Another of the great quotes from the Kea World Class New Zealanders day in 2013 was this one from Dr Catherine Mohr:
“I am not a CEO at heart so I demoted myself to get back on the learning curve.”
Yes this is an old blog post that I kept when I migrated to my new site and CMS, but the content is still very relevant today.
You can read her bio here but lets just say her accomplishments include a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from MIT, stuying medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and now she develops new robotic surgical procedures. Not bad for a Kiwi lass born in the South Island, educated in the US and who still spends time back in NZ connecting with Kiwi culture.
Not only is Catherine an amazing example of a successful Kiwi, but perhaps is so because she stayed true to herself. Her quote above resonated with a lot of people. She was being offered promotion after promotion and in her words, being moved further away from what made her study engineering in the first place. So Catherine made the decision to leave her engeering career and study medicine at Standford.
It is easier to relentlessly chase the next role up the ladder, to say yes to the extra hours, to say yes to the projects and opportunities you get offered. It’s a lot harder to carefully consider it and then politely say no.
But in doing so, saying no to that option allows you the freedom to then focus on roles or areas that allow you to best utilise your strengths, to develop your passions and ultimate lead to a path that brings you success and happiness in many ways.
I know, all a bit deep there, but in the end, the brave few take stock and listen to their gut, take the time to know their strengths and have the courage to follow the path that speaks to them – that’s definitely inspiring.
For more gems, you can read Catherine’s recent interview here on the global impact you can have from solving problems that matter to you.
