Why I Do This

“Why do you want to double major in business and psychology?” asked Dr. Author “Mac” Saddoris, Director of the University of Maryland’s Career Services. It was the Fall of 1985, and Mac was my career counselor at University of Maryland. “Because I like working with numbers,” I responded. “You like working with people too, so why don’t you be a mortician!” Mac jokingly replied, indicating my tendency to lack focus.

It was my junior year of college, and I had just changed my major from computer science to psychology because, despite my love of numbers, I found that working with people was even more gratifying. I officially changed my major, registered to take 24 credit hours in psychology that next semester, signed up as a research assistant for three different psychology professors, quit my part-time job working with computers, and started volunteering at a state and county-run residential school for adolescents with emotional and behavioral difficulties. All of these changes were going to alter the trajectory of my career, or so I thought.

Mac was right to redirect me from computer science to psychology, and I am forever grateful. But he was wrong in pulling me away from the business courses I had started taking in college. Ten years after receiving my doctorate in psychology, I attended business school after discovering that my greatest joy comes from bringing psychology into the business world. I recall telling my finance professor that I had forgotten how much I loved working with numbers. He pretty much laughed at me, as he should have. That said, running a business is both a numbers and a people job. It takes technical and intellectual horsepower plus political savvy and relationship management skills to be a highly effective leader in today’s business world.

I may have been a computer scientist or a lawyer today If it were not for my discussions with Mac or a few other influences along my path, such as discovering meditation at age 12, having a mother who built and ran the Employee Assistance Program for a federal government agency and a father who majored in business and minored in psychology, or meeting my dear friend Dr. Annie McKee in 1995, who taught me about courage and introduced me to a world where psychology and business meet to help leaders and organizations be the best they can be.

Thank you to my friends and family who have influenced me and to all my amazing clients who offer their trust and allow me to help them become the best version of themselves, professionally and personally.