That's what modern-day philosopher, Emily Austin, argues in her book, Living for Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life. She teaches us what Epicurus really thought about pleasure and why he made it a cornerstone of his life. She also points out the advantages of an Epicurean mindset over a Stoic one. Emily's book is proof that we still have much to learn, for our work and our life, from the ancient Greek philosophers, especially Epicurus! Episode Links The Good Life is the One Where Anxiety Falls by the Wayside The Epicurean Search for Happiness and Serenity Interview with Tali Sharot The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We often assume that stress and anxiety are the price we pay for success. Yet these feelings can lead to burnout and self-doubt, two debilitating outcomes that can get in the way of the very achievements we're striving for. This is a pattern psychologist Mary Anderson often sees in her high-achieving clients: their very success has left them so scarred that they can't enjoy it, let alone build on it. The good news is that Anderson has developed a set of research-backed strategies to get us unstuck. Anderson shares these stories and strategies in her book, The Happy High Achiever: 8 Essentials to Overcome Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Energize Yourself for Success – without Losing Your Edge. I walked away from the book – and our conversation – with tools to rethink some of my own limiting beliefs. I bet you will, too. Episode Links Perfectionism Is Not Healthy or Sustainable. Here's What to Strive for Instead 5 Ways to Find Relief in a Moment of Overwhelm Staying Determined on the Way to Achieving Your Goals Interview with Michael Gervais The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

As a knowledge worker, you face two challenges. First, you need to take in staggering amounts of information to stay current. Next, you're expected to convert that information into innovative solutions that benefit your team and your company. While expectations for consuming and processing information have changed, most of our mental habits harken back to factory model days. Yet we're ignoring the tremendous power of our human biology, namely, our brains. What if we designed an optimal work style built around key features of the human brain? That's the question Mithu Storoni works to answer in her book, Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work. She likens brain function to a car engine with multiple gears. Then she shares how to best put those gears to work for us, and how best to shift them as circumstances change. It's just the right book – with just the right information – for the age we're living in. Episode Links Uncertainty is Uncomfortable, and Technology Makes It Worse. That Doesn't Have to Be a Bad Thing Help! It Turns out Breaks Make You More Productive Interview with Ayelet Fishbach on the Science of Motivation The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We like the idea of the lone genius, that one person who developed a game-changing innovation. But whether or not we realize it, research shows that creativity is collaborative. Yep. You heard that right. And we have lots of examples: the development of the airplane, the Internet, the mountain bike, and so many more. We're schooled in the notion that creativity is an individual thing, yet research shows, again and again, that it's not. Instead, it's through connecting with others, then working alone, and then connecting again, that we innovate. Keith Sawyer has studied groups and creativity for decades. His book, Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration, elucidates what group genius looks like, why it works, and what it takes to cultivate it, so we can develop game-changing innovations. This book changed how I see groups, creativity, and the connection between the two, and the research findings are fascinating. Episode Links Group Creativity and Collaboration Everyone Can Be More Creative – But Not Alone Being More Creative in Everyday Life is Simple Interview with Moshe Bar The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

It's become common knowledge that we need to prioritize our physical and mental health. In fact we're encouraged to commit to regular exercise and good nutrition, and to engage with mental health professionals as part of a healthy lifestyle. And if public health experts like Kasley Killam have their way, social health will become just as important. It's why she wrote the book, The Art and Science of Connection: Why Social Health is the Missing Key to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier. Kasley's book is the proactive solution to today's loneliness epidemic. It's also a research-backed argument for why social health needs to be on equal footing with mental and physical health. Episode Links Shifting the Focus from Loneliness to Social Health What is Social Health? The Little-Known Idea that Could Make All the Difference The Mental Health Industry is Booming. Next up? Social Health Innovation Interview with Malissa Clark The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Each day, millions of doctors write prescriptions for drugs intended to help their patients. But what if many of our modern health ailments, like depression, anxiety, and chronic pain, would benefit as much, if not more, from a social prescription? What if nature, art, movement, and service could reduce our symptoms, decrease doctor visits, and improve our health? These are questions Julia Hotz set out to answer. Julia is author of the book, The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging. By sharing research findings, as well as people's stories from around the world, we get to see a whole other side of medicine. After reading her book, I'm more convinced than ever we need to seek out and prioritize healthy social time. Episode Links New Horizons in Medicine: Why Art, Service, and Nature Might Be What the Doctor Orders What If Your Doctor Could Prescribe Fishing Trips or Art Classes? Social Prescribing on the Rise Doctor's Orders: A Social Prescription for Health Interview with Geoffrey Cohen The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We know how important friendships are. At the very least, for our health and well-being. But we also know how hard it gets to make and keep friends over the course of a lifetime, especially as we move, change jobs, and have families. That's why Anna Goldfarb's book, Modern Friendship: How to Nurture Our Most Valued Connections, is so important. We need friendships for good health, and Anna's book teaches us ways to make, keep, and move on from toxic friends. And she readily shares what to say to build and deepen friendships. I think it's a terrific book for understanding how to be a better friend. Episode Links Let's Make This the Golden Age of Friendship The Secret to Modern Friendship, According to Real Friends How to Deal with a Friendship Quiet Season Interview with Kat Vellos The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Most of us believe we can make a difference in the world. That we can have an impact. What holds us back from acting on those beliefs are often the doubts. Doubts about our skills, our credentials, even our roles at work. Alex Budak studied the research and interviewed the changemakers, and he argues we can all be changemakers, no matter our resumes. That's what led him to write his book, Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level. I was inspired by Alex's book and our conversation. I walked away with a changemaker playbook on the mindset, leadership qualities, and behaviors to make it happen. Episode Links Finding Leadership Treasures in World Cup Trash Stop Waiting for Permission Be the Light Interview with Sheena Iyengar The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

This year, we witnessed a solar eclipse. Walking the streets of my neighborhood that day, looking through my solar eclipse glasses and sharing them with others, I felt a profound sense of awe. And I saw that awe, that wonder, reflected in the faces of the people around me. For one or two hours, we were part of something bigger than ourselves. And that experience took us out of ourselves. It softened and connected us. Experiences like that are what made me want to read Dacher Keltner's latest book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. In this conversation, we talk about what awe is, how it works, and why it matters. We also talk about how to build more awe into our lives. Episode Links Here's Why You Need to Be Cultivating Awe in Your Life An Awe Walk Strengthen Your Leadership with the Science of Awe Interview with Norman Farb author of Better in Every Sense The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Social connections are one of the keys to a happy and healthy life, yet few of us learn how to build them. If we're lucky, we have family and friends who model them. But even then, our biology equips us with cognitive biases that can get in the way. Fortunately, award-winning science writer David Robson has studied the research. He shares what he's learned in his latest book, The Laws of Connection: The Scientific Secrets of Building a Strong Social Network. In this conversation, he talks about the biases we hold and how we can overcome them. It's a terrific resource for rethinking your approach to social connection. Episode Links How Learning about the Science of Shyness Helped Me The Big Idea: Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid of Being a Mess Interview with Marissa King on Social Networks and Social Chemistry The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

There are many good reasons to look to others. For example, you might need expert advice or feedback to improve your performance. But there's one reason not to, and, that is, to determine your self-worth. When you look to someone else to define you or tell you how to live your life, you lose a lot. And if you find it hard to believe you'd ever let someone else influence you in those ways, you'd be surprised. Michael Gervais is a high-performance psychologist who's worked with elite athletes, artists, and leaders. Through his work, he's learned that one of the biggest obstacles standing in their way is fear of other people's opinions. And he's seen just how crippling those fears can be. That's why he's written the book, The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying about What People Think of You. In talking to Michael, I learned how our biology sets us up to place a lot of weight on other people's opinions. I also learned how social media is designed to reinforce that fear. Fortunately, Michael shared insights on what to do. I walked away feeling empowered. Episode Links Stop Basing Your Self-Worth on Other People's Opinions Free Your People from the Need for Social Approval Build a Great Team on a Relationship-Based Culture, Not the Myth of Family Interview with Jonathan Rhodes on Getting the Life You Want The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We're surrounded by people with knowledge. The manager who can provide expert feedback or the colleague who has important information. These kinds of insights can help us achieve our goals. Yet as much as we need that knowledge, we often don't act in ways that invite it. It's when the project runs behind or we can't make our numbers that we realize, often too late, that asking sooner could have made all the difference. These are the results Jeff Wetzler can help us avoid. His book, Ask: Tap into the Hidden Wisdom of People around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life, is a call to arms for regularly making asks that elicit the insights we need. His strategies are important for individuals, teams, and organizations. Episode Links How to Get the Honest Input You Need from Your Employees What Happens When You're Blindsided at Work? Why We Don't Raise Tough Issues and How to Get Better at It Interview with Anh Dao Pham on How to Succeed as a Project Leader The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We all want to be happy. In fact, it's our desire for happiness that drives most of our decisions, like our friendships, our activities, even our purchases. Yet, over time, we find that the things that made us so happy at the start – that new car or delicious meal – end up losing their luster. I was curious about why this happens and what, if anything, we can do about it. That's why I wanted to talk to Tali Sharot, cognitive neuroscientist, professor at University College London and MIT, and director of the Affective Brain Lab. In her latest book, Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There, she explains why the things that once made us happy no longer do. She also shares what we can do about it. Episode Links The Big Idea: This Simple Behavioural Trick Can Help You Get More out of Life Your Life is Better Than You Think Why People Fail to Notice Horrors around Them David Robson on How Our Expectations Shape Us (Interview) The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We crave meaning and purpose, yet obtaining them can feel beyond our control, like they're merely products of luck and circumstance. Fortunately, researchers who've studied the power of ritual have found they're more in our control than we think. In this interview, I talk to one of these researchers, psychologist Michael Norton. He shares how rituals, especially ones we create, can provide the meaning and purpose we crave. And, unlike habits, rituals operate on an emotional level that deepens the experience. In his book, The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions, Norton shares what rituals are, why they matter, and how they can help bolster us throughout our lives. Episode Links The Calming Power of Rituals Forget Habits in the New Year. Find Joy in Rituals with Others Breaking up Can Be Easier if You Have a Ritual Interview with Eduardo Briceno on The Performance Paradox The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

At some point, we all get stuck. Maybe it's in a job or career. Maybe it's a relationship or business venture. Though it's something we all experience, when it happens, we can feel alone and out of our depth. Emotions may overwhelm us. Mental traps lure is in. In no time at all, we can't see a way out. Award-winning professor, researcher, and author, Adam Alter, has spent decades studying how successful people get unstuck. In his latest book, Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most, he shares what we can do to move forward. Adam's recommendations can help us with what might be the most important times in our lives. Episode Links Life is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age by Bruce Feiler How the ‘Creative-Cliff Illusion' Limits Our Ideas by David Robson Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

When we're feeling stuck, it's tempting to believe more thinking is the answer. We stew and we ponder, and then we double down on solutions we've tried before. It's no wonder we start to feel like we just can't figure it out. But what would happen if we put thinking aside and tried something else? Author and researcher, Norman Farb, has learned that there's an entire canvas of sensory experience we can access any time we want. And by tapping into our senses, we may find ways to feel better. It's what Norm writes about in his book, Better in Every Sense: How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your life. By the time I reached the last page of this book, I felt like I'd been let in on an incredible set of tools for enriching my life. Episode Links How Your 5 Senses Can Help You Stop Worrying Feeling Sensations, Including Ones Connected to Sadness, May Be Key to Depression Recovery Attending to the Present: Mindfulness Meditation Reveals Distinct Neural Modes of Self-Reference Interview with Britt Frank on The Science of Stuck The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

When we think of geeks, we tend to think of the people who built the tech we use – from our smartphones to search engines to AI.   But if we just focus on the tech, we're missing out on a lot. We're overlooking how these same geeks reinvented corporate culture using a repeatable set of norms that ensure sustainable innovation. Andrew McAfee is a principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management and cofounder and codirector of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. He's been studying innovative companies for decades, and he's taken what he's learned and written about it in his latest book, The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results. I'm convinced what Andrew's learned about the geek way – and its four key norms – is a roadmap for where today's – and tomorrow's - companies are headed. Episode Links The Geek Way New Book Explains the ‘Geek Way' to Manage a Company Forward Thinking on How Geeks are Changing the World Interview with Roger Martin The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

There's more to being a workaholic than working long hours. Consider what motivates you to work more. Where you're spending your energy. Think about the impact those longer hours have on family and friends. These are some of the distinctions Malissa Clark makes in her book, Never Not Working: Why the Always-on Culture is Bad for Business and How to Fix it. She not only shares a helpful framework for thinking about workaholism but gives us ways to recognize it. Equally helpful, she explains steps we – and our organizations – can take to undo it. Malissa's book is a great resource for assessing workaholic tendencies and for changing them – as individuals, teams, and organizations. Episode Links Are You a Workaholic? Don't Wear it as a Badge of Honor These are the Four Drivers of Workaholism Thomas Curran on The Perfection Trap The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We associate the word epidemic with disease. Yet it's a word we're increasingly using to refer to a state of mind, namely, loneliness. Researchers have not only found a significant increase in people's feelings of loneliness, but they've also learned how detrimental loneliness can be to our health and wellbeing. One of the most effective antidotes to loneliness is feeling like we belong. In fact, researchers have discovered that feelings of belonging can spill over into every area of our lives, from school to work to home. When present, they can boost our motivation and performance. That's why I wanted to speak with Stanford psychologist Geoffrey Cohen, author of the book, Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides. Geoff has spent his career designing interventions to counter loneliness. In our conversation, he shares how taking even the smallest steps can reap big benefits. Episode Links Understanding and Overcoming Belonging Uncertainty The Science of Belonging and Connection A Crisis of Belonging Joe Keohane on the Benefits of Talking to Strangers The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

One-on-one meetings are the cornerstone of manager-employee relationships. For managers, they're an opportunity to teach, coach, and mentor. For employees, they're a chance to grow and develop. But given how important these meetings are, how well are we using them? How effectively do we plan and run them? Bottom line - are they an afterthought or a priority? These are just some of the questions, I asked meeting expert Steven Rogelberg, author of the book, Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings. In response, Steve not only described what the most effective one-on-one meetings look like, but he also explained how to design and lead them. I left the interview with lots of practical tips and tools. Episode Links This is the Most Important Meeting You'll Have. Here's How to Make It Better. Meetings Can Really Suck. Here's How to Fix That Managers, Take This Simple Assessment to Hold Better One-on-One Meetings Make the Most of Your One-on-One Meetings The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

For many of us, the word addiction quickly conjures up images of drugs and alcohol. But we're often slower to apply the term to compulsive, tech-induced behaviors like playing video games, checking social media, or shopping online. We prefer to think of these pleasure-seeking activities as harmless distractions. Yet they can just as easily lead to addictive behaviors. And with our ever-present smartphones, the chance of mindlessly engaging in these activities, to the point of addiction, are more likely than ever.   That's why I wanted to talk to Anna Lembke, author of the book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. Anna is a psychiatrist and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University. In this conversation, she uses patient stories to teach us about addiction. She also explains how our lifestyles encourage addictive behaviors. Finally, she shares insights on what we can do. I found her book to be revelatory and, as strange as this may sound, a real page turner. I also found it to be the resource we can all use to live more healthfully in a pleasure-filled world.  Episode Links We Have a Dopamine Problem I'm Addicted to My Phone. How Can I Cut Back? Constant Craving: How Digital Media Turned Us All into Dopamine Addicts Judson Brewer on Unwinding Anxiety The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We go to the dentist, get our eyes checked, and get our cars inspected. These regularly scheduled health and safety audits let us know how we're doing. But we rarely audit how we spend our time. Sure, most of us have a calendar. Yet few of us study how these calendar events impact our happiness. We rarely track the connection between what we spend our time doing and how well we're flourishing. As a result, we can find ourselves feeling unhappy, frustrated, and what scientists call “time poor.” Researchers like Cassie Holmes want to change that. They've learned there's a strong connection between how we spend our time and how happy we feel. In her book, Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, she shares ways we can optimize our calendars for happiness, including ways to avoid distraction, extend joy, create a meaningful schedule, and avoid regret. Holmes' tips on time tracking and time auditing are simple and powerful. As the year draws to a close, this may be just the book you're looking for as we head into a new year. Episode Links Having Too Little or Too Much Time is Linked to Lower Subjective Well-being Our Flawed Pursuit of Happiness – and How to Get It Right A Valuable Lesson for a Happier Life (video) Trust by Hernan Diaz The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

I've spent a lot of time talking to guests about our relationships at work. For example, we've discussed how to listen better, how to navigate conflict, and how to influence others, just to name a few. What I've spent less time talking about are the relationships that go beyond work. That's why I invited Kat Vellos on the show this week to talk about her amazing book, We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships.  Kat's book is more than a callout to the power of friendship. It's a roadmap for making new friends, and, equally valuable, it's an owner's manual for deepening existing friendships. It's an episode that really resonated with listeners. With the holidays approaching - and opportunities for more time with friends and family - I wanted to rebroadcast it for you. Enjoy! Episode Links How Many Hours Does It Take to Make a Friend by Jeffrey A. Hall Better Than Small Talk The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker Donald Horton and Richard Wohl and Para-Social Communication Loneliness and Social Connections Choke by Sian Beilock Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg Kat Vellos TED Talk Happy City by Charles Montgomery Having and Being Had by Eula Biss The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

In the U.S., we have laws and policies in place to prevent discrimination of Black workers. In addition, we have leaders who make public pledges in support of diversity goals. Yet the data continue to show that Black employees are less likely to be hired, more likely to stall out in mid-level positions, and stand little chance of gaining senior level positions. Why is that? Adia Harvey Winfield's work lies at the intersection of labor and race, and her research reveals that, for Black workers, there are gray areas. These gray areas are the cultural, social, and relational factors that influence who gets hired, who gets promoted, and who finds it easiest to navigate the workplace. That's what she writes about in her latest book, Gray Areas: How the Way We Work Perpetuates Racism and What We Can Do to Fix It. Adia shares powerful stories of Black workers across all kinds of professions and organizations. We're taken into the lived experiences of individual Black employees as they navigate landmines most of us don't even see. It's a book that took my understanding of racism in the workplace to a whole other level. Episode Links How Gray Areas in Work Culture Drive Racial Inequality What Do a Black Scientist, Non-Profit Executive, and Filmmaker Have in Common? They All Face Racism in the 'Gray Areas' of Workplace Culture We Built a Diverse Academic Department in 5 Years. Here's How. Joan Williams on Diversity Practices that Work The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

A well-crafted story can fuel connection. It can inspire trust and entertain. Better still, it can have a ripple effect. Yet most of us avoid telling stories. Instead, we stick to the facts and emphasize the data. Now, even if we believe this is the best way to convey information, our brains, if they could talk, would disagree. That's why, if we want to connect, persuade, or just keep our audience's attention, we need to get better at storytelling. That's why I wanted to speak with Karen Eber, author of the book, The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories That Inform, Influence, and Inspire. Karen not only explains why stories matter, she also explains how to craft them. Every section of this book is filled with takeaways you can immediately put into practice. It's a book I'll return to again and again. Episode Links How Your Brain Responds to Stories and Why They're Crucial for Leaders The 4-Part Structure to Telling Great Stories Vanessa Bohns on How We Influence Others The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We're often put on the spot to say something of value. And when it happens, it can catch us off guard. For example, you log in early to a conference call and need to make small talk with high status colleagues. Or you find out in a meeting that a co-worker is leaving the company, and you're asked to say a few words. These kinds of spontaneous interactions happen more often than we think. But unlike formal presentations or pitches, there's no time to practice. We wonder how to manage our anxiety and improve our performance. That's why communications expert, Matt Abrahams, wrote the book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot. He shares strategies to help us lower our stress and make what we say more concise, relevant, and memorable. Matt takes our on-the-spot communication to the next level. Episode Links How to Shine When You're Put on the Spot How to Speak Confidently When You're Put on the Spot The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff Episode 235 with Jonah Berger The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Most of us are on a performance treadmill. We show up. We execute. Then tomorrow we do it all over again. But this relentless focus on execution leaves little time for learning. As a result, our skills stagnate, and we accomplish less. Soon we find ourselves working harder while falling further behind. Eduardo Briceno calls this The Performance Paradox: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action, a label that's also the title of his book. In it, he shares how we can build learning into our day without sacrificing performance. It's a way of working that ensures high execution and continuous learning.   Episode Links 4 Signs of the Chronic Performance Trap and How to Break Free Your Talent Wants a Learning Culture. Here are 5 Steps to Create One Interview with Steve Magness My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We live and work in a digital world where getting interrupted by communication tools is the norm. That means we shift our attention at least every 47 seconds. Then it takes us about 30 minutes to get back on task. At the same time, we continually interrupt ourselves – looking things up, tracking information down. While some view this as a problem to be solved, Gloria Mark sees it simply as a new reality. And she believes we're using old language and frameworks to navigate it. Things like flow and sustained focus, when neither our brains nor our work allows for these kinds of solutions. Instead, she believes we need to lean into what our brains need, including taking social media breaks. She also believes we need to organize our day around what she calls kinetic attention. Gloria Mark's book, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity, gives the attention space a much-needed update. There are tips you'll immediately want to put into practice. Episode Links How to Restore Our Dwindling Attention Spans A Psychology Expert Shares the 3 Things She Always Does to Boost Her Brain Energy The Island of Lost Trees by Elif Shafak Interview with Nick Carr The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

As humans, we have certain default settings that help us navigate the world. Yet those same default settings make us vulnerable to fraud and deception. For example, our ability to focus helps us concentrate on what's right in front of us. But it also prevents us from seeing what's missing. For example, we're more willing to believe a presumed investment expert who touts a winning track record without thinking about the losses he never mentions. Our brains also rely on past experiences to guide our behavior. The upside is that it conserves energy and prevents us from having to relearn things like tying our shoes or driving to the store. Unfortunately, it predisposes us to act without thinking. That's why Daniel Simons has written a book called Nobody's Fool: Why We Get Taken in and What We Can Do about It. In it, he points out four habits that can put us at risk, and he shares ways to overcome them. He also points how others can leverage our very human tendencies to deceive us. Talking to Dan helped me see another side to some of my default settings and how I can stay vigilant, so I don't get fooled.    Episode Links Failures of Awareness: The Case of Inattentional Blindness Failure to Detect Changes to People During Real-World Interaction The Last Improv Show Interview with Woo-Kyoung Ahn The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

We're often told that saying yes to everything will be the key to our success. It'll strengthen our relationships, enhance our reputation, and help us achieve our goals. But what if the reverse were true? What if learning how to say no is the game changer? What if mastering this skill is the way to achieve our goals? Vanessa Patrick has written a book on the subject titled, The Power of Saying No: The New Science of How to Say No That Puts You in Charge of Your Life. There are so many factors that influence whether we achieve our goals, things like focus, persistence, and resilience. After reading Vanessa's book, I'd add knowing how and when to say no. Episode Links Getting to Gutsy: Using Personal Policies to Enhance (and Reclaim) Agency in the Workplace How to Say “No”: Conviction and Identity Attributions in Persuasive Refusal Juggling Work and Home Selves: Low Identity Integration Feels Less Authentic and Increases Unethicality The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Aiming for perfection seems like a noble goal. It's like we're holding ourselves to a higher standard or standing out from the crowd. But striving for perfection means working toward the impossible. And the cost to our mental and physical health can be enormous. London School of Economics Professor, Thomas Curran, experienced the impact of perfectionism firsthand. As a recovering perfectionist, he's made the field the focus of his research. Curran's research led to his book, The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough. In it, he explains the psychology behind it, calls out cultural messages that reinforce it, and shares steps we can take to overcome it. Episode Links Perfectionists Need to Embrace Failure The Rise of Perfectionism – and the Harm It's Doing Us All Understanding Perfectionism and Impostor Syndrome with Dr. Thomas Curran Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

For many, work is the centerpiece of our lives. It's not only a source of status and fulfillment, but also central to our identity. But what do we miss out on when hold these expectations of our work? What does it cost us? That's the question Simone Stolzoff asks in his book, The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work. In answering this question, he explains the drivers that got us here, the reasons society and culture reinforce them, and what life might look like if we reframed the role of work in our lives. He challenges us to recognize who benefits by us making work the whole of our lives. Episode Links Losing Your Job Doesn't Mean Losing Your Identity Please Don't Call My Job a Calling Stop Looking for the Perfect Job Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

Winning athletes and coaches have a lot to teach us. They're asked to perform at the highest level, day in and day out, and they face enormous pressure to succeed. Faced with these expectations, the most successful ones must continually elevate their performance. But how? That's a question Sally Jenkins has spent a career trying to answer. Through her work as a sportswriter at The Washington Post, she discovered the formula great players use to succeed, and she shares it with us in her latest book, The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us about Work and Life. It's a fascinating set of insights that will help you elevate your own performance. Episode Links Bitter Rivals. Beloved Friends. Survivors. Another Side of Dad This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.

There's a lot to be said for the excitement we feel when we first set a goal for ourselves. The sense of exhilaration can give us the momentum we need to get started. But when the exhilaration wears off – and it usually does – we're faced with a choice. Will we revert to old habits or develop new ones? These moments are what Jonathan Rhodes calls choice points, and the decisions we make can really add up. Ultimately, how we manage ourselves in these moments can be the difference between the life we have and the life we want. That's why I wanted to interview Jonathan Rhodes, author of the book, The Choice Point: The Scientifically Proven Method to Push Past Mental Walls and Achieve Your Goals. His Functional Imagery Training provides a concrete roadmap to help us stay the course. Episode Links Tokyo 2020: Simone Biles' Withdrawal is a Sign of Resilience and Strength How to Overcome Self-Limiting Beliefs The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz The Team Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Support the Podcast If you like the show, please rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you subscribe, and tell a friend or family member about the show. Subscribe Click here and then scroll down to see a sample of sites where you can subscribe.