To conclude our Sea Suite series and help you get back to work on a high note, we’re bringing you an episode about joy. Recent research by Oxford University found that workers are 13% more productive when they’re happy. And yet, another study by BCG found that most company leaders aren’t building their strategies around how their employees feel at work. So joy? It’s a real business question.

In this episode, we are joined by designer and joy specialist Ingrid Fetell Lee, to find out how to make our workplaces, our jobs, and ourselves more joyful. A former design director for IDEO, Ingrid is a self-starter with a decade’s worth of research into the science of joy. Her findings made it into a book: Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness.

Today, she helps us answer the hard questions: how do we get to feel joyful? Our surroundings, the objects in our homes, the things and people we interact with every day… Why do they influence our emotions? And crucially: what does that mean for our companies? Together, we discuss how to make our workplaces more enjoyable and productive, and what joy means for leadership, teamwork and our business philosophy.

Join Ingrid and Ari to spread joy today and make it an integral function of your organization.

Highlights:

• When Ingrid first stumbled upon Joy (2:45)
• Universal joyful patterns (4:54)
• The evolutionary explanation for joy (7:32)
• The difference between joy and happiness (9:33)
• The Aesthetics of Joy in the Workplace (10:29)
• How physical space can impact our mental health (13:32)
• The branded environment: “No one wants to work inside the corporate logo” (15:30)
• The case of joy contagion at Coca-Cola (16:34)
• Adopting a new joyful leadership (18:56)
• “The biggest mistake that I've seen employers make is inconsistency” (20:56)
• Undoing the corporate bias against joy (22:03)
• Signs that we have changed our team for the better (23:23)
• Finding joy while working remotely (25:57)
• Embracing joy in the present (27:46)
• Gen Z: a new philosophy of joy (29:27)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• The Aesthetics of Joy Website
• The Aesthetics of Joy Instagram
• Ingrid Fetell Lee X (Twitter)
• Ingrid Fetell Lee LinkedIn
• Ingrid Fetell Lee Instagram
• Ingrid Fetell Lee Pinterest
• Ted Talk: “Where Joy Hides and How to Find It”
• Research: Oxford University - “Happy workers are 13% more productive”
• Research: BCG - “Joy at work matters more than you realize”

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or Danielle.Kernell@cadencebank.com.

According to a 2023 poll, nearly 50% of small business owners felt stressed about their finances. So at In Good Companies, before we return to work, we want to learn more about our money feelings. Where do they come from? Are they serving us well? And how can we gain confidence in our potential, to build a healthier relationship with our finances? Our guest Saundra Davis thinks about these questions every single day.

Saundra is a Financial Planner and Coach, the Director of Financial Programmes at Golden Gate University, and the founder of Sage Financial Solutions, a non-profit offering support and education to people from all backgrounds. And in today’s episode, she joins Ari for an honest, vulnerable and insightful conversation on financial well-being.

Together, they recall how Saundra launched her career after having made every mistake possible in her first business. They spell out the link between trauma and behavior and explain why a good financial plan starts with understanding our needs and values. Working through Saundra’s “Continuum of Financial Well-being”, they also cover what professional support looks like in practice; how to avoid some typical budgetary mistakes when launching a new venture; and how to assess if you’re coping well with your current financial situation.

Join them to hit reset and align your dollars, your cents and your values with your business vision.

Highlights:

• “There's no aspect of our lives that money doesn't touch” (3:01)
• The impact of money feelings on business decisions (4:36)
• How to recognize an unhealthy financial mindset (6:04)
• Understanding the "Continuum of Financial Well-being" (8:03)
• Financial wellness: a subjective question (10:37)
• Typical financial challenges when launching a new venture (13:50)
• Financial stress: how we can look out for each other (16:23)
• Why building trust with your Financial Planner matters (18:28)
• Financial support starts with your needs (21:25)
• Money wellness as an investment into the future (23:12)
• Saundra’s go-to resources for financial support (25:08)
• “Know where you are; know you're going; build a plan to get there “ (26:39)
• No Shame Zone: Saundra’s new money mindset (28:18)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• Saundra Davis LinkedIn
• Saundra Davis Golden Gate University
• Sage Financial Solutions Website
• Sage Financial Solutions Instagram
• Article - “Half of Small Business Owners Experience Poor Mental Health”
• Resource - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Well-being Questionnaire
• Resource - Financial Therapy Association
• Resource - Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards
  
  

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or Danielle.Kernell@cadencebank.com.

Whether you’re building your company up through growth and innovation or by investing in your culture, being in business often means striving for performance. But is there a science to good leadership? Research in cognitive psychology shows there might be.

Our guest today is Dr. Julia DiGangi, author of Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power. She is a neuropsychologist who works with businesses and entrepreneurs to help them harness their power, and keep their mindset fresh. And for her, great leadership starts when we understand the human brain!

In today’s episode, Dr. DiGangi joins our new host Ari Marin to decode the clever machinery of the brain, and unlock new potential! Together, they discuss our cognitive ability to recognize patterns and our natural aversion to uncertainty; they unpack how we can reshape our behaviors to undo fear-based nervous habits; and they reveal that focusing on identity can move organizations towards better cooperation. Dr. DiGangi shares her invaluable research and wealth of knowledge on corporate leadership to help us tap into our brain power.

So tune in with Julia and Ari today, and get ready to adopt a whole new performance mindset.

Highlights:

• Understanding how the brain works (3:00)
• Anxiety as a reaction to uncertainty (4:37)
• Cognitive strategies: why we'd rather choose physical pain (6:05)
• Building leadership from the energy of emotion (8:25)
• “Working” and “overworking” as different nervous responses (11:34)
• Why identity is the best response to uncertainty (12:54)
• The emotional math of our professional lives (15:12)
• Reframing micromanagement as a fear reaction (16:45)
• Recent changes in the conversation around mental health (18:34)
• The impact of technology on emotional intelligence (20:28)
• The creativity of leadership (22:24)
• Speaking the language of emotions (24:11)
• “The greatest asset that companies have today is relational intelligence” (26:23)
• Staying optimistic for the future of collaboration (29:12)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• Dr. Julia DiGangi Website
• Dr. Julia DiGangi X (Twitter)
• Dr. Julia DiGangi LinkedIn
• Dr. Julia DiGangi Instagram
• Book - “Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power”

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.