{"id":109,"date":"2018-07-27T17:20:57","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T17:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/oducleaders\/?page_id=109"},"modified":"2018-11-11T20:04:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T20:04:10","slug":"leaders-reflection","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/brianpayneleaders\/leaders-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Program Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI was driven<\/em> less by achievement than by trying to understand, in earnest: What makes human life meaningful? I still felt literature provided the best account of the life of the mind, while neuroscience laid down the most elegant rules of the brain.\u00a0 Meaning, while a slippery concept, seemed inextricable from human relationships and moral values.<\/em><\/p>\n

— Paul Kalanithi<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo by Sebastien Gabriel\u00a0on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I look back on my career to date, I reflect on those activities that were successful as well as those that were not.\u00a0 I learned from all of those experiences.\u00a0 I am especially proud of those accomplishments that, in my view, have made a difference.\u00a0\u00a0 From developing new programs, expanding efforts to educate our students, and creating new initiatives to promote student success, to conducting and supporting research and innovation in all of its forms, I feel great pride when I look back at my successes as well as those of my students and colleagues.\u00a0 At the same time, I know it is important to reflect on where I have not succeeded.\u00a0 This is much more difficult and humbling.\u00a0 The occasional rejection letter from a journal editor is a good reminder of why we should rejoice when we get our articles published.\u00a0 (I have received more rejection letters from editors than acceptance letters!).\u00a0 Rejections from funding agencies serve to enhance the excitement I feel when I receive positive news from a funder.\u00a0 (I have received more\u00a0rejection letters from funders than acceptance letters!).\u00a0\u00a0 Teaching difficult classes feels a little less painful when I encounter those students I was truly able to help.\u00a0 But each of these rejections\u00a0are not atypical failures that academics might experience.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In our multidisciplinary entrepreneurship courses we have a module on failing.\u00a0 The premise of the module is simple.\u00a0 Everyone fails.\u00a0\u00a0 Success comes from recognition that failure is a natural part of growth.\u00a0 It’s certainly not a part that most of us look forward to, or embrace for that matter.\u00a0 But overcoming challenges makes those experiences with failure that much more rewarding and valuable.<\/p>\n

Meaning, though, comes not from success or failure, but from the relationships formed in our efforts to\u00a0sustain and improve the human condition.\u00a0To have the opportunity to be in a\u00a0profession where we can focus on improvement while embracing failure is one of the many things that makes being an academic such a rewarding career.\u00a0 In the end, we get to make a difference — in the lives of our students, their communities, and the world we all live in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI was driven less by achievement than by trying to understand, in earnest: What makes human life meaningful? I still felt literature provided the best account of the life of the mind, while neuroscience laid down the most elegant rules of the brain.\u00a0 Meaning, while a slippery concept, seemed inextricable from human relationships and moral… <\/p>\n

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