The Chief Psychology Officer

Send us Fan Mail In the first part of our Best of Series, Caitlin Cooper and Angela Malik revisit some of the most powerful conversations we have had on psychological safety and high-performing teams. As we approach our 100th episode, this special round-up brings together insights from previous guests including Megan Giannini from Philips, Mike Wright from Network Rail, Laura McLean from Santander...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Chief Psychology Officer, Dr Amanda Potter and Kristian Lees-Bell explore cognitive dissonance, the mental discomfort we feel when our beliefs, values, and behaviours do not align. From everyday choices to high-pressure leadership decisions, they discuss why the brain often rushes to reduce discomfort by rationalising, justifying, or reframing decisions, eve...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Chief Psychology Officer Podcast, Dr Amanda Potter and Caitlin Cooper are joined by occupational psychologist and Chief Connection Officer John Cooper to explore why human connection is essential to performance at work. Together, they discuss why great teams are not built through harmony alone, but through the quality of connection that allows people to chal...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 93 Stop fixing people: start fixing work with Jo Yarker What does it take to sustain performance over time? In this episode of the Chief Psychology Officer podcast, Dr Amanda Potter is joined by Professor Jo Yarker to explore how organisations can create healthy working environments that support both wellbeing and performance. Many organisations invest in resilience and wellbei...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Chief Psychology Officer Podcast, Dr Amanda Potter and Caitlin Cooper are joined by Adam Smith, a mindset and behavioural change coach, to explore the inner critic, negative self-talk, and the language we use to describe ourselves. Adam shares his personal story and explains how our thoughts, labels, and belief systems can shape confidence, resilience, behav...

Send us Fan Mail Decisiveness is not speed; it is clarity. We explore how top teams make better choices by slowing the front end of the process, framing the real problem, agreeing decision criteria, and then committing with pace. Joined by leadership coach Mark Herbert, we unpack the human side of decisions—how dopamine, mood and pressure change what feels obvious, how halo and horns biases skew j...

Send us Fan Mail AI is rapidly reshaping how organisations operate, make decisions, and develop talent. But as technology accelerates, what happens to the human skills that drive performance? In this episode of The Chief Psychology Officer Podcast, Dr Amanda Potter and Angela Malik are joined by Simon Defoe CPsychol, Learning and Performance Senior Manager at Vodafone, to explore the intersection...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever wondered whether psychological safety is a soft sentiment or a hard performance driver, this conversation brings the receipts. With Professor Adrian Furnham and Dr Amanda Potter, we unpack what psychological safety really means, how to measure it well, and why trust—not cleverness—predicts whether people speak up, challenge ideas, and share hard truths when it count...

Send us Fan Mail A million more people are now economically inactive for health reasons than just a few years ago, and once an employee has been on sick leave for a year or more, the chance of returning drops to around 3%. That is not a wellness statistic. It is a warning light for businesses, communities and the economy and it is the spark for this conversation with Poppie Foakes, Director of Pro...

Send us Fan Mail Complexity is rising, expectations are colliding, and the old playbook is running out of pages. We sit down with author and applied researcher Amy Walters Cohen to unpack the core idea behind her book Ruthlessly Caring to understand how leaders can deliver more value when they replace either-or choices with both-and mindsets that match today’s messy reality. We start by mapping th...

Send us Fan Mail Resilience emerges from the most unthinkable circumstances in this powerful conversation with Figen Murray OBE, whose son Martyn was killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. What follows is an extraordinary story of transformation through grief, forgiveness, and purpose-driven advocacy. Figen shares the raw reality of how her life changed in "the split second it took for...

Send us Fan Mail Ever pushed yourself to work through illness or stayed late just to be present at work and be seen? Your brain might be paying a devastating price. Presenteeism, means showing up physically but functioning below capacity due to illness, injury, or simply staying longer than necessary. This costs UK businesses a staggering £100 billion annually. Yet unlike absenteeism, it remains l...

Send us Fan Mail What if the 360 feedback you're receiving is more a reflection of human cognitive shortcuts than your actual performance? In this illuminating conversation, Dr. Amanda Potter—recently named Association of Business Psychologists Practitioner of the Year 2024—takes us behind the scenes of 360 assessments to reveal the hidden biases that distort results and undermine effectivene...

Send us Fan Mail Psychological Safety isn't merely a workplace buzzword—it's the foundation for innovation, authentic collaboration, and organizational success. In this compelling revisit to one of our most downloaded episodes, Dr. Amanda Potter and Psychologist Caitlin Cooper explore how our understanding of psychological safety has evolved dramatically since 2020. We dive deep into wha...

Send us Fan Mail Resolving workplace conflict requires more than good intentions—it demands psychological safety. In our latest episode, we explore this powerful intersection with Alex Myers, a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, coach, and mediator who's transforming how organisations handle workplace disputes. Alex shares her journey implementing psychological safety principles at Jewish C...

Send us Fan Mail What if everything you thought you knew about identifying potential in your team was based on flawed assumptions?  In this thought-provoking conversation with Adam Wheelwright, Chief Technology Officer at IG Group, we challenge conventional wisdom around talent assessment and high-performance cultures. Drawing from his 30 years of experience in financial services and technology le...

Send us Fan Mail Episodes are available here https://www.thecpo.co.uk/ To follow Zircon on LinkedIn and to be first to hear about podcasts, publications and news, please like and follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betalent-by-zircon/ To access the research white papers mentioned in this and other podcasts, please go to: https://www.betalent.com/research   For more information about the Be...

Send us Fan Mail What happens in your brain when faced with complex choices? The average person makes 35,000 decisions daily, from trivial selections to career-defining judgments – yet a shocking 99.5% of leaders have never received formal training in decision-making. Leadership coach Jon Bircher joins Dr. Amanda Potter to unpack the psychology and neuroscience behind effective decision-making at...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a major financial merger puts wellbeing at the heart of its transformation strategy? Lucy Becque, Group Chief People Officer at Coventry Building Society, reveals the powerful impact this approach has had as they navigate combining with the Co-operative Bank – doubling their workforce overnight and bringing together distinctly different organizational cultures. L...

Send us Fan Mail Ever wondered why traditional competency models often gather dust while organisations continue struggling with talent development? The answer might lie in a more holistic approach called "blueprinting" - a framework that's transforming how forward-thinking companies like Haven approach leadership development. This eye-opening conversation with DeanO Giles, Head of L...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Amanda Potter and guest Dr. Stewart Desson, CEO of Lumina Learning, explore the complex relationship between personality testing, neurodiversity, ethical assessment practices, and strengths-based approaches in the workplace. • The Big Five personality model (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) remains the most empirically validated framework...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever been accused of "selective hearing" or caught zoning out during an important conversation ? You’re not alone. Our brains constantly filter information, deciding what deserves attention, often without us realizing it. This episode unpacks selective listening; choosing what we focus on—versus selective hearing (unconscious filtering) and selective attention (...

Send us Fan Mail The battle to attract and retain high-quality early talent has never been more challenging. With 95% of organizations acknowledging that early career candidates quickly move on when expectations aren't met, understanding what truly drives these professionals has become crucial for business success. Dr. Amanda Potter, the Chief Psychology Officer sits down with Angela Malik to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Rev. Mike Wright from Network Rail joins award-winning Business Psychologist Amanda Potter and co-host Caitlin Cooper to explore what makes high-performing teams thrive. We dive into Project Speed , a post-pandemic initiative that boosted efficiency and reduced costs, saving £1.5 billion! We also examine how cognitive diversity enhances problem-solving when the ne...

Send us Fan Mail What if your brain's craving for predictability is the real reason behind your stress? In our latest episode, we explore the complex emotions tied to change fatigue in our fast-paced world driven by relentless technological advancements. With AI reshaping the landscape and social media perpetually altering trends, the pressure to adapt can seem insurmountable. We unravel the...