In the latest episode of the Transform Your Workplace podcast, host Brandon Laws sits down with Jackie Insinger, author of Spark Brilliance: How the Science of Positive Psychology Will Ignite, Engage, and Transform Your Team. The two discuss the power of Positive Psychology and how leaders can see transformation by “building what’s strong not just fixing what’s wrong.”
GUEST AT A GLANCE
With years of experience in Cognitive Psychology and Interpersonal Dynamics, Jackie Insinger is a sought-after leadership and team coach in the business world. She is passionate about helping leaders engage their times through a Positive Psychology framework. She is also the author of the recently released book, Spark Brilliance: How the Science of Positive Psychology Will Ignite, Engage, and Transform Your Team.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
STARTING AT NEUTRAL
According to guest Jackie Insinger, “When it comes to your mindset, the absence of sadness doesn’t equal happiness. When it comes to your team, the absence of poor performance doesn’t equal great performance.” This in-between, or ‘neutral,’ status — where we aren’t failing but aren’t succeeding either — is merely the starting point for great things, not the final destination. When we find ourselves here, we can’t be complacent.
Although ‘neutral’ might be “a comfortable place to be and a goal at some points when we are in the negative, it shouldn’t be the end goal.” After all, we have this endless road of positive numbers where all of this potential lies. It’s important to “find ways to continually take action to move the needle into the positive,” Jackie explained.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Leaning Positive
“Traditional psychology really leans toward looking into what’s wrong and fixing it — healing us and getting back to baseline. But what about studying what goes right and how to make that even stronger? The whole idea of building what’s strong, not just fixing what’s wrong.”
Tipping the Scales
“If we didn’t see the bear — back in the caveman days — we could get eaten by it. So we were wired to look for the bear, and now we don’t need to do that. But that’s how our brains work. Right? So it’s the idea of opening our minds up and really intentionally deciding to scan for what’s good and what’s right. And the more we scan for it, the more we notice it, the more we see it, and the more we experience it. We can control how we tip those scales for ourselves.”
The Platinum Rule
“The Golden Rule, to treat others how we wish to be treated, has been around forever, and I think it works in large societies to teach us what not to do right as these basic rules of interaction. But in real relationships, who’s to say that you want to be treated the way I want to be treated and that your needs and desires are the same as mine?
Really, I can’t make that assumption. And so the Platinum Rule is to treat others how they wish to be treated. And to me, that’s just the initial mindset shift that needs to happen as a leader.”
Ask Your Employees
“When you’re onboarding them, ask them how they’d like to learn this material? You know, how often do you want check-ins with me about it? Do you prefer email or face-to-face? How frequently would you like to have feedback sessions on this project? What was the most energizing to you? What was the most frustrating to you? What would help look like to you right now? How can we best support you given this specific thing going on?”
The Trust Issue
“You have to set this foundation of safety so that people can take risks. And that’s where innovation happens, where things grow. […] So I think there’s so much good that comes out of it besides the vibe of psychological safety. In that space as a leader, it’s about being authentic, being transparent, owning it, and setting that tone where mistakes can happen without judgment.”
Celebrating Wins
“Wins are like dopamine. […] And so when you get a little spike of dopamine around a win — we achieved that, or that was a great job, or we just finished part 3 of a 10-part project — it makes you feel good. And then you want more of it. These dopamine hits create this progress loop and it creates momentum.”
It Begins with the Leader
“It begins with you, and you choose how you show up. You have the power to choose to spark brilliance in the people around you just by taking that pause and deciding how you want to show up. And it is our privilege as leaders to be able to do that for ourselves and for others.”
LEARN MORE
Find Jackie’s recently-released book, Spark Brilliance: How the Science of Positive Psychology Will Ignite, Engage, and Transform Your Team or connect with Jackie on LinkedIn.