Curious Minds at Work

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.

Coming up with good ideas is hard. But it’s not because we’re not creative or smart enough. It’s likely we just haven’t learned how. Fortunately, Sheena Iyengar, Professor at Columbia Business School, has written a playbook that answers the question, how can I get my best ideas? It’s her latest book, Think Bigger: How to Innovate. Sheena’s approach leads us, step by step, from generating ideas to assessing which ones are innovative enough to act on. It’s a method informed not only by others’ successes but the science behind them. It’s a book you’ll return to again and again. Episode Links Sheena Iyengar Wants Us to Understand How Humans Come Up with Big Ideas Does Brainstorming Actually Generate Great Ideas? If There are No New Ideas, How Do We Keep Innovating? Antonio Canova 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.

Ambition is complicated. Yet the messages we receive from an early age are simple: “Winners never quit.” “Reach for the stars.” “Follow your dreams.” But like most simple messages, reality often paints a very different picture. Long hours that lead to burnout, or individual striving that results in loneliness. Rainesford Stauffer ran up against these realities. And, in her work as a journalist, she spoke to others who did, as well. That’s what led her to rethink what ambition could be, and to write about it in her book, All the Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition and the Ways We Strive. In this interview, we talk about the roles history and religion have played in our ambition. We also discuss times when embracing ambition is a good thing. Ultimately, we try to uncover unexamined assumptions that can drive how we live our lives. Episode Links There’s No Such Thing as Getting Ahead by Rainesford Stauffer Seeking Self-Esteem: Construction, Maintenance, and Protection of Self-Worth by Jennifer Crocker and Lora E. Park Too Much of a Good Thing: The Effect of Contingency of Self-Worth on Goal Setting by Xi Chen Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins 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’ve all had the experience of working toward goals today that would benefit us in the future. Goals like exercising more, losing weight, or saving for retirement. Yet when faced with early-morning alarms or tempting desserts, we may lose sight of our goals. But what if the answer to sticking with them was to form a relationship with a very special person – future you? Hal Hershfield, author of the book, Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today, has spent his career studying what happens when we build a closer relationship with our future self. His work reveals how this relationship can have an outsize impact on our success, one that extends beyond weight loss, fitness, and a comfortable retirement. Episode Links Nina Strohminger and Elizabeth W. Dunn and Kate Christensen and Paola Giuliano End-of-History Illusion Here There Are Blueberries 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.

There’s never been a better time to question how we measure intelligence. With ChatGPT and other forms of artificial intelligence pushing the boundaries of what it means to be smart, there’s an opportunity – even an urgency – to reconsider everything we know. That’s why I wanted to talk to Rina Bliss, author of the book, Rethinking Intelligence: A Radical New Understanding of Our Human Potential. A sociologist and genetics expert, Rina brings a fresh perspective to the discussion that expands what’s been, for far too long, a reductive numbers game. In this interview, Rina offers a new model for assessing aptitude, one that extends beyond test results and mistaken assumptions about genetics. Instead, she explains how intelligence is far from fixed and how it’s deeply influenced by the degree of stress, connection, and play in our lives. Her book is filled with insights on how to rethink what it means to be smart, along with steps we can take to protect and deepen our intelligence. Episode Links AI Can’t Teach Children to Learn. What’s Missing? Conceptualizing Race in the Genomic Age DNA Tests for Intelligence Ignore the Real Reasons Why Kids Succeed or Fail The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr 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.

Small things add up. And, for the most part, that’s a good thing. Like taking the stairs to get more exercise or swapping out something sugary for a piece of fruit. Over time, small actions like these can add up to a healthier lifestyle. Yet there are times when the small things that add up work against our well-being. Every time your boss shifts your priorities. Each time you have to cancel connecting with a friend. Rob Cross and Karen Dillon take a closer look at these moments in their book, Microstress: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems – and What to Do about It. They explain how these seemingly small stresses can, over time, have a damaging effect on our physical and emotional well-being. They also share effective ways to handle them. Episode Links The Hidden Toll of Microstress The Microstress Effect Fight Back Against Microstress Narrative Economics with Robert Shiller 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.

