Ep 186: Why leaders need to be psychologically flexible

Earlier this month, I facilitated a webinar with my good friend and collaborator Dr. Rachael Skews.  It was the first of our new series of free monthly webinars on the topic of Sustainable leadership – and I’ll put a link to the booking site so you can see the details of the remaining sessions.

The focus of our session was making the case for boosting psychological flexibility in leaders. I explained what we mean by sustainable leadership, Rachael introduced the concept of psychological flexibility, and then we looked at how it can address some of the many challenges leaders can face at work. We wrap up with exploring some of the ways leaders can cultivate these important skills.

And while we have a lovely video recording of the webinar live on our YouTube channel, I know lots of you prefer to access this kind of information via audio, as you go for a walk or a run, do the housework, or navigate your daily commute. So here’s a slightly edited copy of the audio from last week.

As always, get in touch with your questions, comments and feedback by email via podcast@worklifepsych.com

Thanks for listening!

Resources for this episode

• The video recording of this webinar: https://youtu.be/QeGSpYbeguY
• You can find the slides used in this webinar here: https://www.worklifepsych.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Why-leaders-need-to-be-psychologically-flexible-slides.pdf
• You can find all the resources that accompany this series at our dedicated page: https://www.worklifepsych.com/SustainableLeadership
• Download our free white paper on Sustainable Leadership here: https://www.worklifepsych.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Sustainable_Leadership_whitepaper.pdf
• We’re also running a series of free leadership-focused webinars over the next few months. You can find out more and reserve your place by visiting our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/sustainable-leadership-4167563
• Finally, you can learn all about Psychological Flexibility by visiting our resources page here: https://www.worklifepsych.com/PsychologicalFlexibility