Michelle McQuaid

Michelle McQuaid sat down with B Team CEO Halla Tómasdóttir on her podcast episode, “Can You Unlock The Leader Within?” to discuss bringing your leadership back to life!

Halla shares her realizations of empowerment and courage she found through her leadership career in corporate America and the importance of creating collective, principal leadership in the workplace. Michelle and Halla explore why “we need to throw out the old leadership playbooks and unleash the authentic and principled leaders that can be found within each of us.”

Michelle McQuaid, PhD is a best-selling author and a global leader in positive psychology.

Halla Tómasdóttir is the CEO of the B Team. 

Center for Positive Organizations (CPO) co-founder Kim S. Cameron visits the Michelle McQuaid podcast to discuss the question: “Could You Be A Positively Energizing Leader?”

The episode delves into Cameron’s research on the nature of positively energizing leadership and the impact it can have on team members and organizations. It uses Cameron’s new book “Positively Energizing Leadership: Virtuous Actions and Relationships That Create High Performance” as a touchstone for conversation.

“People who are positively energizing in terms of relationships help other people flourish,” Cameron says. “They are life-giving to people. They help other people feel valued, uplifted. They help unleash potential and talent in other people. As opposed to being selfish, being in control, wanting to make sure I get my way, making sure people follow me, and so on, which is so typical of normal leadership.”

In a related interview with the Leadership Freak blog, Cameron discusses how the virtuousness that underpins positively energizing leadership can be used to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion. He also offers actions to help build positive workplace cultures.

Cameron is the William Russell Kelly Professor Emeritus of Business Administration and Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at the University of Michigan.

Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

POISED (Positive Organizational Inclusion Scholarship for Equity and Diversity)
Research Spotlight

Meg Warren

POISED researcher Meg Warren contributes insights on allyship and diversity, equity, and inclusion in “The State of Wellbeing in Michigan Communities” report.

The Wellbeing Lab study provides an up-to-date snapshot of Michigan workplaces, families and communities, the impact of COVID-19, and allyship. Positive organizational scholar Michelle McQuaid led the study that incorporates research from 10 contributors, including Warren and Center for Positive Organizations Research Advisory Board member Mandy O’Neill. It is based on survey results from April 2021.

The study defines wellbeing as “the ability to feel good and function effectively as we navigate the inevitable highs and lows of life.” It is a multifaceted concept that relies on individual and community factors, the need for safety, the need for economic security, and the need for inclusion, the report says.

The study’s wellbeing results fall into four buckets: “consistently thriving,” “living well, despite struggles,” “not feeling bad, just getting by,” and “really struggling.” The study found that, in Michigan, 9.9 percent of people were consistently thriving, 41.7 percent were “living well, despite struggles,” 35.4 percent were “not feeling bad, just getting by,” and 13 percent were “really struggling.”

“Michiganders who were consistently thriving or living well, despite struggles reported higher levels of satisfaction with their lives, their families and their communities. Meanwhile, those who were not feeling bad, just getting by or really struggling reported significantly lower levels of satisfaction,” the report says. “Even when facing a global pandemic, a changing political and economic landscape, and numerous personal and professional challenges, it appears that it is possible to thrive despite struggle.”

A key finding of the report is that women and Asian respondents were more likely to be “really struggling” or “not feeling bad, just getting by.”

“Communities need to consider how they can support the wellbeing of those who are “not feeling bad, just getting by” or “really struggling,” the report urges. “This is particularly true for young adults, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), those with fewer economic resources, and those who are newer to the community.”

The study finds that the most valuable community supports are healthcare facilities, access to natural environments, mental health support, opportunities for connection, and wellbeing and information tools. Addressing inequalities was of particular importance for BIPOC community members.

The report also says making community members feel safe to talk about their feelings of struggle, anxiety, and stress — especially during uncertain and disruptive periods like the COVID-19 pandemic — can improve wellbeing.

Wellbeing at work is another crucial area the study examined. It found that 11.1 percent of Michigan workers were “consistently thriving,” 42.7 percent were “living well, despite struggles,” 33.2 percent were “not feeling bad, just getting by,” and 13.1 percent were “really struggling.” Black/African-American respondents were even more likely to be struggling, the report notes.

“As circumstances in American workplaces have changed over the past year due to the COVID pandemic, the number of workers who reported they were consistently thriving has continued to decline,” The researchers write. “While Michigan has a healthy percentage of workers living well, despite struggles, there is also the highest percentage we’ve seen in all our studies of workers really struggling, which is likely to be impacting wellbeing and performance in workplaces.”

The researchers note that a number of factors can influence employee wellbeing, including work environment; autonomy; mindset; economic security; compassionate, possibility-seeking leadership; and allyship.

Allyship, in particular, is an area of opportunity. The report found that 57 percent of employed Michiganders reported high intentions to be workplace allies, but only 39 percent reported being effective allies. The report suggests that organizations can bridge this gap through training.

“With the help of Dr. Meg Warren our data shows that wellbeing is associated with higher allyship at work. People who were consistently thriving or living well, despite struggles were more likely to report that they could recognize situations when they should step up to be an ally, relative to those not feeling bad, just getting by and especially those really struggling,” the report states. “In contrast, people who were not feeling bad, just getting by and those really struggling were more likely to feel like a ‘fake’ when it came to being an ally. This suggests that stresses and struggles – which have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic – may compromise one’s capacity to recognize allyship opportunities.”

The report closes by laying out a roadmap for how readers can help their communities and workplaces thrive.

Meg Warren is an Assistant Professor of Management in the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University. She is also co-editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing and a co-founder of POISED: Positive Organizational Inclusion Scholarship for Equity and Diversity.

POISED

POISED — Positive Organizational Inclusion Scholarship for Equity and Diversity — is a new microcommunity that investigates diversity, equity, and inclusion through the lens of Positive Organizational Scholarship — paying special attention to positive states, qualities, relationships, and processes (such as dynamics that contribute to human strength, resilience, and flourishing) in organizations to surface new insights.

POISED is tackling vital questions such as how underrepresented minorities develop the capacity to thrive in the workplace rather than being derailed by discrimination, how leaders and allies partner in DEI efforts to help underrepresented minorities thrive, and how organizations that have stumbled in their efforts to support DEI can learn, grow, and flourish from their experiences. All are invited to learn more and join.