RWL Newsletter #130
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Happy belated birthday to the good old USA! Spending some time in Dublin made me realize just how young the Republic of Ireland actually is. Having spent part of my childhood in Boston, I grew up with many people of Irish decent, and of course the city itself was deeply influenced by the 19th century immigration following the Potato Famine, which we learned during our trip the Irish refer to as The Great Hunger. Economists estimate that 1.5M people left Ireland during the early 19th century. Considering the population of Ireland stands at 4.6M people today, that’s a stunning number. We met a gelato seller who had lived in Boston for a number of years and he said he didn’t really feel like he had left Ireland. He called Boston, “Galway West”.
Dublin is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. We were there for a long weekend, but I wish we had had one more day in the city. And of course we would have loved to have had more time to visit the rest of the country. A highlight of the trip for me was getting to kayak through the center of the city on the River Liffey. The picture is of my wife and I paddling in front of the old Dublin Customs House. It’s great to get to do something you love in a new place.
Learning a bit about Irish history gave me a greater appreciation for our own history. We are so blessed.
Read
What: Prospect, The philosophical problem with our pursuit of “authenticity”
Why: This is an entertaining read. I hear about authenticity quite a bit from leaders, and from my students. Here’s the conclusion of the article:
The irony is that authenticity, a defining goal of the personal growth industry, can end up artificially limiting a person’s development. If you are just true to the self as it is, then you cut yourself off from all that you could be. It is worth giving some thought to the words of the French philosopher Michel Foucault: “I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning.”
Like most things, there’s some middle ground, of course. Hopefully we’re all on a journey of self-construction and improvement. For those of us who work with young leaders, I think helping them find this balance is important. The article is worth thinking about.
Watch
What: Jordan Peterson, PICK YOUR DAMN SACRIFICE (6 minutes)
Why: This is a short clip from a longer talk by Peterson about growing up. He makes an interesting point about the fact that as a child, you are nothing but potential. To become an adult, at some point you have to make a choice about what you will do and who you will be. That is a sacrifice - because you leave every other possibility behind. What was unexpected for me is his follow up comment that by passing through the crucible of your choice, the world opens up again.
I thought this short video complemented the authenticity article well.
Listen
What: Jama, Paradise’s Emergency Department Director Recalls California’s Worst Wildfire (18 minutes)
https://edhub.ama-assn.org/jn-learning/audio-player/17361077
Why: This is a couple of months behind us now, but a fascinating tale of surviving a wildfire when your hospital is in its path. Half of the hospitals in New Hampshire are critical access, so this story of a small, isolated hospital dealing with a major catastrophe is a useful point of reflection. Could be a useful case study for those of you who teach management. I am thinking about using it to discuss emergency response.
A full text version is available here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2727873
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
Have a great weekend and do amazing things!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau