Are You Powering Your People with Strengths? with Dr. Jillian Darwish

Dr. Jillian Darwish currently serves as President and CEO of Mayerson Academy, a non-profit dedicated to transforming individuals, teams, and organizational performance. Under her leadership, the Academy has become the exclusive education partner to the VIA Institute, working with schools, universities, organizations, and communities to utilize the science of character strengths to transform cultures. The Academy’s work has been featured in EdWeek, Live Happy, and US News and World Report and Dr. Darwish has been invited to share the Academy’s work around the globe, including presentations in China, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and Hong Kong. In today’s episode, Dr. Jillian Darwish shares the surprising findings of a recent study with 1,000 American workers about if, how, and why people are using their strengths each day at work and the practical steps many workplaces may be missing. Connect with Jillian Darwish:  https://www.mayersonacademy.org/ You’ll Learn: [01:45] - Jillian shares what a recent study of 1,000 people representative of the American workforce has discovered about if, when, and why people use their strengths – the things they good at and enjoy doing – at work each day. [05:41] - Jillian explains why workers may feel that their workplaces are less committed to developing their strengths. [09:57] - Jillian outlines why having psychological safety in our teams, leaders who are able to have meaningful strengths conversations, and organizations who are committed to building our strengths is so important. [11:40] - Jillian offers some tips for helping more leaders have the willingness and confidence to have meaningful strengths conversations with their workers. [13:38] - Jillian shares the three important steps workplaces can use to help their people use their strengths each day at work. [15:55] - Jillian offers an important caution for workplaces trying to activate people’s strengths. [22:41] - Jillian completes the Lightning Round. Your Resources: MPPW Podcast on Facebook The Strengths Lab 2019 Workplace Survey Thanks for listening!  Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post. Please leave an honest review of the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free! You can also listen to all the episodes of Making Positive Psychology Work streamed directly to your smartphone or iPad through stitcher. No need for downloading or syncing. Until next time, take care!  Thank you Jillian!