A wise and invigorating series of encouragements for self-doubters.
LaPierre presents a motivational manual to help caregivers cope with stress and doubt.
“Life is messy, and healing doubly so,” writes the author, a clinician, clinical supervisor, and crisis interventionist, in this overview of the doubts and self-criticisms that can arise in the mental health field. These feelings can coalesce into what’s popularly known as Imposter Syndrome, a condition in which a person can feel inadequate despite their qualifications and abilities. LaPierre discusses a wide range of the ways well-meaning helpers can act as their own worst enemies, indulging in corrosive “self-talk” that does the work of their most unfair critics for them. The author urges his readers to recognize this kind of self-talk, and to realize that they don’t talk in such brutal terms to anybody else. Throughout his book, LaPierre warns his readers that grinding away to attain competence in any task is no cure for insecurities. “No amount of mastery of your craft will result in true self-acceptance,” he writes. “Imposter Syndrome weaponizes insecurities, self-doubt, mental illness, and all of the unhealthy coping mechanisms we learned from surviving our families or origin and/or other forms of trauma.” Instead, he suggests a number of strategies, such as conscientious journaling (he provides regular bulleted prompts for journal entries). These practical tips are clearly written, but the book’s main strength lies in its generalities; LaPierre is a very insightful guide to the ways in which people typically undermine themselves (“Expectations are vague ideas,” he writes. “If they were specific, they’d be goals”). And while it might be tempting for self-doubters to simply fake confidence and hope to actually feel it one day, LaPierre compassionately but sternly cautions the reader that this approach will ultimately only make a person feel like “the empty shell of a human being.” The text’s core message—that people are better than they give themselves credit for being—will be much appreciated by LaPierre’s readers.
A wise and invigorating series of encouragements for self-doubters.Pub Date: June 11, 2023
ISBN: 9798397978118
Page Count: 178
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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