The Emotion at Work Podcast
Our podcast investigates emotions and their role in the people, processes and places of work. Managing regulating and understanding emotions at work can be tricky, and that’s why we interview industry experts to provide insight into different topics such as emotion regulation, emotion expression, digital body language, shame, and other important topics in society.
Scroll to explore our bank of episodes, and get in touch if you’d like to be featured on our podcast. The episodes naturally cover emotionally sensitive topics, therefore it is important that listeners know this beforehand.
Episode 24 – Emotion at Work *anniversary special*
In this episode, the tables are turned. May was the 12 month anniversary for this podcast and I wanted to do something different. Each week you get to hear me inquiring into others’ views, experiences, research and practice and for this one, you get to hear from me. Huge thank you to Mark Gilroy (@thatMarkGilroy) for his help and being our guest host for this anniversary special.
Episode 23 – Emotion at Work in the workplace
In this episode, I get to chat with Monica Parker (@monicaparker) from Hatch Analytics https://hatchanalytics.com/ and we chat about something that has interested me for years. I have spent a fair bit of time in different workplaces and they had profound effects on how I felt both on specific days and overtime. So, I am really excited that I am going to get to explore this with our guest today.
Episode 22 – Emotion at Work Stories – Anxiety, difference and minority groups
This episode picks up the Emotion at Work in Stories theme I shared at the start of 2018. This time with Tony Jackson (@JacksonT0ny) as my guest, we explore how anxiety has always been a part of his life and has been working on it more purposefully in the last five years or so.
Episode 21 – Emotion at Work in Employee Experience
I loved recording this podcast because it gives a look at the background and theory as well as practical experience, hints and tips for reviewing and improving Employee Experience. In this episode, I am joined by Lara Plaxton (@_Lara_HR on Twitter or here on LinkedIn https://uk.linkedin.com/in/lara-plaxton-7927aaa) who is the head of HR at FDM UK. Lara has a fairly unique perspective on employee experience as the work that FDM do, doesn’t necessarily match with the standard model.
Episode 20 – Emotion at Work in Competitive Contexts
In this episode of the podcast I chat with an athlete that has competed at the highest level in his class. As a Visually Impaired (VI) judo fighter Jonathan (Jono) Drane (@jonolopodis) has represented team GB at the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016 finishing 5th in the 81kg weight category while having a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). Prior to Rio, he won gold in this first competitive VI championships in the US and won a Bronze medal in 2014 IBSA world championships.
Episode 19 – Emotion at Work in Humanising the workplace
In this episode, I am joined by Sarah Taylor Ph.D. (https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sarahholiday) where we explore her research and practice into the ways we can enrich workplaces by humanizing it and how we can also bureaucratize it too. Our focus is her research in an elderly care setting and what employees and care workers in that setting really enjoy about their work, and how it is not necessarily what lines up with any set of ‘professional standards’.
Episode 18 – Emotion at Work in Stress and Wellbeing
In this episode, I am delighted to have Professor Sir Cary Cooper as my guest. Cary is the President of the CIPD, researcher, practitioner and part of the Manchester Business School. His accolades are too long for me to list here so if you want to find out more about him, here is a link to a bio of his. I wanted to get Cary on the podcast for quite a while now as someone that is personally experienced and a respected researcher in this area. We get into:
Episode 17 – Emotion at Work Stories – Burnout
This episode picks up the Emotion at Work in Stories theme I shared at the start of 2018. This time with Amy King (@Amy_C_King) as my guest, we take a trip into how burnout has been a part of her life in recent years.
We explore the knowing and not knowing that you are becoming burned out, how loving what she does has contributed towards Amy’s burnout experience and how she now approaches life (or does her best to do so) in a way that will prevent it from happening again.
Episode 16 – Emotion at Work Stories – Imposter Syndrome
This episode picks up the Emotion at Work in Stories theme I shared at the start of 2018. This time with Amanada Arrowsmith (@pontecarloblue) as my guest, we take a trip into how imposter syndrome has been a part of her life from early childhood but really took hold in her early twenties.
Episode 15 – Emotion at Work in Memory & Learning
In this episode, you get to hear Nick Shackleton-Jones, Sukh Pabial & I explore and share our views of emotion, cognition, memory and learning. The conversation takes turns and explores areas I didn’t plan or expect and was really interesting all the same. We talk about the affective context model where Nick suggests that as humans everything that we think, has an emotional basis behind it. We talk about using repetition in learning, making things memorable and emotionally evocative and how at times we just need to attend to what others are concerned about.