Change is a part of life, and it’s a big part of growing and developing. Yet, with change comes uncertainty, and that can cause us to get stuck. To thrive during change, we need a mental agility that comes from self-awareness, emotional awareness, and situational awareness. It’s about what Elaine Fox calls, switch craft. Elaine Fox is a leading psychologist and performance coach who’s spent her career working with athletes, military leaders, and executives. What she’s seen is that the most successful people are the ones who can toggle between different approaches, who have an agile mind. In her book, Switch Craft: The Hidden Power of Mental Agility, Elaine Fox teaches us what it means to be mentally agile and how to master its key components. It’s the perfect book for managing all of the change and uncertainty that surrounds us today. Episode Links Gut Feelings: How Does Intuition Work, Anyway? Perspectives from affective science on understanding the nature of emotion Turn Your Subliminal Biases Toward Optimism The Matter of Everything: How Curiosity, Physics, and Improbable Experiments Changed the World by Suzie Sheehy 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.

No one wants to feel like a sucker. In fact, the very thought of being one – of playing the fool – shapes our behavior in powerful ways. But what if our fear causes us to make choices that aren’t good for us? Or worse, what if people weaponize our fear in order to dominate or disempower us? Tess Wilkinson-Ryan has written a stunning book on the topic called, Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order and What We Can Do about It. A psychologist and law professor, Tess helps us understand what this fear is, why we have it, and how it plays out in law, politics, and everyday life. She also shares how to overcome it and make the decisions that are aligned with our goals. It’s a book you’ll keep thinking about long after you’ve read it. Episode Links Breach is for Suckers Transferring Trust: Reciprocity of Norms and Assignment of Contract Moral Judgment and Moral Heuristics in Breach of Contract Njinga of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen by Linda Heywood 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.

Almost everything we do – personally and professionally – is affected by the words we use. They help us build relationships, persuade others, and communicate feelings. But what if I told you that 6 types of words were better at doing those things than all the others? These findings are at the heart of Jonah Berger’s latest book, Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way. Jonah is a bestselling author who’s studied millions of words used in all kinds of settings. And he’s found that certain words hold the key to getting your way. Whether you want to be more effective in achieving your goals or just become more aware of how you’re coming across, this book is for you. Episode Links 3 Rhetorical Techniques to Increase Your Impact How Language Shapes Word of Mouth’s Impact Don’t Just Vote Be a Voter This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 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.

The pandemic caused many of us to rethink our lives. From the places we’ve been living to the work we’ve been doing. It’s been an opportunity to hit the reset button. Of course, financial considerations play a central role, and that’s something Jill Schlesinger began to notice. It’s what prompted her to write her latest book, The Great Money Reset: Change Your Work, Change Your Wealth, Change Your Life. A financial analyst and former financial planner, Jill wants to give us the financial tools we need to hit the reset button. That includes new ways of thinking about money, taxes, home ownership, and the businesses we want to build or sell. Her book is masterful. She takes a topic most people fear – money – and helps us put it in service of how we want to live. Episode Links Jill on Money: The IRS is Your Friend How Changing Careers after 45 Can Pay Off in the Long Run Jill on Money: Inflation Takes Bite out of Savings The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn 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 adults, we need to learn new things all the time. Yet many of us are relying on the same outdated methods we used as adolescents to do it. Thinks like relentless highlighting and endless rereading. If so, it may be time to take advantage of the latest research on learning. That’s where Daniel Willingham comes in. In this interview, we discuss his latest book, Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy. Dan explains when our brains may be working against us. He also shares specific strategies for overriding our brains, so we can convert information into knowledge and understanding. In a world where learning is more important than ever – for our lives and careers – Dan’s book is just the resource we need. Episode Links You’ve Been Studying All Wrong. This Professor Can Help You Outsmart Your Brain Proof Points: One Expert on What Students Do Wrong One Thing Teachers Can Do to Help Students Change Their Habits Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 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 of the messages our culture delivers is “not enough.” Not clever enough. Not busy enough. Not successful enough. It’s a cultural mantra that beats just below the surface of many conversations, especially the ones we have with ourselves. That’s what’s so refreshing about Vanessa Bohns’ book, You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters. Vanessa’s message, when it comes to influence and persuasion, is that we’re more than enough. That’s why it’s so important we understand how they work because, like our favorite superheroes, we can use these powers for good or for evil. Vanessa is a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and Harvard Business Review, among other publications. Episode Links Shared Experiences are Amplified Audience-tuning Effects on Memory Saying is Believing Effect Prison Book Program 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.

Confidence seems elusive. We do something that comes easily and we don’t think twice about it. Or we try something new, experience setbacks, and question our capabilities. It leaves us thinking that confidence is something other people just seem to have. All the time. Performance psychologist Nate Zinsser knows that’s just not true. For decades he’s been working with Olympians, professional athletes, military leaders, and other high performers in his role as Director of West Point's Performance Psychology Program. What he’s learned is that confidence is something we need to build, protect, and practice. In his book, The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance, he shares the methods he’s developed to help us do just that. Reading Nate’s book helped me realize just how many misconceptions we have about confidence. And they’re the kind of misconceptions that can really hold us back. I think you’ll enjoy the interview and I know you’ll learn a lot from the book. Episode Links How I Avoid Burnout: A West Point Performance Psychologist A Psychologist Who Helps West Point Cadets Develop Mental Strength Shares 3 of His Best Tips Plateaus, Dips, and Leaps: Where to Look for Inventions and Discoveries During Skilled Performance When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut 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 have a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. We love that feeling of a fresh start. But we hate how our commitments seldom make it to Valentine’s Day. So what if this year we had an expert teach us how to do it right? Ayelet Fishbach is that expert. She’s a social psychologist at the University of Chicago and author of the book, Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation. In this interview, we talk about how to choose goals that energize us and how to pair them with incentives that keep us motivated. We also discuss a system for working on multiple goals simultaneously. Finally, we learn about the power of social support and how we can get it. Episode Links Immediate Rewards Predict Adherence to Long-term Goals The Structure of Intrinsic Motivation You Think Failure is Hard? So Is Learning From It Slacking in the Middle Pursuing Goals with Others Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner About Us Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here. Rate and Review 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.

How we think about things can have an outsize impact on whether we achieve our goals. Take, for example, the research we might do to make an important decision. If we’re already committed to a certain way of thinking, it’s likely we’ll only focus on information that confirms what we already believe. It’s what scientists call confirmation bias, and it can cause us to overlook, or even dismiss, information critical to things like our health, our finances, and our careers. And it’s not the only mental bias we hold. That’s why, to make better decisions, we need to start by understanding what these biases are. Next, we need to learn when they’re most likely to kick in. Then, we need to know how to circumvent them. These are the reasons Woo-kyoung Ahn wrote her book, Thinking 101: How to Reason Better to Live Better. Ahn’s book is based on the wildly popular course she teaches at Yale. It includes riveting examples, amazing research findings, and targeted steps we can take to address our biases. She provides a versatile set of tools we can use to improve our mental performance. Episode Links Bias on the Brain Be Mindwise: Perspective Taking vs Perspective Getting What's Fueling Lonnie Walker IV's Surge with the Los Angeles Lakers by Dave McMenamin 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.

Who are you? It’s a question you’ve had to answer if you’ve ever moved, changed jobs, or started a new relationship. And it’s natural that who you are will change with each new experience you gain and new memories you form. The “story of you” will be different. At the same time, our brain is an incredible editor. With limited storage space for memories, it’s got to pick and choose. It does that by connecting the dots between them to give us the stories we tell about ourselves. In other words, who we are is who we say we are. It’s informed by our past, our present, and predictions we make about our future. That’s both tremendously freeing and just a little bit scary. At any moment, we’re not one self, we’re many selves. And that self is constructed. By us. Gregory Berns walks us through all of this and more in his latest book, The Self Delusion: The New Neuroscience of How We Invent – and Reinvent – Our Identities. He points out that we are, by nature, storytellers, and he shares ways to put that skill to work for us, so we can avoid regret and prioritize our values. This is a great book to read if you’re feeling stuck or trying to make a major life decision. It’ll help you weigh the options and gain a different perspective on how you see yourself. Episode Links Changing the Narrative of Your Self How Do the Books We Read Change Our Brains? Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet 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.

