Marie-Louise Howett on the myth of "having it all" Artwork

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Dropping your armour is a podcast where we will listen to stories from thinkers, doers, and dreamers on what it means to be human in the modern workplace. Tune in to come face to face with fearless leadership in all its glory, messiness, and authenticity. //Host: Neha Sharma // Producer: Saskia Stengele & Philipp Fricke // Research & Scientific Foundation: Carrie Schlauch //

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Dropping your armour

Marie-Louise Howett on the myth of "having it all"

February 08, 2022 • atrain-scitrain Global • Season 1 • Episode 11

A conversation with Marie-Louise Howett, the Chief Human Resources Officer at Cint. With more than 20 years of experience, Marie-Louise reflects on her career and the choices she made that stretched her out of her comfort zone and have brought her into her current dream job. The dual realities of those choices - the sacrifices, but also the joy - is an important lesson on the myth of "having it all."

Further Readings:

During the conversation, Neha and Marie-Louise discuss stretch assignments and getting out of one's comfort zone as a necessary part of career development. Neha refers to Senninger's (2000) model about learning zones, which differentiates between a comfort zone, a learning zone, and a panic zone. Similar to Senniger's model is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's flow theory, which highlights the power of experiences finding that balance between the challenges of our current situation and the skills we have to meet those challenges.

Beard, K.S. (2015) Theoretically Speaking: An Interview with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Flow Theory Development and Its Usefulness in Addressing Contemporary Challenges in Education. Educational Psychology Review, 27, 353–364.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper and Row.
Friedman, R. (16 December 2014). Why work should get a little harder every day. Harvard Business Review. (https://hbr.org/2014/12/why-work-should-get-a-little-harder-every-day)
Lovejoy, C. (2018). The benefits of reflection and role models in learning medicine: An interview with Dr. Paquita De Zulueta. Cambridge Medicine Journal, 1-3. (https://cambridgemedicine.org/new/doi/cmj.2018.09.001)
Senninger, T. (2000). Abenteuer leiten – in Abenteuern lernen. Münster: Ökotopia.

Marie-Louise's views on having it all have been echoed by others, with former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama highlighting it as myth in 2018.

Salam., M (7 December 2018) Does 'having it all' mean doing it all? The New York Times. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/business/michelle-obama-women-having-it-all.html)

As always please send your feedback to droppingyourarmour@atrain.com

Enjoy this episode!