I study the human side of organizations — the behaviours, identities, and experiences that determine whether work energizes people or wears them down. My research spans three connected streams: leadership, the experience of dirty work and occupational stigma, and the role of time and temporality in organizational life.
Much of my recent work asks why some people in stigmatized, physically or socially “tainted” occupations stay engaged and satisfied while others burn out. In a study published in the Journal of Management & Organization, my co-authors and I surveyed 234 workers in dirty occupations and found that self-consciousness — how much people worry about society’s judgment — shapes whether their work erodes satisfaction through emotional exhaustion. The practical takeaway made headlines: those who could “shake off” outside judgment fared better.
Across all of my projects, I try to keep one foot in rigorous theory and the other in the lived reality of work. I care about research that holds up methodologically and tells people something true and useful about their own jobs.
Alongside research, I teach undergraduate management and enjoy helping students see organizational-behaviour evidence as a practical toolkit for leading well.