Michelle Gielan Featured Founder of The Institute for Applied Positive Research

COVID-19 is has touched nearly every aspect of life, taking a huge toll on well-being. A majority of Americans report feeling more anxious, stressed, disconnected and uncertain than ever before. In this midst of these unprecedented times, strengthening our ability to respond to challenges with resilient optimism has been shown to scientifically fuel well-being and happiness to give us calm amid the storm. Research from neuroscience and positive psychology shows the incredible ripple effect rational optimism can have on well-being, as well as business, educational and health outcomes, including 31% greater energy, 3x greater creativity, 7x greater financial well-being, and a 23% decrease in symptoms resulting from stress.

Best-selling author and happiness researcher Michelle Gielan will give you with practical, research based tools to deal with uncertainty, stress and anxiety and fuel your happiness. During her interactive virtual session, you will learn:

• What optimists do differently in times of challenge, and how that wards off burnout
• The science behind a creating a more positive and optimistic mindset
• Practical, researched habits to retrain your brain to be more resilient and happier in minutes
• Ways to apply the science of happiness to your relationships to strengthen connection
• How interconnected teams create cultures of high performance and sustainable resilience

Stress has become one of the biggest barriers to high performance on and off the field, yet new research shows 91% of us could improve our default response to stress using simple positive habits. In one of the largest studies on stress of its kind, researcher and bestselling author Michelle Gielan has identified the three major dimensions of your stress response that predict your well-being and performance, and how to quickly shift from stuck to empowered. She shares the new research coming out of positive psychology and strategies for achieving 31% greater energy and 23% fewer stress-related symptoms. Audience members will learn how to identify the three major responses to stress that waste energy and leave us stuck, inoculate their brains against common stresses and negative people, use unavoidable stress to their advantage to boost performance, develop three habits to retrain their brains to be more resilient and optimistic in minutes, and cultivate interconnected teams to create cultures of high performance, optimism and sustainable resilience.

During this interactive 60 minute session, you will learn:
- How rational optimism makes you more adaptive in the midst of uncertainty and change
- What optimists do differently and effectively in times of crisis
- Why rational optimism significantly increases performance and success
- Researched strategies to stay informed about global disruption without suffering emotional consequences
- Ways to increase social connection in a time of social distancing
- A proven tool to inoculate your brain against stress and negativity
- Practical, researched 2-minute habits to retrain your brain to be more resilient in minutes

Effective, positive communication is the single biggest driver of success at work. New research in the fields of neuroscience and positive psychology is showing the incredible ripple effect positive communication can have on employee engagement, productivity, and happiness. After spending years as a national CBS News anchor broadcasting to millions and receiving an advanced degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Positive Psychology, Michelle developed simple, yet proven techniques for positive communication that drive individual and team success for quantifiable results. She trains professionals on ways to inoculate their brain against stress and negativity, praise effectively, get others to adopt a more resilient mindset and shift the culture at work to create a talent-enhancing environment.

In our corporate culture, it can sometimes be difficult to be both female and positive without fear of being perceived as “pollyannish” or out of touch with reality. In this talk, Michelle shatters the misconceptions about positive leadership using science to show how to not only avoid prejudice, but to also change the mindsets of those around you to drive success. Michelle describes funny and poignant stories she experienced while one of the top female media professionals, as well as from her work with influential female executives at companies including Google, Microsoft and Bank of America. In this talk, Michelle reveals how to cultivate rational optimism, change the social script using verbal and nonverbal cues, guide the negative towards the positive, and be perceived as strong, deep and optimistic female leader.