Episode 14 – Emotion at Work in stories – Phil Willcox
In this episode, I tell my story or at least some of my story of 2017. I found 2017 really hard. Physically and more importantly (for this podcast) I found it emotionally hard. I feel lucky that feeling content and settled with life is something that generally comes easy to me. 2017 was not like that. Here I talk about how I struggled with my identity, with how I saw myself and that the reality was not something I wanted to or chose to face. As well as this sharing of my 2017 I talk about what is to come for the podcast in 2018.
Episode 13 – A pause and reflection from Phil
In this episode, I stop and take stock. I do this about the podcast series so far, how the episodes have affected me and my practice, and about some stuff that has been going on for me personally. I let you know a little more about the future podcasts still to come and what you can expect from the rest of the year.
Emotion at Work Podcast
The Emotion at Work Podcast
Overview
In the podcast interview featuring Katie Allen, a specialist inclusion coach and advocate, the discussion begins with a light-hearted opening about different methods of hanging socks, which serves as an illustrative metaphor for varying perspectives on inclusion. Katie shares her transformative journey into the realm of inclusion, emphasizing that understanding diverse experiences is essential and that binary thinking can be limiting. She advocates for practical approaches that encourage open conversations about sensitive topics like racism and sexism, stressing the importance of personal accountability and vulnerability in leadership. Through sharing her own experiences as a pan-romantic asexual, she highlights the often-overlooked aspects of sexual orientation in inclusion efforts. The conversation concludes with actionable steps for fostering inclusive environments, such as seeking feedback from teams, incorporating inclusive practices like closed captions, and reframing language to enhance engagement and cooperation. Overall, the interview serves as a thought-provoking exploration of strategies to create more inclusive spaces that benefit everyone.
🎙️ Introduction and Light-Hearted Opening (00:09 – 06:30)
Katie Allen introduced as specialist inclusion coach, consultant, TEDx speaker, and allyship advocate
Innocuous opening question about how they hang socks on washing lines reveals different approaches
Katie uses an ‘octopus’ hanger with individual pegs for socks, hanging them in pairs
Phil hangs socks from one side at the ‘ankle end’ to help them dry quicker
Discussion creates a moment of connection through similarities and differences, paralleling inclusion concepts
💡 Core Concepts of Inclusion (06:31 – 20:02)
Katie explains her journey into inclusion work began at age 36 when she truly understood what it means to be white
Listening to Professor Kehinde Andrews explain racialization was eye-opening for Katie
Key lesson: Multiple truths can exist at the same time – different experiences can all be valid
Binary thinking is unhelpful – the world isn’t simply good/bad or right/wrong
There’s ‘no definition of done’ in inclusion work – it’s an ongoing learning process
Intention does not equal impact – good intentions don’t change negative impacts
🧠 Practical Inclusion Approaches (20:03 – 35:00)
Katie shifted from strategic corporate work to focusing on human conversations about inclusion
Many leadership teams struggle to discuss topics like racism, sexism, and homophobia
Leaders fear offending others or facing public criticism if they say something wrong
Katie emphasizes personal accountability and normalizing vulnerability in learning journeys
Recommends starting with ‘I’ statements and exploring your own knowledge gaps
Leaders should model learning publicly to create psychological safety for others
👂 Understanding Different Experiences (35:01 – 50:54)
Phil shares experience working with deaf people and learning about deaf culture
Katie highlights that ‘there’s no such thing as normal’ – only what we’ve normalized
Creating inclusive environments benefits everyone, not just those with specific needs
Non-inclusive environments create emotional and energy costs for excluded people
Example: Making application processes flexible helps many people, not just specific groups
Discussion of ‘I don’t see color’ statements and why they can be problematic
🌈 Sexual Orientation and Asexuality (50:55 – 01:05:29)
Katie explains her identity as asexual – experiencing no sexual attraction
Discovered her asexuality later in life after living most of her life thinking she was straight
Explains asexuality spectrum and difference between sexual and romantic attraction
Identifies as pan-romantic asexual – experiences romantic but not sexual attraction
Shares workplace challenges: asexuality often overlooked in inclusion efforts
People make hurtful comments like ‘you’re too attractive to be asexual’
Feels seen when people use LGBTQIA+ rather than stopping at LGBT
🔍 Practical Steps for Inclusion (01:05:30 – 01:19:49)
Start with self-education and immerse yourself in content outside your comfort zone
Ask people in your team what would make them feel more included
Example: Adding closed captions to meetings helps everyone, not just those with hearing issues
Reframe inclusion as something you’re already doing, not an additional task
Every touch point with humans (employees, customers, suppliers) involves inclusion work
Linguistic tip: Ask ‘is there something else?’ rather than ‘anything else?’ to encourage more sharing
Using ‘would you be willing’ instead of ‘can you’ is more effective for gaining cooperation
Here is Katie’s LinkedIn Bio https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieallenconsulting/
And her website https://www.katieallenconsulting.com/