Emily Knowles - Leveraging organisational psychology to create impact | S2 E1

Emily Knowles is a trained lawyer who practises as an organisational psychologist. 

One of her favourite perspectives is the interplay between organisational psychology and spirituality. 

We talk about how the world of work is transforming for everyone. Emily provides helpful tools from the world of organisational psychology to help us navigate our work-lives, deal with the enormous changes in the why, where, how, and when we work, and be more impactful as lawyers. 

Emily is a Psychologist, Consultant & Researcher at the Human Link in Melbourne, Australia and National Convener of the Buddhism and Psychology Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Show notes

[2:59] Emily dissects the changes in work from 3 perspectives: the work, the worker, and the workplace.

[7:37] We talk about internal and external influences. Emily discusses the 3 things that impact wellbeing:  the intrapersonal, the interpersonal and the environment.

[9:13] For Emily, environmental factors for a worker include individual space, shared space and natural environment.

[12:48] Emily talks about transformations affecting why we work, and how and when we work.

[15:27]  Emily suggests we think about a to-be list, rather than a to-do list.

[18:46] How can we navigate tension between our organisations and individual workers? For lawyers, Emily has developed what she calls 'practice-area psychology'.

[23:49] Emily mentions Minds Count, a foundation that law firms can sign up to for supporting lawyer wellbeing at work .

[26:42] Practice area psychology allows lawyers to expand their influence beyond themselves to the norms of their legal practice.

[29:12] A practice like yoga can help professionals be more mindful of their bodies, minds and breath and impact how we show up,

[33:09] In our virtual world, Emily reminds us that it's more important than ever to be more than a head in a virtual box!

For more, visit the episode page on the New Earth lawyer website.