Ep 198: Self-care for leaders (and everyone else!)
My Pocket Psych
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 to coping. Join us for our next episode, when we'll build on these concepts and explain how to...
info_outline
Ep 197: The Intercultural Aspects of Leadership
My Pocket Psych
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? Have an example of how intercultural awareness has helped or hindered your effectiveness in the...
info_outline
Ep 196: The role of coaching in leadership development
My Pocket Psych
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 MacKinnon and Dr. Rachael Skews. They also explore what to look for in a prospective leadership...
info_outline
Ep 195: How to maintain a focus on your development
My Pocket Psych
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 development remains an ongoing are aof focus - just like your career, your wellbeing and your...
info_outline
Ep 194: How to get the most from your leadership development programme
My Pocket Psych
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 epsiode is part of our Sustainable Leadership series and you can find out more about this...
info_outline
Ep 193: Taking my own medicine
My Pocket Psych
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 . You can find out more about self-care and coping by watching our recent webinar on the topic:
info_outline
Ep 192: Threats to leaders' wellbeing
My Pocket Psych
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 resources that support it on our website at worklifepsych.com/sustainableleadership
info_outline
Ep 191: When leadership development goes wrong
My Pocket Psych
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 leadership development you've experienced, or have been responsible for - we love to hear from...
info_outline
Ep 190: Burnout - recognition and recovery
My Pocket Psych
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 . 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 when it comes to burnout, the dangerous and unsustainable coping strategies leaders may be tempted to use, and how...
info_outline
Ep 189: Burnout - signs and symptoms with Dr. Richard Duggins
My Pocket Psych
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 what burnout actually is, explore the 'burnout cliff' concept, learn about the role...
info_outlineContinuing 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 explained what we mean by sustainable leadership, Rachael introduced the concept of psychological flexibility, and then we looked at how it can address some of the many challenges leaders can face at work. We wrap up with exploring some of the ways leaders can cultivate these important skills.
And while we have a lovely video recording of the webinar live on our YouTube channel, I know lots of you prefer to access this kind of information via audio, as you go for a walk or a run, do the housework, or navigate your daily commute. So here's a slightly edited copy of the audio from last week.
As always, get in touch with your questions, comments and feedback by email via podcast@worklifepsych.com
Thanks for listening!
Resources for this episode
- The video recording of this webinar: https://youtu.be/QeGSpYbeguY
- Download the slides that accompany this webinar here: https://www.worklifepsych.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Why-leaders-need-to-be-psychologically-flexible-slides.pdf
- You can find all the resources that accompany this series at our dedicated page: https://www.worklifepsych.com/SustainableLeadership
- Download our free white paper on Sustainable Leadership here: https://www.worklifepsych.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Sustainable_Leadership_whitepaper.pdf
- We’re also running a series of free leadership-focused webinars over the next few months. You can find out more and reserve your place by visiting our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/sustainable-leadership-4167563
- Finally, you can learn all about Psychological Flexibility by visiting our resources page here: https://www.worklifepsych.com/PsychologicalFlexibility