You’re days into a work project, staring at a screen, feeling anxious about your tight deadline. Mid-afternoon your phone lights up with a call from a friend. You want to connect, but you feel like you don’t have a minute to spare. You let the call go into voicemail.
On the surface, this decision may seem inconsequential. But what if you knew that a decision like this, centered on an opportunity for social connection, could make a difference in the health of your brain? Would you make time for the call?
Ben Rein is author of the book, Why Brains Needs Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection. He studies the impact of social interactions on brain health and helps us understand, at a cellular level, the biological importance of human relationships.
After listening to this interview, you may find yourself picking up the phone a whole lot more.
Episode Links
Wired for Connection, Cursed by Computers: How Social Media May Be Affecting Our Empathy
The Sci-Fi Hypothesis that Explains Why You Click with Certain People
Interview With Kasley Killam
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
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55:30
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55:30
CM 302: Paul Leonardi on Overcoming Digital Exhaustion
Digital exhaustion is real. We’re working across more apps than ever before, and since they’re always accessible, work-life boundaries have disappeared. Combine this with our personal tech, and we’ve got a recipe for burnout.
Paul Leonardi is a Professor of Technology Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After decades of business consulting, he’s had a front-row seat to employees’ digital burnout. What he saw led him to create concrete solutions, which he outlines in his latest book, Digital Exhaustion: Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life.
These are smart and sensible strategies leaders can put into practice to improve employees’ quality of life – and work.
Episode Links
Developing a Digital Mindset
Are Collaboration Tools Overwhelming Your Team
Interview with Gloria Mark
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
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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.
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53:20
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53:20
CM 301: Colin Fisher on Building Smarter Teams
We spend a lot of our lives in groups. Whether it’s at work. With friends. Even with family. Yet we tend to focus on everyone as individuals. We rarely think about things from the group’s perspective.
Colin Fisher is an expert in organizational behavior and an associate professor at University College London, and he wants to change that. His book, The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups, is his insightful attempt at sharing the latest insights on high-performing teams and how to lead them.
Episode Links
Top Six Tips for Terrific Teams
5 Secrets for Getting the Most out of Working as a Group
Interview with Keith Sawyer on groups’ collective genius
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.
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52:00
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52:00
CM 300: Zorana Ivcevic Pringle on Turning Ideas into Action
What prevents some of us from acting on our creative ideas while others dive right in?
That’s the question creativity researcher, Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, set out to answer. It’s what she writes about in her book, The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action.
Zorana is a senior research scientist at Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Through her work, she’s learned that creativity is a choice, and, when things get hard, we need to employ specific psychological and emotional tools to sustain our efforts. We also need to tap into strong and weak ties for support.
If you’re looking to unstick your creative capacity, this is the book you’ll want to pick up. It’s an inspiring read!
Episode Links
How We Think about Creativity Matters
Creativity is a Choice, Not a Trait
What Art Teaches Us
Interview with Moshe Bar, Episode 214, Curious Minds at 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.
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45:28
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45:28
CM 299: Zach Mercurio on Feeling Like You Matter
Good things happen when people know they matter. Engagement and performance increase, which then motivates people to stay. In addition, they’re happier, which, makes work more enjoyable for everyone.
But creating this kind of workplace doesn’t happen by accident. It requires that leaders consistently apply a set of specific skills focused on these outcomes. That’s why I wanted to talk to Zach Mercurio, author of the book The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance.
Zach holds a PhD in organizational learning, performance, and change. He advises leaders on practices for building cultures that promote well-being, motivation, and high performance. His previous book is The Invisible Leader.
Episode Links
Great Leaders Make People Feel Noticed
The Power of Mattering at Work
To Become a Better Leader, Change the Way You See People
Interview with Adam Galinsky on what great leaders do – author of Inspire
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
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Want to get better at work? At managing others? Managing yourself? Gayle Allen interviews experts who take your performance to the next level. Each episode features a book with insights to help you achieve your goals.