Being Well Podcast: Emotions in the Workplace

09 Dec Being Well Podcast: Emotions in the Workplace

Posted at 05:00h in Anxiety and Fear Podcast, Effective Communication Podcast, Podcasts, Relationships Podcast by
Being Well Podcast: Liz Fosslien on Emotions in the Workplace

On this podcast we’ve mostly explored what we can do as individuals to grow the strengths we need to become ever more internally resourced, so we’re able to overcome the often-challenging external circumstances that life often throws at us.

The modern workplace can be an emotional minefield. Many people feel that they’re expected to walk a delicate tightrope between being open, personable, and seemingly emotionally authentic…but without “oversharing,” or being a bit “too sensitive,” or otherwise allowing the very real emotional ups and downs that affect all of us to creep into the meeting room.

 And the ways that the workplace has changed due to technology have only blurred the lines between the personal and the professional even more.

For most of us, about a third of our lives will be spent at work. Learning how to work with and manage our internal lives, including our emotions, in that setting is a huge part of the task of becoming a reasonably healthy, emotional intelligent human. 

To help us do just that, today I’m joined by Liz Fosslien. Liz is the Head of Content and Editorial at Humu, a company that uses behavioral science to make work better, and the co-author and illustrator of the thoroughly wonderful Wall Street Journal best-seller No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work.

Some of the topics we explore include:

  • How to effectively take time away from work.
  • Why passion may not be your friend.
  • How to establish healthy boundaries.
  • The importance of saying no. 

If you’d like to start making real, positive changes to your brain and your life, but you don’t have a lot of extra time, then you may want to check out my new program: Just One Minute. Use the code BEINGWELL at checkout for 10% off the purchase price.

Connect with the show:

Timestamps:

01:52: Why focus on emotions in the workplace?

06:12: Why you should be less passionate about work.

12:10: Shifting workplace culture.

15:48: Establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries.

22:32: Useful and not-useful emotions.

25:54: The importance of “psychological safety.”

31:45: Managing unusual power dynamics.

38:31: What is “forced positivity,” and is it problematic?

42:20: A message to her younger self.

Tags:
, , , ,


Dr. Ramani Durvasula is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and expert on the impact of toxic narcissism. She is a Professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, and also a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg.

The focus of Dr. Ramani’s clinical, academic, and consultative work is the etiology and impact of narcissism and high-conflict, entitled, antagonistic personality styles on human relationships, mental health, and societal expectations. She has spoken on these issues to clinicians, educators, and researchers around the world.

She is the author of Should I Stay or Should I Go: Surviving a Relationship With a Narcissist, and Don't You Know Who I Am? How to Stay Sane in an Era of Narcissism, Entitlement, and Incivility. Her work has been featured at SxSW, TEDx, and on a wide range of media platforms including Red Table Talk, the Today Show, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery, and Bravo, and she is a featured expert on the digital media mental health platform MedCircle. Dr. Durvasula’s research on personality disorders has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and she is a Consulting Editor of the scientific journal Behavioral Medicine.

Dr. Stephen Porges is a Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland. He is a former president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and has been president of the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences, which represents approximately twenty-thousand biobehavioral scientists. He’s led a number of other organizations and received a wide variety of professional awards.

In 1994 he proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of physiological states in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders, and has had a major impact on the field of psychology.

Dr. Porges has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers across a wide array of disciplines. He’s also the author of several books including The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation.

Dr. Bruce Perry is the Principal of the Neurosequential Network, Senior Fellow of The ChildTrauma Academy, and a Professor (Adjunct) in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and the School of Allied Health at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. From 1993 to 2001 he was the Thomas S. Trammell Research Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of psychiatry at Texas Children's Hospital.

He’s one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of trauma in childhood, and his work on the impact of abuse, neglect, and trauma on the developing brain has impacted clinical practice, programs, and policy across the world. His work has been instrumental in describing how traumatic events in childhood change the biology of the brain.

Dr. Perry's most recent book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, was released earlier this year. Dr. Perry is also the author, with Maia Szalavitz, of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, a bestselling book based on his work with maltreated children, and Born For Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered. Additionally, he’s authored more than 300 journal articles and book chapters and has been the recipient of a variety of professional awards.

Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith is a child clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and issues of race. She earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard and then received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. She performed postdoctoral work at the University of California San Francisco/San Francisco General Hospital. She has combined her love of teaching and advocacy by serving as a professor and by directing mental health programs for children experiencing trauma, homelessness, or foster care.

Dr. Briscoe-Smith is also a senior fellow of Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and is both a professor and the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Wright Institute. She provides consultation and training to nonprofits and schools on how to support trauma-informed practices and cultural accountability.

Sharon Salzberg is a world-renowned teacher and New York Times bestselling author. She is widely considered one of the most influential individuals in bringing mindfulness practices to the West, and co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts alongside Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. Sharon has been a student of Dipa Ma, Anagarika Munindra, and Sayadaw U Pandita alongside other masters.

Sharon has authored 10 books, and is the host of the fantastic Metta Hour podcast. She was a contributing editor of Oprah’s O Magazine, had her work featured in Time and on NPR, and contributed to panels alongside the Dalai Lama.

Get the Just One Thing
Weekly Newsletter

A simple practice each week that will bring you more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind and heart.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

You can unsubscribe at any time and your email address will never be shared.