This month Amazon is featuring the e-book “Self-Aware” and will be free to download on Kindle at amazon.com/…6/dp/B01LFZR5Z6/ref=mt_kindle
Four years ago, I had the opportunity to teach a course to seniors at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business on the topic of Managing Professional Relationships in the Workplace. As I developed the curriculum, I focused on the importance of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills as keys to success in work. Over the past three years, I’ve continued to teach the course at Ross. Then, the Michigan Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan College of Engineering approached me to teach a similar course to graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and I gladly accepted the challenge.
I hear from my students that they are interested in exploring a more holistic perspective on their lives. They’re interested in taking control of their time and lives as they pursue a happy and healthy lifestyle. They tell me they are not just interested in doing well in their careers, but they want to achieve well-being in their lives and to make their world a better place.
In response to my students’ deep need, I developed the class as a process where my students look deeply at themselves to reflect upon who they are and what they want from their lives. It is not merely a self-reflective process. They also are encouraged to share and interact with others weekly.
Through the thirteen weeks of the course, my students go through a series of exercises that take them on a path of self-discovery toward improved emotional intelligence. They work individually and participate in small collaborative groups. They also interview young and successful business leaders about their lives and careers.
At the end of class, each student creates a personal development plan with a five-year vision of what they want to achieve. In addition to career success, my students are asked to describe what they hope to achieve in other important aspects of their life, including relationships, health and well-being, and community service. The final project is to present this plan to the class and to get feedback and help from their classmates about how to achieve their goals.
This book is designed to take the reader through a similar process. By reading and doing the exercises, you will:
- Gain a better sense of self-awareness.
- Develop your emotional intelligence competency.
- Craft a personal vision for success in career and life.
- Set goals to help you achieve a good life.
- Learn how to achieve these goals.
- Plan how to create a team to help you in the pursuit of your goals.
From the Inside Flap
“Rob Pasick did it–this workbook makes his popular university course readily accessible to young professionals. His expertise as an executive coach is translated to early career principles that will serve the reader for decades to come.”
-Michelle Machiele, M.A., Educational Leadership, Teaching Assistant, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, 2015
“When discussing leadership, many people like to focus on understanding external forces: your employees, the state of the market, the work environment. Dr. Rob takes the reader one step back and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness before all else. This is a great guide for those who are trying to better understand themselves as leaders, and those who want to best prepare themselves to become emerging leaders.”
-Haley Mullins, MPH, University of Michigan
“Before taking Dr. Rob’s class, 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 of a startup setting. After Dr. Rob’s class, I accepted an analyst position at…a boutique strategy-consulting startup here in Ann Arbor. It never would have occurred to me to pursue a position at such a small company before the class,which would have been a shame because I thoroughly enjoy my work here and couldn’t for the life of me picture doing HR at a large company.
“I have Dr. Rob to thank for pushing me in the right direction and for helping me to find out not what looks good to others, but what fits with me. Everyone would benefit from taking his class!”
-J.J.
From the Back Cover
Robert Pasick, Ph.D.
“Dr. Rob” is an executive coach, organizational psychologist, and a lecturer at the University of Michigan.
About the Author
“Dr. Rob” is an executive coach, organizational psychologist, and a lecturer at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and the University of Michigan’s Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering.
Rob has been practicing in the Ann Arbor area as a clinical & organizational psychologist and executive coach since he earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1975.
Rob has appeared on “Oprah” and “The Today Show.” He is the founder and host of Leaders Connect, which provides monthly Leaders Connect Breakfast networking events and Leadership Roundtables to the community.
Other Books by Dr. Rob
Men in Therapy: The Challenge of Change (with Richard L. Meth). 1990.
Awakening from the Deep Sleep: A Powerful Guide for Courageous Men. 1992.
What Every Man Needs to Know. 1994.
Pet Loss: A Death in the Family. 2003.
Balanced Leadership in Unbalanced Times. 2009.
Conversations with My Old Dog. 2009.