x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

My Pocket Psych

Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon

My Pocket Psych is all about the psychology of the workplace. Each episode, we"ll examine the world of work and explore a topic through the lens of psychology. Wellbeing, productivity, careers, relationship management. We"ll aim to give listeners tips to help improve their experience of work - moving from surviving to thriving! My Pocket Psych is brought to you by WorkLifePsych Ltd and hosted by Dr. Richard MacKinnon, a Chartered Psychologist and coach.

science social sciences

All Episodes

43:36

Ep 198: Self-care for leaders (and everyone else!)

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/11/13

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 leadership effectiveness, why it's so hard to consider our future selves, and how self-care is different

en

49:29

Ep 197: The Intercultural Aspects of Leadership

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/10/30

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 go a long way for leaders working in other cultures. Are you a leader who has worked across cultures

en

45:25

Ep 196: The role of coaching in leadership development

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/10/15

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 episode is made up of a recording of a recent webinar on the topic, co-facilitated by Dr. Richard

en

18:30

Ep 195: How to maintain a focus on your development

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/10/01

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 brought to life in your decisions and day to day behaviour? I share ten tips that will help ensure your

en

24:32

Ep 194: How to get the most from your leadership...

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/09/17

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 programme, how you reflect on your development journey and how you put what you've learnt into practice. This

en

08:44

Ep 193: Taking my own medicine

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/08/20

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 page at worklifepsych.com/sustainableleadership. You can find out more about self-care and coping by

en

23:58

Ep 192: Threats to leaders' wellbeing

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/08/13

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 leaders' wellbeing. This is part of our series on 'Sustainable Leadership' and you can find all the

en

21:52

Ep 191: When leadership development goes wrong

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/07/30

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 'motivational speakers', through to avoiding any kind of evaluation. Let us know what you think about the

en

31:47

Ep 190: Burnout - recognition and recovery

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/07/16

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 demands. And busts some common myths about burnout. We also look at the role of leadership and its demands

en

27:45

Ep 189: Burnout - signs and symptoms with Dr. Richard...

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/07/02

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 burnout and explaining how recovery is possible. In this first part of a two-part interview, we establish

en

46:55

Ep 188: Why leaders need to be emotionally literate

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/06/18

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 our free white paper on the topic, by clicking the link below. Resources for this episode Find out all

en

37:11

Ep 187: Leadership and mental health

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/06/05

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 flexibility (Episode 186). In this episode, Richard and Petra discuss some of the many challenges to

en

46:01

Ep 186: Why leaders need to be psychologically flexible.

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/05/22

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 sessions. The focus of our session was making the case for boosting psychological flexibility in leaders. I

en

37:21

Ep 185: What is 'Sustainable Leadership'?

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/05/08

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 episodes, we're going to look at topics like the role of coaching in leadership development, the importance

en

07:41

Ep 184: Wellbeing - have you tried doing...less?

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/04/16

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 our pain and ill health, it stems from over-consumption, over-exertion and overwhelm. If you're clear on

en

09:31

Ep 183: Wellbeing is about moving towards what matters

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/04/02

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, or away from some form of psychological discomfort. This can take the pressure of perfection or

en

35:37

Ep 182: Dealing with challenges at work using...

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/03/20

I recently spoke at the Health and Wellbeing at Work conference in Birmingham on supporting employees to overcome challenges and setbacks. On the back of lots of positive feedback, I decided to record an episode outlining the main points I shared with delegates on the day, to share with a wider audience. And hopefully improve on my delivery! In this episode, I explain what Psychological Flexibility is, how psychological rigidity shows up, why flexibility helps us deal with the everyday challenges

en

07:27

Ep 181: Wellbeing - it starts with values

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/03/06

In this episode, we look at why it's so important to be clear on our values when making changes to improve our wellbeing. Values help us make authentic changes, help us persist when we don't feel like it, and give us an opportunity to take values-based action on a daily basis. Values remind us of the person we want to be, an incredibly useful touchstone as we progress on our change journey. Don't forget you can get in touch with your questions and comments by emailing 'podcast at worklifepsych dot

en

17:40

Ep 180: So you want to make a change?

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/02/20

Change is at the very heart of the work that I do with my clients. Changing behaviour, changing attitudes. Changing in response to changes in the environment. In this episode, I take a look at some of the different levels at which change can take place - from daily habits all the way through to identity. This enables us to get nice and specific about what it is we actually want to change, and do so in an authentic and realistic way. Do get in touch with your questions and comments. You can always

en

52:54

Ep 179: What have I seen you in?

My Pocket Psych ·

2025/02/06

And now for something completely different! Richard is joined by coach and actor, Lena Kaur for a discussion about coaching actors. We try to keep our definition of work and the workplace as broad as possible and in this episode, Richard and Lena explore the particular challenges faced by actors and how increasing their psychological flexibility can make all the difference. Lena explains how being can actor can help when coaching other actors, but also when it can get in the way. And we take a

en

202 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter