Meaningful Work Matters

In this episode, Andrew Soren is joined by executive coach and humour ambassador Bea Bincze for a conversation about why humor, playfulness, and what she calls “fun framing” deserve a bigger place in how we think about meaningful work. Meaningful work often carries a lot of weight. It matters to us, and it asks a lot of us. In many cases, it pulls people toward seriousness, perfectionism, and a se...

In this episode of Meaningful Work Matters, host Andrew Soren is joined by Stanford design leader and life design pioneer Bill Burnett for a conversation about what it means to build a meaningful life, and why that question is bigger than work alone. Bill brings a design thinking lens to the topic meaning: how do we move beyond transactional living and create a life that feels psychologically rich...

In this episode, Andrew is joined by psychology and philosophy researcher Joffrey Fuhrer to explore the critical role of self-transcendence and positive impact in experiencing meaningful work. Drawing on his empirical research into well-being and morality, Joffrey challenges the modern, highly individualized pursuit of happiness, arguing instead that true meaning requires an outward focus and a ta...

A Note Before You Listen We are sharing this episode in memory of Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky, who passed away on May 7, 2026. Isaac was a giant in the field of positive psychology — a scholar, a humanist, and a tireless advocate for fairness and well-being. He touched the lives of tens of thousands of students, researchers, and practitioners around the world, and his influence on this podcast, and on...

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Dr. Rodney Schmaltz , a psychology professor at MacEwan University, to explore what the evidence actually says about productivity, meaningful work, and how we structure our days, and where the popular advice gets it wrong. Rod's perspective is shaped by two research streams that turn out to have more in common than they first appear: studying how people thrive...

In this episode, Andrew moderates a live panel hosted by the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC) , a professional association representing over 1,800 IP lawyers, patent agents, and trademark agents across Canada, now celebrating its 100th year. The conversation brings together three IP professionals to explore what thriving actually looks like inside a demanding, high-stakes professio...

This is part two of our conversation with Dr. Joel Vos . If you haven't listened to part one yet, we recommend starting there first. In this episode, Andrew and Joel pick up where they left off, moving from the taxonomy of meaning at work into some of the harder questions about what happens when meaning goes unrealized, and what that costs individuals and societies alike. Joel draws on Albert Camu...

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Joel Vos , researcher, philosopher, and psychotherapist, to explore where our ideas about meaningful work actually come from, and how the broader economic and historical context shapes what people seek from their jobs today. Joel approaches meaningful work from the outside in. Rather than starting with the workplace, he starts with evolutionary psychology, phil...

In this episode of Meaningful Work Matters, host Andrew Soren finds himself in the hot seat. Dr. Llewellyn E. van Zyl , positive psychology pracademic and a returning guest of the show, steps in as interviewer to explore the story behind our host and what happens to the person underneath when they keep becoming someone new. Andrew has moved across a wide range of roles over his career: theatre pro...

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Kathy Miller , a former senior operations executive whose career spans large-scale manufacturing, unionized environments, and global operations leadership. Kathy brings a rare perspective shaped by decades of leading under intense performance pressure, followed by formal training in positive psychology. Rather than approaching meaningful work as a matter of mot...

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Steve Taylor , professor of leadership and creativity at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Business School, to explore how art, aesthetics, and sensory experience shape meaningful work. Steve brings a rare perspective as both a leadership scholar and a practicing playwright. Rather than treating leadership as a set of competencies or frameworks, he invi...

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Sue der Kinderen , organizational health psychologist and researcher. Rather than focusing only on how people feel at work, Sue invites us to pay closer attention to what people actually do . Drawing on her research into eudaimonic well-being at work, Sue introduces a behavioral view of meaningful work, one rooted in personal growth, pursuit of purpose, and pos...

Work does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in spaces that shape how we feel, think, connect, and grow. In this episode, Andrew sits down with Jenna Mikus to explore what it means to design for human flourishing. Jenna brings a rare interdisciplinary lens that bridges architecture, wellbeing science, organizational design, and philosophy. Together, they unpack the concept of eudaimonic design and...

