Welcome to a new episode of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD, where we dive deep into the world of personal and interpersonal effectiveness with Professor Sue Ashford of the University of Michigan.
In this enlightening conversation, Sue shares insights from her recent book, “The Power of Flexing,” revealing strategies for self-leadership and growth that are applicable both inside and outside academia. Whether you’re a graduate student finding your path, a career professional seeking growth, or simply someone intrigued by the art of self-improvement, this episode promises to illuminate the path to enhancing your day-to-day effectiveness. Join host David Mendes as he explores with Sue Ashford the subtle art of becoming more approachable, the process of translating scientific research into practical wisdom for a broad audience, and overcoming the universal challenges of feeling isolated and undervalued in your career.
Sue Ashford is the Michael and Susan Jandernoa Professor in the Management and Organizations group at the University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business. She has previously taught at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and received her MS and Ph.D. degrees from Northwestern University.
Sue’s passion is using her teaching and research to help people to be maximally effective in their work lives, with an emphasis on self-leadership, proactivity, personal growth, and leadership and its development. Her teaching at the Ross School currently focuses on the executive MBA program (negotiation) and several short-term executive education programs (leadership, change, growth). She also teaches regularly in the Leading Women Executives program of the Corporate Leadership Center and for various companies.
Sue is an award-winning scholar, having published papers in the fields’ best journals in the areas of leadership development and leader effectiveness, middle management voice and issue selling, job insecurity, and individual proactivity (e.g., self-management and feedback seeking). Her research has been summarized as advice for managers in the Harvard Business Review, the Harvard Business Review blog, New York Magazine and The Conversation. Sue is a Fellow of the Academy of Management, recognizing the top 10% of scholars worldwide. She was awarded the prestigious Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Scholarly Contributions to Management by the Academy of Management in 2017 and the OB Division Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Her recent book, The Power of Flexing: How to Use Small Daily Experiments to Create a Life-Changing Growth (Harper Collins), brings together all of her research and teaching over the years into one place to help people grow their personal and interpersonal effectiveness – to be both successful in today’s world and the person they most want to be.
What we covered in the interview:
- The power of meta awareness – how to gain the upper hand over the constant pull of smartphones and social media.
- Curbing thesis-related anxiety – cutting through the pressure with strategic decision-making tips.
- Halt the multitasking madness – how “monotasking” can turbocharge your productivity and lower your stress.
- Recharging in nature’s embrace – Gloria’s recommendation for a 20-minute nature break as a key to unlocking greater creativity.
This episode’s resources:
Thank you, Sue Ashford!
If you enjoyed this conversation with Sue, let her know by clicking the link below and leaving her a message on Linkedin:
Send Sue Ashford a thank you message on Linkedin!
Click here to share your key take-away from this interview with David!
You might also like the following episodes:
Sue Ashford – Preparing For Life as a PhD
Jessica Schleider –Dealing With Mental Unrest in Graduate School
Sheena Howard – How to Leverage Academic Branding
Melissa Gismondi – The Power of Graduate Internships
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