My Pocket Psych

Last time, we explored procrastination, its origins and how it impacts our wellbeing, productivity and relationships. In this second part of our three-part review of procrastination, we look at how much psychological discomfort can lead us to delay taking helpful action. We look at some of the sources of this discomfort, how it can show up and how we can effectively reframe it to side-step procras...

In this first episode of a three-part series, we take a look at the origins of procrastination, how it can show up, and the impact it can have on our wellbeing, relationships and performance at work. Rather than being some kind of moral failing, procrastination is essentially part of being a human with a mind! And rather than being a permanent fixture or part of our identity, we can view it as a h...

Building on our last episode, when we looked at how organisations can misinterpret resilience at work, this time we look at how individuals can expand their perspective on resilience.  There are so many misconceptions when it comes to resilience. That it's just about keeping going, persistence, bouncing back. When over-simplified like this, it can lead to disappointment, unhelpful behavioural resp...

The topic of the month over on WorkLifeSpark, our online personal development community, is resilience. So for the next couple of episodes, we're going to take a look at this concept. In particular, why it's not the panacea or answer to all organisational problems.  In this first episode, we look at resilience from the organisational perspective, and how it often gets over-emphasised and how. If "...

In this episode, I take a few minutes to remind us all that we can make a fresh start on any day of the year. There's nothing particularly magical about January 1st! So if your attempts at change since New Year's Day haven't been fruitful, it's never too late to try again. But rather than simply repeating the same unhelpful or overly-demanding approach again and again, I have some recommendations...

Welcome back for the first of our episodes for 2026 🎉 In this episode, Richard is once again joined by business psychologist Kara Daley. This time, it's for a discussion on the wide-ranging topic of organisational culture. What exactly is it? Why can it be so hard to pin down and change? And what exactly is the role of leaders in culture development and change?  We'd love to hear from you on this...

Hello and welcome to the final episode of My Pocket Psych for 2025. In this brief episode, I take a look ahead to the benefits of side-stepping unhelpful messages about the New Year, and how small changes, personal experiments and a fresh start might be what we all need instead.  No matter what holiday you're celebrating in December, I hope you get a chance to effectively disconnect from work. I h...

In this special celebratory 200th episode, we turn the tables: Richard is in the hot seat and interviewed by friend of the show, Ross McIntosh.  Ross asks Richard about the origins of the show, what he learnt over 199 episodes, how he's changed and what lessons he'd share with others. We look at popular episodes, why psychics don't get invited on, and answer a series of questions from listeners. ...

Richard is once again joined by fellow psychologist Ross McIntosh to discuss the importance of coping with difficulties and setbacks - especially when it comes to leadership roles.  They outline the inevitability of challenges and the importances of using healthy and sustainable coping strategies in response. They look at why some of the more unhealthy and unhelpful strategies are so attractive an...

In this episode, Richard is joined by colleague and fellow psychologist Ross McIntosh for a discussion about the importance of self-care for leaders. Given the tough roles leaders occupy, maintaining a focus on their wellbeing is key. Richard and Ross look at common misunderstandings about self-care and why it's not all glasses of wine in luxurious bubble baths! They also explain its relevance of...

In this episode, Richard is joined by Dr. Austin Tay, a chartered psychologist with significant experience of working across cultures in the fields of assessment, leadership development and coaching. Together, they explore why leaders benefit from intercultural awareness, why it's important not to fall back on overly-simplistic stereotypes about national cultures, and why curiosity and observation...

This episode focuses on the important role that good quality coaching can play as part of structured leadership development. As part of a leadership programme, coaching allows the participants to explore new concepts and practice bringing them to life, to work on barriers to behavioural change, and any other important personal development topics not covered in the programmes core curriculum.  This...

Following on from the last episode, where I discussed how to get the most from your experience on a development programme, this time I ask: once the programme is over, how do you keep focused on your development?  How do you avoid letting your new knowledge and skills wither on the vine? How do you prevent your new perspectives and concepts staying in notebooks and folders, rather than being broug...

