Happier At Work: Leadership, Culture, Performance

How do you build trust at work, and what behaviours might be quietly eroding it? In this solo episode of the Happier at Work podcast, Aoife O'Brien explores the foundations of trust in the workplace and why trust between individuals deserves more attention. She distinguishes trust from psychological safety and examines how people’s different starting points, experiences, and expectations shape the way they decide whether someone is trustworthy. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why people have different default levels of trust. The three foundations of workplace trust: ability, benevolence, and integrity. How capability and context influence whether someone can be trusted to deliver. Why good intentions aren’t enough if your behaviour doesn’t demonstrate care for others. Related Topics Covered: Capabilities, Personal Development, Relationships at Work Connect with Aoife O’Brien | Host of Happier at Work®: Website LinkedIn YouTube Related Episodes & Resources: Episode 279: Trust & High Performance at Work Episode 218: How Can You Improve Happiness & Trust at Work with Matt Phelan About Happier at Work® Happier at Work® is the podcast for business leaders who want to create meaningful, human-centric workplaces. Hosted by Aoife O’Brien, the show explores leadership, career clarity, imposter syndrome, workplace culture, and employee engagement — helping you and your team thrive. If you enjoy podcasts like WorkLife with Adam Grant, The Happiness Lab, or Squiggly Careers, you’ll love Happier at Work®. Editing by Amanda Fitzgerald. Website: https://happieratwork.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappierAtWorkHQ

In this bonus episode, Aoife shares her key takeaways from her conversation with Jeff Wetzler about genuine curiosity and psychological safety at work. It works as a refresher if you've heard the full episode, and as a nudge to put the ideas into practice. In this episode, you’ll discover: Why applying pressure when someone hasn't done what you expected tends to backfire, and why genuine curiosity works better What gets in the way of curiosity: fear of the answer, time pressure, and the threat response triggered in high-stakes moments Step 1: Build genuine curiosity. Step 2: Create psychological safety. Step 3: Ask high-quality questions. Step 4: Listen. Step 5: Close the loop. Connect with Aoife O’Brien | Host of Happier at Work®: Website LinkedIn YouTube Connect with Jeff Wetzler | Author and Human Potential & Learning Expert: Website Podcast Jeff’s Books LinkedIn Episodes You’ll Love: Episode 316: Mastering Your Inner Narrative with Owen Fitzpatrick Episode 228: Fostering Genuine Curiosity and Building Trust at Work with Julie Pham Episode 296: Learning in The Age of AI with Damon Lembi About Happier at Work Happier at Work is the podcast for business leaders who want to create meaningful, human-centric workplaces. Hosted by Aoife O’Brien, the show explores leadership, career clarity, imposter syndrome, workplace culture, and employee engagement — helping you and your team thrive. If you enjoy podcasts like WorkLife with Adam Grant, The Happiness Lab, or Squiggly Careers, you’ll love Happier at Work. Join Aoife O’Brien for weekly insights on leadership, workplace culture, career clarity, imposter syndrome, and creating work that works for you. Editing by Amanda Fitzgerald. Website: https://happieratwork.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappierAtWorkHQ

How can leaders create enough psychological safety for people to share what they really think? In the latest episode of the Happier at Work podcast, Jeff Wetzler, author of ‘Ask: Tap into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You’, explains how curiosity, thoughtful questions, and active listening can help leaders access the collective intelligence within their teams and organisations. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why genuine curiosity starts with asking, “What can I learn here?” rather than focusing on what you want someone else to do. How leaders can create psychological safety by acknowledging the power of their position and choosing contexts where people feel more comfortable speaking honestly. The importance of opening up first, explaining why you’re asking, and showing that you can handle difficult feedback. Why frontline workers often hold valuable knowledge about customers, patients, processes, and organisational challenges. How the quality of a question determines the quality of the information you receive. Related Topics Covered: Psychological Safety, Building Trust at Work Connect with Aoife O’Brien | Host of Happier at Work®: Website LinkedIn YouTube Connect with Jeff Wetzler | Author and Human Potential & Learning Expert: Website Podcast Jeff’s Books LinkedIn Episodes You’ll Love: Episode 316: Mastering Your Inner Narrative with Owen Fitzpatrick Episode 228: Fostering Genuine Curiosity and Building Trust at Work with Julie Pham Episode 296: Learning in The Age of AI with Damon Lembi About Happier at Work® Happier at Work® is the podcast for business leaders who want to create meaningful, human-centric workplaces. Hosted by Aoife O’Brien, the show explores leadership, career clarity, imposter syndrome, workplace culture, and employee engagement — helping you and your team thrive. If you enjoy podcasts like WorkLife with Adam Grant, The Happiness Lab, or Squiggly Careers, you’ll love Happier at Work®. Join Aoife O’Brien for weekly insights on leadership, workplace culture, career clarity, imposter syndrome, and creating work that works for you. Editing by Amanda Fitzgerald. Website: https://happieratwork.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappierAtWorkHQ

Are you sure someone is underperforming, or are you missing what’s preventing them from doing their best? In this solo episode of the Happier at Work podcast, Aoife O'Brien explores the assumption that people are doing their best and what it changes for leaders. Rather than quickly labelling someone as lazy, difficult, unmotivated, or incapable, she encourages you to look more closely at capability, role fit, expectations, resources, psychological safety, workload, and your own contribution to the situation. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why assuming people are doing their best helps leaders look beyond quick judgments. The role of capability, including skills, knowledge, experience, strengths, and confidence. How a mismatch between someone’s strengths and their role can affect performance. The importance of clear expectations, appropriate autonomy, resources, support, and psychological safety. Related Topics Covered: Personal Development, Psychological Safety, Capabilities at Work Connect with Aoife O’Brien | Host of Happier at Work®: Website LinkedIn YouTube Related Episodes & Resources: Episode 289: Leadership Choices that Define your Culture Episode 295: From Individual Strengths to Team Capability Episode 297: Creating Space for Talent to Thrive Episode 315: Imposter Syndrome: Why Confidence ≠ Capability About Happier at Work® Happier at Work® is the podcast for business leaders who want to create meaningful, human-centric workplaces. Hosted by Aoife O’Brien, the show explores leadership, career clarity, imposter syndrome, workplace culture, and employee engagement — helping you and your team thrive. If you enjoy podcasts like WorkLife with Adam Grant, The Happiness Lab, or Squiggly Careers, you’ll love Happier at Work®. Editing by Amanda Fitzgerald. Website: https://happieratwork.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappierAtWorkHQ

In this bonus episode of the Happier at Work podcast, Aoife O'Brien shares her key takeaways from her insightful conversation with Kate Donovan on burnout. Drawing on Kate's upcoming book Mismatch, Aoife unpacks the idea that burnout isn't about needing a perfect fit at work, most of us just need a "good enough" match most of the time. When that match breaks down across areas like workload, autonomy, fairness, community, values, and reward, burnout can creep in. Here are some of the key takeaways: Mismatch, not perfection, is the goal. Most of the time we need roughly a 75% match between our needs and our environment — not a total match — for things to feel like they're working. Six core areas of mismatch drive burnout Workload, autonomy, fairness, community, values, and reward. Burnout is a kind of stress you cannot recover from: A helpful reframe for identifying when normal stress has tipped into something more serious. "Toxic" is overused. Some workplaces really are toxic, but many difficult experiences are better understood as a mismatch — a distinction that can be empowering rather than blaming. Physical signals matter. People who've experienced this kind of neglect may struggle to notice basic physiological needs (hunger, thirst, needing the bathroom, tiredness) — a warning sign that can also mask the approach of burnout. Connect with Aoife O’Brien | Host of Happier at Work®: Website LinkedIn YouTube Connect with Cait Donovan | Author, Culture & Leadership Keynote Speaker & Advisor: LinkedIn Website Episodes You’ll Love: Episode 241: Exploring The Phases of Burnout with Aoife O’Brien Episode 294: The Realities of Leadership Mental Health with Melissa Doman About Happier at Work Happier at Work is the podcast for business leaders who want to create meaningful, human-centric workplaces. Hosted by Aoife O’Brien, the show explores leadership, career clarity, imposter syndrome, workplace culture, and employee engagement — helping you and your team thrive. If you enjoy podcasts like WorkLife with Adam Grant, The Happiness Lab, or Squiggly Careers, you’ll love Happier at Work. Join Aoife O’Brien for weekly insights on leadership, workplace culture, career clarity, imposter syndrome, and creating work that works for you. Editing by Amanda Fitzgerald. Website: https://happieratwork.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappierAtWorkHQ