Positive Psychology Leader Series: live webinars and audience Q&A with leaders in the field!

About the Series:

The Positive Psychology Leader Series features live webinars and audience Q&A with leading practitioners and researchers in the field.

IPPA members receive exclusive invitations to these regular webinars.

Do you want to pitch a potential presenter? The Series welcomes researchers and practitioners who work would be of interest to members. Email info@ippanetwork.org

Featured speaker:

Feminist Positive Organizational Psychology: respectful engagement for building positive relational cultures.

with M. Gloria González-Morales, PhD

June 15^th, 5pm EST*

Abstract: In this talk, I use a feminist epistemological lens to the study of respectful engagement in lieu of ‘civility’ in the workplace, as the counterpoint of workplace incivility and other organizational deviant behaviors. I build a theoretical framework based upon the positive organizational scholarship (POS) concepts of positive social capital (Bakker & Dutton, 2006), high-quality connections (Dutton & Heaphy, 2003) and the feminist theory of relational work and practice (Fletcher, 1998).

I will share empirical findings that support the connections between respectful engagement as an indicator of high-quality connections, and other positive interpersonal workplace behaviors (e.g., OCB, organizational prosocial behavior, perceived coworker support) and outcomes (e.g., mental wellbeing, affective commitment, job satisfaction).

I will discuss theoretical and practical implications around the idea that positive organizations can be built through respectful engagement and other relational practices (i.e., communal behavior oriented toward relational goals and stereotypically enacted by and expected from women) that facilitate relational cultures and displace detrimental practices of toxic competitive environments (i.e., ruthlessness, endless stamina and emotional toughness) characteristic of masculinity contest cultures (Berdhal et al., 2018), which underlie most organizations.

Speaker Biography:

M. Gloria González-Morales, PhD is an associate professor of psychology at Claremont Graduate University (California), and the Director of the Worker Wellbeing Lab (research.cgu.edu/worker-wellbeing). The Worker Wellbeing Lab is a feminist research lab that welcomes scholars interested in employee health, flourishing and belonging. Her research has been funded with scholarships and grants, including a prestigious Fulbright scholarship and funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.

She is associate editor of Work & Stress Journal, in addition to serving on the editorial boards of Journal of Journal of Business and Psychology, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Stress & Health, Anxiety, Stress & Coping, and Occupational Health Science.

Her research has been published in some of the world’s top-ranked psychology outlets such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Work & Stress, and Journal of Organizational Behavior. She was awarded the 2017 best paper award from the European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology for her research on respite workplace interventions to foster employee well-being, and the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Best Paper Award 2017 & 2018 for her intervention study to reduce abusive supervision.

Dr. González-Morales has more than 15 years of experience consulting for organizations from Canada, Europe, and U.S. organizations in different sectors (i.e., government, healthcare, hospitality, non-for profit, energy, manufacturing). As executive director of Organization & Management Solutions (2013-2020), she has led more than 20 consulting projects in diverse areas of practice: competency modeling and recruitment & selection systems, organizational development & change, needs analysis, performance management systems, engagement surveys, leadership & team development and training.

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Meet the Production Team

Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP
Host, Positive Psychology Leader Series

Read Caroline's Bio

Caroline is one of the world’s leading experts on the science behind successful goal setting and the use of ‘good grit’ to achieve hard things. Caroline used grit to help overcome her personal battle with bulimia, and today she has more than three decades of unbroken recovery. Caroline has a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, and teaches at Wharton Business School’s Executive Education program. Caroline is the author of six books, including Positively Caroline (Cogent 2013), Getting Grit (Sounds True 2017) and Creating Your Best Life (Sterling 2009).

Jodi Wellman
Associate Producer, Positive Psychology Leader Series

Read Jodi's Bio

Jodi Wellman is a co-founder of the coaching firm Happy Work Spectacular Life, where she helps individuals and companies create stunningly spectacular success through their work. Jodi is a leadership coach and consultant with 17 years of corporate experience spanning executive roles in operations, sales and customer retention.

Prior to starting Happy Spectacular, Jodi was Senior Vice President of Operations at a leading health and lifestyle organization. Jodi was also a Chair at Vistage International, where she led a private CEO advisory board and coached executives to improve bottom-line results, execution and leadership performance. She has successfully led strategic initiatives focused on culture development, growth/new business development, organizational change and restructuring, and has general management/P&L accountability.

Jodi is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach with CTI and a Professional Certified Coach with ICF. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Athabasca University. Jodi and her firm work with Reebok, HCSC Blue Cross Blue Shield, Payday Loans, and a host of privately held financial services, REITs, and professional services firms.

Jodi brings to clients a corporate executive’s perspective and understanding of their issues, along with the coaching expertise that challenges clients out of their comfort zones in order to grow, think differently, get out of their own way, solve their issues, and win.