Inspired by an unfortunate toxic work environment in her first job out of college, Christine Porath took on the topic of workplace incivility and its cost to both companies and employees. She’s been running with it ever since. Christine Porath, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and the author of Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace and co-author of The Cost of Bad Behavior. She works with leading organizations to help them create thriving workplaces.
Music has the power to change lives, and nowhere is that more evident than in the powerful SongwritingWith:Soldiers program. This unique program pairs members of the military with professional songwriters to craft songs about their experiences. Through their songs, they learn to release pain, tell their stories and build a strong bond with one another. Program co-founder Mary Judd and singer/songwriter Jay Clementi talk about the power of the program—and what it’s taught them.
How do you encourage children to thrive when their lives are filled with stress and trauma? As executive director of the Momentous Institute in Dallas, Michelle Kinder carries on a century-old mission to help children overcome trauma and toxic stress to learn how to live happy, healthy lives. She talks with us to show how their practices are changing the lives of entire generations of family — and tells us what we all can learn from them.
Becky Blades is author and illustrator of the award-winning book Do Your Laundry or You’ll Die Alone: Advice Your Mom Would Give if She Thought You Were Listening. You can also find her writing on blogs including Oprah.com, The Huffington Post and Grown and Flown, or follow her on Twitter and Facebook at LaundryorDie.
When Pat Graves was going through a difficult time in his life, he flipped out. But not in the way you might think: He committed to doing a backflip every day and videotaped his flips for an audience that quickly grew. Doing flips reconnected him with something he had loved doing since he was a child and also gave him a mission. Find out how his simple idea launched the #InspireHappiness movement, and how he is using it to spread joy while maintaining his own balance.