The Power of PhD, Part III – A Pledge to Greatness
by Jonathan Gehrz | August 20, 2009
Today, I close out the series I began in May 2009. May 21, 2009 I wrote an entry on the power of a doctoral education, questioning whether a doctoral education was a guiding outlook, like optimism? This idea that a doctoral degree and those three little letters and your decision to pursue this degree has a far more extensive impact than intellectual growth only. On June 19, 2009, I continued the series with a discussion on how doctoral education can paralyze or empower an individual to overcome great challenges.
This morning, I was driving into work and a radio station was playing Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror. The following words really struck me as poignant:
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make the change
You gotta get it right, while you got the time
For the past few weeks, I have been engaged in dialogue and reading a book by Jim Collins titled Good to Great. Collins and his research team analyzed publically traded companies and determined that all such organizations reach a moment of transformation where either are content with the status quo (good) or they reject it and go on to sustain “greatness” for the next 15 years. Collins goes on to write about those he identifies as Level 5 Leaders – individuals who lead with humility and put aside self-accolades and self-interest and with a rigorous resolve, focus on developing and sustaining the greatness of the organization (the anti Gordon Gekko, if you will.)
That’s a very simplistic overview, but what’s so profound is the idea that to achieve great things, you must start by looking first at the people on your bus. If you begin with the vision, the strategy, or the concept and then surround yourself with “good” people, the original great concept will never come to fruition. But, if you begin by identifying the who before the what, where or how and you assemble a team of great people; you can only achieve greatness. Simple enough, yes?
These are the ideas that have been swirling in my head the past few weeks and along comes the concept in musical form. Do you want to make the world a better place? (global perspective) Are you looking at yourself? (reality check) If you are, MAKE THE CHANGE! (act, don’t just talk about it) Get it right. (reminder) You only have so much time. (urgency)
So I close this series on the Power of PhD with the following advice, for those of us content with the status quo, who believe this, whatever this is, is great, it’s time to recognize that it’s not [great]. BUT it can be. It can be if you want it to be and if you are willing to start with changing yourself. And if you accept that conclusion, you will also recognize the idea that if at the elementarily core of this thing we call education is the belief that an individual can better his or her own situation with the acquisition and application of knowledge, then you already have accepted the challenge to be “great.”
Remember, you only have so much time in this program. As you further define your guiding outlook, assess whether you are to be empowered or paralyzed; I challenge you to actively seek out greatness in yourself, lead with humility and greater self-consciousness, do not settle for the status quo, rather, seek out those who desire greatness.
One Response to "The Power of PhD, Part III – A Pledge to Greatness"
Mike Nordbye says:
Wonderful finale to your series. Kudos.
You definitely understand the dissertation process, even more relevant, you truly comprehend the becoming a Ph.D. as you have put it on occasion. I will move forward considering the dissertation process the mirror that revealed myslef to me.
Thanks for all you have done to assist in the journey, especially when everything seemed so confusing that it lost all meaning and purpose. Your insights and perspectives forced me to realize and believe that I was engaged in something much more significant than the manuscript and the initials.
In my opinion, you are the scholar’s scholar.