The Value We All Judge the Most

The Value We All Judge the Most

From Becoming You with Suzy Welch by NYU Stern Professor Suzy Welch

August 25, 2026 · 1h 6m

About this episode

Suzy Welch explores the misunderstood value of Workcentrism and its implications on life and work with expert guests.

This week on Becoming You, your host Suzy Welch continues the series' deep dive into the 16 human values with one of the most misunderstood: Workcentrism, the value of organizing your life around work. It ranks 15 out of 16 for the general population, and it's the only value in the entire Values Bridge inventory with a negative authenticity gap — meaning most people want even less of it, not more.  Suzy unpacks why Workcentrism is unique among all the values: it's the one you may not hold, but are still forced to express. She's joined by Tina Doran, SVP of Retail and Commerce at Mastercard, who has Workcentrism as her number-one value, for a conversation about what it actually feels like to build a life around work without apology.  Then Suzy sits down with Jennifer Tosti-Kharas of Babson College and Christopher Wong Michaelson of NYU and the University of St. Thomas, co-authors of “Is Your Work Worth It?”, to explore why society equates high Workcentrism with workaholism, why hiring managers reward it even when performance data doesn't back it up, and why the pandemic, quiet quitting, and the shifting economy have all reshaped how we relate to work. As always, Suzy…

People in this episode

Host: Suzy Welch

Guests: Tina Doran, Jennifer Tosti-Kharas, Christopher Wong Michaelson

Topics covered

  • Workcentrism
  • human values
  • work-life balance
  • workaholism
  • societal perceptions of work
  • pandemic impact on work

Keywords

  • Workcentrism
  • human values
  • work-life balance
  • workaholism
  • pandemic
  • quiet quitting
  • employment trends

Sponsors

The Values Bridge

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mastercard, Babson College, NYU, University of St. Thomas

Books & works: Is Your Work Worth It?

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