Empowering Workplaces

Welcome to Empowering Workplaces! If you care about making work better, as a leader or an employee - and helping yourself and others navigate the evolving nature of the business world, you are in the right place!  Empowering Workplaces is hosted by Maddie Grant, a culture designer and co-founder of a firm called PROPEL, that helps organizations design evolutionary and disruption-proof cultures tha...

We set out to create a podcast to help organizations have their people feel seen and heard; like they are making a difference in all parts of their life. We also shared strategies with workers directly about ways they can grow their careers, feel fulfilled and happy inside and outside of the workplace. As we shared important conversations with our guests, one word kept coming up to reflect the fee...

How often do you wonder what is holding you back?  In today’s episode, we talk about Positive Intelligence and Self Sabotage. The negative voices you may hear in your head can cause stress, and unhappiness, and get in the way of your performance and wellbeing. This is why it's so important to understand what they are and the best way to deal with them so you can more effectively handle life’s chal...

How do you get to the many things you want to achieve, especially as a working parent? As we start to reflect on this past year and plan for the one ahead, many of us are still searching for best ways to feel fulfilled in various aspects of our lives without burning ourselves out. While there may not be a magic answer, there are things that both employees and employers can do to make this feeling...

As employees, we always want to be "in the know." And as employers, we want our workforce to have all the most important information. But, even with the best intentions, workers feel like they are either overwhelmed with information and can't keep up, or simply are not getting the information that's most important to them. We have so many more channels available than ever before, so what gives? Jo...

When things change in your life, it can impact your mental health and wellbeing. You may even feel out of control in situations that you didn’t expect. However, learning to navigate the way you deal with these different situations and reframe how you think about them will benefit you in ways you might have never thought. Join us in this conversation to Dr. Deborah Gilboa, author of the book From S...

In today’s episode, we are talking about ESG – environmental, social, governance – and corporate social responsibility with Keesa Schreane, author of Gambling On Green. ESG is a set of standards measuring a business’s impact on its local community, global society, and the environment.  These issues of sustainability and ethical corporate responsibility have been important for decades, but never mo...

Leadership is something that seems easy and natural, from the outside, but it takes a huge amount of work to become a better leader. There’s always been this phenomenal opportunity to develop leaders, but now probably even more so. In this episode we’re joined by Mihaela Berciu, Leadership Breakthrough Specialist, who focuses on exploring personal and professional values, understanding aspirations...

If you are resilient, then when life knocks you down, you bounce back and you keep going. That’s the core of today’s episode, in which we’re joined by Annie Leib, LLC, who shares some insights about her coaching and framework, as well as great advice on how to build resilience.

Have you ever felt like time literally moves faster at work? Or perhaps felt “in the zone” while working? This is called “Flow”, and it happens when you feel a high degree of challenge and skill at a good balance, it requires being fully present and observing your work with a sense of calm and enjoyment. In this episode, Jared Weintraub, PhD and founder of The Flow Group, LLC joined us to have a c...

In today’s episode we discuss the very hot topic of burnout, with Hamza Khan , the best-selling author of Leadership, Reinvented and a global keynote speaker whose TEDx talk “Stop Managing, Start Leading” has been viewed nearly two million times. Burnout is something that can affect anyone and has resulted in whole industries of self-help and related solutions… but what if the responsibility for f...

Depending on who you ask, you are likely to get very different responses to the question “what is happiness”? Some believe that it’s about the journey, while others are focused on the destination. Regardless of how you define happiness, most of us are often looking for more of it. So, how do we go about feeling happier? Join Sanja Licina, PhD and Maddie Grant as they discuss the meaning of happine...

In this episode, we talk to Kent Frazier, CEO of fullyhumanatwork.com and inspirational transformational coach. We delve into what it really means to bring your whole self to work - how do we create space for that, how do we show up, how do we practice listening for that.

What comes to mind when you hear the words “employee wellness”? Did you know that there are actually three pillars to it? Physical, mental and emotional wellness. While the variety of benefits that employers can offer to their workforce has grown greatly, only 60% of workers say their employer actually offers any kind of wellness benefit at all. In this episode, Kasey Chas, Culture Cultivator and...

Whether it's in our personal lives or at work, practicing empathy and compassion is not as simple as it initially seems; that's because every single human is different in subtle ways, and what works for a person might not for someone else. Indeed, in the workplace, effectively connecting with others can take different forms and it's crucial to learn the most effective one for your business—one tha...

Have you asked yourself: Did I choose the right career? Am I progressing fast enough, quicker than my peers? Is what's happening to me… normal? We've all had the same nagging thoughts regarding our career, so hearing what others have gone through during their career path gives us such a phenomenal perspective and ideas on what we could do –and don’t—differently. Joining us for this episode is Ashl...

It is possible for great CEOs to be both competent and kind. Maybe it doesn’t sound like an easy balance, but this is certainly true for Popmenu’s leadership, and one of the key reasons the company has been able to build and sustain an exceptional culture. We are joined in this episode by Anna Bruns, Head of Talent and Culture at Popmenu , who talks about how the head of talent can work hand in ha...

The pandemic has given us a reason to redefine the value of collaborating. What is the purpose of a meeting? Should a meeting actually be an email? Are in-person meetings even necessary any more? In this conversation with Lindsey Caplan, Organizational Psychologist and founder of  The Gathering Effect , we dig into this topic with a specific focus on company gatherings for creating change.

Employee experience today encompasses everything, almost from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep; whether you’re working or not, there’s some way that your work is impacting you. For this episode, our guest Anna Matuszewska, Ph. D, an expert on Talent Management, joins us to talk about how learning development has changed and how the way employers approach career development i...

When you watch the news these days, it’s hard not to feel discouraged about the world… but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to join ranks with the pessimists! In fact, when facing negativity, it’s extra important to be optimistic to help offset any bad vibes that might be surrounding you. In this episode, we talk about both the simple and the complex things that keep us going, and what...

Dr. Candace Steele Flippin is a communications executive, best-selling author, and multigenerational workplace scholar. Her mission is to help women accelerate their career growth so that they can achieve the careers they need, want and deserve. She joins us as she launches her newest book: Get Your Career in SHAPE: A Five-Step Guide to Achieve the Success You Need, Want, and Deserve.

Workers today are increasingly seeking full transparency from their employers. That means that a company’s values are an even more critical part of a successful recruiting strategy. In fact, 88% of workers said that it's important for them to have a sense of a company's culture when they are applying for a job. For this episode, our guest Yaagneshwaran Ganesh —also known as Yaag— host of the podca...

In this episode, we chat with Brian Mohr, co-founder of  Anthym , about what it really means to "bring your whole self to work".  The pandemic has brought a new impetus towards more empathy in the workplace, meaning that we need better systems for helping employees to connect better and build better relationships with each other, within teams, and also between managers and direct reports. Why? Bec...

In this episode we chat with Meico Whitlock, mindfulness consultant and founder of  Mindful Techie  about the impact of technology and information overload on wellbeing. We're so tethered to our devices these days, in good ways (like being able to work remotely during the pandemic) and bad ways (like spending too much time doom-scrolling on social media. Meico shares some useful tips for maintaini...

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to career development and the best things that companies can do today to help their people grow, especially when development is such an essential part of retention. How are employee-led approaches working when it comes to internal mobility and finding the right opportunities? And how does a company build a succession plan that doesn’t become outdated as s...