And we're back! After a break to enjoy my summer holiday in Japan, My Pocket Psych is back with a focus on how to get the most from your involvement in a leadership development programme.  We look at the importance of four key factors: mindset, engagement, reflection and application. These include your own thoughts and beliefs about development, the extent to which you get 'stuck in' to the progra...

After quite a few weeks focusing on self-care and coping - as topics for leaders - I realised I was at risk of neglecting my own self-care and planned holiday. So this short episode constitutes a bit of a reflection of sorts, as I consider how I can best disconnect from work while in Japan.  Resources for this episode To find out more about 'Sustainable Leadership', you can visit the resources pag...

In this episode, I take a look at some of the ways leaders' wellbeing is challenged. Stressors from the role of leadership, the culture of the organisation and from within the leader him/herself can combine to make the job much more difficult than it needs to be.  I look at some of the sources of these difficulties and explore one in particular: the various ways that business travel can erode lead...

In this episode, as part of our Sustainable Leadership series, Richard explores some of the many ways that leadership development activities can fail to deliver.  While it's often one of the most important people development investments an organisation can make, the results can fall of short of expectations for a variety of reasons. From a lack of evidence, over-reliance on fads, and use of 'motiv...

This is the second part of Richard's two-part interview with Dr. Richard Duggins, all about his work in treating burnout. You can find the first part of this interview here .  In this episode, Dr. Richard Duggins explains the role of the workplace and workplace culture in employees' experiene of burnout. Why 'keeping calm and carrying on' is precisely what not to do in the face of overwhelming dem...

In this episode of our 'Sustainable Leadership' series, we explore the antithesis of sustainable work: professional burnout.  Richard is joined by Dr. Richard Duggins, consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who is known as the 'Doctor's Doctor' due to his work with physicians experiencing burnout in the NHS. His recent book 'Burnout-free working' explores the topic in detail, demystifying bu...

This episode of the podcast is based on a webinar we recently ran on the topic of emotional literacy. In this session, Dr. Richard MacKinnon and Ross McIntosh explain what sustainable leadership is, the role of emotional literacy in leadership, the risks of neglecting it and some simple ways to develop it.  This is part of our 'Sustainable Leadership' series and you can find out more and access ou...

Welcome to another episode of My Pocket Psych, which is part of our ongoing 'Sustainable Leadership' series. In this episode, Richard is joined by clinical and coaching psychologist Dr. Petra Gwilliam, to discuss the importance of mental health when it comes to leadership. We've previously looked at some of the challenges leaders can face at work, and the benefits of cultivating psychological flex...

Continuing our theme of the importance of Sustainable Leadership, this episode is a little bit different.  Earlier this month, I facilitated a webinar with my good friend and collaborator Dr. Rachael Skews.   It was the first of our new series of free monthly webinars on the topic of Sustainable leadership - and I'll put a link to the booking site so you can see the details of the remaining sessio...

This episode is the first in a new series where we'll unpack all aspects of leadership, leadership development and the wellbeing and performance of leaders.  In this episode, Richard is joined by Dr. Wayne Mullen , an experienced leadership development expert, to set the scene, outline our rationale for focusing on leadership, and explore some of the ways leadership can go wrong.  In the coming ep...

In this episode, we wrap up our 'Thriving at Work' focus on wellbeing by asking a simple question: when it comes to improving your health and wellbeing, have you considered actually doing less?  So much of the advice we get about our wellbeing implies the need to do more of something: new foods, new diets, new exercises, new methods and approaches. But if we look at the root causes of so much of o...

In episode 181, I explained how getting clear on what matters - our values - can be a great place to start when we want to improve our wellbeing.  This time round, I look at the benefits of putting these values into action and being more intentional about our actions. Instead of framing our attempts at change as 'pass' or 'fail', we can frame our options as either moving towards what matters to us...