Work relationships matter more than we think. They can be a key reason we stay in a job or the reason we leave. When they don’t go well, they can consume a lot of our time and energy, both in and out of work. That’s why we need to get better at them. Even the difficult ones, like a boss who takes all the credit or a co-worker who’s perpetually negative. Amy Gallo is an expert on conflict and a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review. In this interview, we discuss her most recent book, Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People). We talk about why work relationships are worth the time we invest, even when they’re challenging. In fact, it’s when they’re challenging that we need to work that much harder to overcome our most primal default settings. Amy shares a number of tools we can use to gain a different perspective, pressure test our assumptions, and respond so that we spend less time outside of work dealing with difficult people. And so we have more options than to give up or walk away. It’s a book I think you’ll return to again and again over the course of your career. Episode Links 4 Tactics That Backfire When Dealing with a Difficult Colleague How to Navigate Conflict with a Coworker Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 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.

What if becoming a better quitter was something to aspire to? Annie Duke thinks it is. She’s a national science foundation fellowship winner and bestselling author who’s used her background in psychology to become a successful poker player and business advisor. Lately, she’s spent time studying the power of quitting, a tool she argues is as important as grit, resilience, and sticking it out. The science shows we’re not great at it. We don’t fire quickly enough. We don’t quit soon enough. We don’t end relationships early enough. Why? Well, identity and goals play a role. Along with many of the messages our culture sends that err more on the side of stick it out than on the side of quit and try something else. Annie’s compelling book on the topic is titled, Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away. It’ll help you see how sticking with something that’s not working is just as much a decision as quitting. You’ll begin to view quitting as an important tool to add to your decision-making toolkit, especially when you understand better when to use it. Episode Links Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer To Change, or Not to Change? Just Flip a Coin Horse by Geraldine Brooks 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.

What if the skills we need to thrive in uncertainty were ones we already had? That’s the case Jennifer Garvey Berger makes in her latest book, Unleash Your Complexity Genius: Growing Your Inner Capacity to Lead. When life is good, we make time to connect, engage, and create. But when it’s uncertain, stress gets in the way of these healthy behaviors. While we can’t always change life’s complexity, we can counter its effects by tapping into healthy features of our biology. These include our breath, laughter, and social connections. This is a book to read with your colleagues, your teams, or all by yourself. It’ll help you take the first steps toward responding to uncertainty in healthier and happier ways. Episode Links The Expectation Effect by David Robson Quit by Annie Duke Akasha and Vernice Jones and Carolyn Coughlin Changing on the Job by Jennifer Garvey Berger Good Arguments by Bo Seo 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.

Your manager sees it one way. Your colleague sees it another. Both ways are different from yours. Why is that? Well, our brains may have something to do with it. Today’s brain researchers are studying what makes our brains different. They’re finding that these differences not only impact how we interpret situations, but also how well we’re able to focus, learn new things, and adapt to change. They’re also discovering what motivates us and how well we connect with teammates. Chantel Prat is a neuroscientist who studies brain differences, and she’s written a book on the subject, The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours. In it, she explains how differences in brain design play out in work and in life. She helps us appreciate these differences and gain greater empathy for one another. Episode Links The Dress Michael Gazzaniga and Roger Wolcott Sperry and Simon Baron-Cohen Hebbian Theory PACE Model of Curiosity Theory of Mind Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 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.

How we think about toughness needs a reset. Too often, it’s been associated with brute forcing our way through things. Ignoring our feelings. Making an outward show of confidence and dominance. The problem is it just doesn't work. Performance coach and bestselling author, Steve Magness, offers another way. He’s done a deep dive on the latest research on toughness and performance. In his book, Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and The Surprising Science of Real Toughness, he discusses the misconceptions of our current model. Then he offers a new one informed by the latest in neuroscience and psychology research. Along the way, he translates research findings into practical steps we can take to make the shift. If you’re a performance junkie, you’ll gain a lot from this interview. You can also apply his ideas to managing your teams. If you enjoy Steve’s approach, check out my previous interview with him on finding your passion at work and in life, episode 142. Episode Links How to be More Resilient, According to an Elite Performance Coach The Secret to Developing Resilient Teams and Organizations Changing This 1 Word in Your Thoughts Can Boost Mental Toughness and Resilience, Psychologists Say Steven Callahan Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton 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.

