What Is A Good Life? #141 - The Space To Truly Connect with Professor Megan Reitz

On the 141st episode of What is a Good Life?, I’m delighted to welcome Professor Megan Reitz. Megan is an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, Oxford University, and Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult International Business School. She is a leading thinker on leadership and dialogue, featured in the Thinkers50 ranking of global business thinkers, and the author of Dialogue in Organizations, Mind Time, and, most recently, Speak Out, Listen Up. Her work explores how we create the conditions for transformative dialogue at work, and her latest research examines how we can foster spaciousness — the capacity to innovate, reflect, and build relationships in workplaces addicted to busyness.In this conversation, we explore the impact of space, silence, attention, and an outward focus on our relationships and our experience of life.This episode serves as an invitation to pause, question the busyness we’ve become entangled in, and reconsider the status quo of how we relate.For more of Megan's work:Website: https://www.meganreitz.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganreitz/For more from Mark McCartney:Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlifeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markcmccartney00:00 How do I encounter the world?04:00 Flow amongst people07:00 How our gestures affect others11:45 The labels, assumptions, and roles that create distance17:13 The energy drain of societal expectations23:00 Allowing, inquiry, and meta awareness26:20 Creating the space we require33:45 How do we see the world?37:00 Navigating pauses and big questions44:00 How strange it has become to pause47:30 Our focus moving from ourselves53:30 Experiencing periods without an agenda57:00 Summary and what is a good life for Megan?Keywords: Meaning of Life Interviews | meaning of life conversations | exploring life | big life questions | meaning of life discussions | creating a meaningful life​