Just like cars on the road, we all have blind spots. A blind spot is a consistent pattern that others can see in us and we do not see in ourselves. Or, we might see it in ourselves, but we do not recognize how it could be a problem. Today, I recognized one of my own blind spots: my propensity to “change things up”. For the past several weeks, I have been going to physical therapy to work on an …
Consider Your Gender Role Across the world, children receive different messages about what it means to be a man or a woman. Every culture has its own definition of gender roles and identity. These have as much to do with the culture as they do to biological differences. These days, gender role identity is going through rapid change and is being challenged on many fronts. In the 1990s I created a table that summarized general gender differences in US culture. …
The leaders of the medical device community in Michigan have many accomplishments to be proud about. For example, in Ann Arbor the careers Dick and Norma Sarns have spanned over 50 years. In 2012 Dick received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from University of Michigan. Then UM President, Mary Sue Coleman had this to say about Mr. Sarns: “his ongoing quest for innovation that has led to a host of discoveries to save cost of discoveries that have saved …
This week’s lesson from my book: Self-Aware: A Guide for Success in Work and Life is on “discovering your strengths.” Here are the steps I asked my students to consider: According to the Gallup survey discover your top-five signature strengths? (you will need to buy one of the Gallup books to get the code to be able to take this survey) As with all similar surveys, the Gallup is based on self-report. Yet, research shows we do not know ourselves as …
Self-Aware: A Guide for Success in Work and Life “I hadn’t really stopped to think about how my own interests and work-style would fit into my future career. I was caught up in attending recruitment sessions from Fortune 500 companies or whatever companies I thought carried prestige, with little regard for the type of work I was actually interested in… “Our first topic in Dr. Rob’s class was about self-awareness… [I discovered that] I preferred creative work, often in more …
I will always remember September 11, 2001. I will always remember receiving the call from my wife that morning, saying that a plane had hit the towers. I will always remember driving home, trying to grasp the enormity of the tragedy. I will always remember the anguish as worried about our son, Adam, who was a reporter for Reuters in Times Square and often reported from the Trade Center. I will always remember the relief when we finally heard from him at 2 …