Rethinking Stress – with Modupe Akinola

Join us for a special event with Professor Modupe Akinola about rethinking stress and how you can develop a positive “stress mindset”.
About this event
How can we reframe stress for ourselves and others?
Stress in an inevitable part of life and the events of the last two years have been particularly stressful for many of us. Professor Modupe Akinola has been researching the impact of stress in the workplace for many years and has also had to put her research into practice in her own life during the pandemic.

At this event, Modupe will share how crucial it is to challenge our mindset around stress and how getting curious about our stress responses can help us cope better next time something difficult happens. She’ll explain how we can reduce feelings of powerlessness and overwhelm – and help us remember that we’ve got through stressful situations before and can do so again, perhaps even better than before. By learning to see stress as an enhancing force, which prepares our body for action, we can counter our negative self-talk and improve our overall wellbeing.

The event will take place on Zoom at 7pm London time (GMT).

To see the start time in your time zone, please click here.

About The Speaker

Modupe Akinola is an Associate Professor of Management at Columbia Business School and Director of the Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics. She also hosts the TED Business podcast. Modupe examines how organizational environments – with the pressures of deadlines and multitasking – can lead to stress, and how this stress can spill over to affect performance. She studies why some people thrive under stress while others buckle, looking at how we react psychologically and physiologically to stressful situations and how these responses can affect outcomes like negotiations and creativity. She also studies workforce diversity, including the biases that affect the recruitment and retention of women and people of color in organizations. Modupe’s award-winning research has been published in leading scholarly and practitioner-oriented outlets and covered widely in the media. Modupe is one of the most highly rated professors at Columbia Business School and has received several teaching and research awards. Prior to pursuing an academic career, Modupe was a consultant and investment banker.

The event will be hosted by Dr Mark Williamson from Action for Happiness.