What do you do when a promotion isn't an option? Maybe there aren’t enough positions to go around. It’s not the right moment in your career. Or maybe you don’t want the management responsibilities. In each case, you can feel stuck. But what if there were other options for career growth and development? That’s the case Julie Winkle Giulioni makes in her book, Promotions are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development and Help Employees Thrive. In it, she shares seven areas for growth that leaders can develop in their organizations, teams, and individual employees. Julie’s insights offer a slate of new options to managers and individual contributors, each of which can have a positive impact on all areas of the organization. If you’re looking to meet employees where they are and modernize your organization in the process, Julie’s book is a terrific resource. Episode Links Multidimension Career Framework Psychological safety and Amy Edmonson The Inner Game of Career Development Defeat Disconnection with Development The Earned Life by Marshall Goldsmith 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.

Is our cultural conditioning holding women back at work? We don’t often notice how we’re culturally conditioned. Like when we walk into a store and the girls’ toys are pink and boys’ toys are blue. It’s a gender norm we may not question. Now you might ask, in the big scheme of things, how much do kids’ toy colors really matter? But what about actual behaviors, like when girls are playing together and they’re told to be quiet and play nice? Years later, these kinds of gender norms show up in the workplace. For example, men can be loud and openly ambitious, while women need to be warm and likeable. Yet, it’s these kinds of behaviors that can hold women back. The kind of body language and spoken language that got women the job may not get them promoted. I invited Susannah Baldwin on the show because she’s spent decades studying the causes and effects of women’s cultural conditioning and its impact on their advancement in the workplace. In her book, Women, Language, and Power: Giving Voice to Our Ambition, she shines a light on how dominant a force this conditioning is. She also offers thoughtful guidance on how to overcome it. Whether you’re looking to understand the challenges for yourself or your team, you’ll find this book to be an incredible resource. Episode Links What Likeability Really Means in the Workplace Bem Sex-Role Inventory Let's Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower by Therese Huston Self-Promotion as a Risk Factor for Women: The Costs and Benefits of Counterstereotypical Impression Management Karin Martin gender researcher Persuasiveness of Confidence Expressed via Language and Body Language Anna Fels Executive Presence by Sylvia Ann Hewlett Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu 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 times in our lives where we feel stuck, be it personally or professionally. It might be in our career. It might in a relationship. We’re smart, so we try to think our way out of it. But when we’re really stuck, thinking can turn into ruminating. And the more we think, the more we stay stuck. That’s when the labeling kicks in. The voice in our head labels us lazy, or crazy, or just plain unmotivated. Today’s guest, Britt Frank, is a licensed specialist clinical social worker (LSCSW). She’s written the book, The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find your Path Forward. Britt’s the perfect person to teach us how thinking our way forward may not be the right tool for the job. In this interview, she explains how we get stuck and steps we can take to move through it. Episode Links Eustress vs Distress Cognitive behavioral therapy Brene Brown Peter Levine and somatic experiencing Carl Jung and the Shadow Side Bessel van der Kolk William Worden and the 4 Tasks of Grieving The Sun Valley Wellness Festival Do Hard Things by Steve Magness 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 that if we're smart, work hard, and hit our targets, we've got what it takes to get promoted. And, in some organizations, we might be right. But, in many organizations, those skills only take us so far. Research shows that there's an additional set of skills, one we don't often discuss. Things like, strategic networking, political intelligence, and likeability. If you're like most people, these skills bring up a lot of strong emotions. You may even ask, why can't my work just speak for itself? Yet, if you think about who's gotten ahead at the places you've worked, you may start to see a pattern. That's what led Michael Wenderoth to write the book, Get Promoted: What You're Really Missing at Work That's Holding You Back. He noticed the gap between what we're often told to do to get ahead and what we actually need to do. This book is his attempt to fill that gap, and it's a much-needed resource for today's employee who's looking to get promoted. Episode Links Herminia Ibarra Power mapping For the Birds exhibit at Brooklyn Botanic Garden 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.