In this episode, Andrew speaks with Bree Groff about why our days at work deserve protection on their own terms and how leaders can build healthier, more human team environments. Together, they explore why burnout often signals a deeper business issue, how time becomes the most undervalued resource in the workplace, and what it looks like to create systems that support real people rather than extr...

Healthcare workers enter their roles with deep values and a desire to help others, yet many find themselves in systems that constrain their ability to act on those values. In this episode, Laura Holford and Anu Gorukanti explore how community, creativity, and spirituality give clinicians a way to restore agency and reconnect with their humanity. The trio discuss moral distress, moral injury, and t...

In this episode, philosopher Kevin Aho joins Andrew Soren to explore how modern life has turned meaning into measurement. Together, they examine how neoliberal values have reshaped higher education, the wellness industry, and even our sense of self. Kevin and Andrew discuss how the culture of busyness and the commodification of well-being have left many people feeling unmoored, and why rediscoveri...

What can Aristotle teach us about meaningful work today? In this episode, Andrew Soren sits down with Marcel Meyer , professor at the School of Economics and Business at the University of Navarra, to explore how virtue ethics can help us navigate modern leadership and organizational life. Drawing from Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia (human flourishing), Marcel shares how cultivating character, w...

What makes people feel they truly matter at work? In this episode, we talk with Dr. Beverly Kaye , a trailblazer in career development, employee engagement, and retention. For more than 50 years, Bev has shown that the small things leaders do, like noticing and naming what they see, can have the biggest impact on whether people grow, feel valued, and choose to stay. In their conversation, Andrew a...

This week, we’re celebrating a milestone: the 50th episode of Meaningful Work Matters! Over the past two years, we’ve spoken with more than 50 researchers, thinkers, and practitioners who are reimagining what makes work meaningful. To mark this moment, we are doing something different. Instead of an interview, Andrew shares his own reflections, based on an article co-written with his mentor and fr...

What makes work worth doing? In this episode, Andrew sits down with Jennifer Tosti-Kharas and Christopher Wong Michaelson , co-authors of Is Your Work Worth It? and The Meaning and Purpose of Work . Jennifer is a psychologist and Christopher is a philosopher, and together they bring complementary perspectives to one of the most important questions of our time: how do we define meaningful work, and...

What does it really take to understand well-being? In this episode, Andrew Soren speaks with Llewellyn van Zyl , a positive organizational psychologist and data scientist who is rethinking how we measure and design for human flourishing. Llewellyn shares why traditional “top-down” models of well-being often fall short, and introduces a bottom-up, person-centered approach that treats every individu...

In this episode of Meaningful Work Matters, we speak with Lesley-Ann Noel , Dean of Design at OCAD University and author of Design Social Change . They explore how design can be a radical, joyful act of agency that shapes the world we want to live in. From understanding your own positionality to deeply listening to others, Lesley-Ann shares how embracing both joy and anger can fuel social transfor...

In this episode of Meaningful Work Matters, host Andrew Soren sits down with Danish philosopher and entrepreneur Morten Albæk, founder of Voluntās and author of One Life: How We Forgot to Live Meaningful Lives . With a career spanning from senior executive roles in banking and wind energy to launching the first firm to measure meaningfulness, Morten brings a rare mix of philosophical depth and bus...

How can caregiving, especially the kinds we rarely talk about, become a powerful form of leadership? In this episode, Andrew Soren speaks with Terrance L. (T. L.) Boyd, Ph. D. , Assistant Professor of Management and Leadership at Texas Christian University. T.L. brings both personal insight and academic rigor to a conversation about non-traditional caregiving. His research explores how responsibil...

What does it mean to live, and work, a life worth living? In this episode, Andrew Soren speaks with Dr. Alan Waterman , Professor Emeritus of Psychology at The College of New Jersey and one of the earliest psychologists to empirically distinguish eudaimonia from hedonia. Al shares how a life grounded in self-realization, rather than external rewards or fleeting happiness, can guide our career choi...