|
world bytes
 My Rudy Moment
By Terrance Malkinson
When it was released in 1993,
the film, Rudy, made Daniel "Rudy”
Ruettiger the inspiration for countless people
around the world. In what has been hailed as one
of the most influential sports movies ever made,
Rudy depicts Ruettiger's true journey —
against all odds — toward becoming a player on
the fabled Notre Dame Football team. At the end
of a screening at the White House attended by
President and Mrs. Clinton as well as members of
Congress and Senate, the First Lady said: “every
kid in America should see this film" [Page 237,
Rudy: My Story]. Rudy's true story is
one of how through persistence, determination
and a strong parental-instilled work ethic,
dreams and great achievements can be realized.
One of the movie's many themes
focuses on our need for positive external
motivation, and that children as well as adults
need inspiration and positive role models that
will encourage them to do their best [Page 236,
Rudy: My Story]. Others, who discourage,
are negative, present obstacles and in many
other ways demotivate you from achieving your
potential because of their own shortcomings and
selfishness must not succeed in determining a
mediocre life for you.
During my life it has been my
honor to have many mentors who have supported my
dreams. I have also experienced the negativity
of many others who were un-supportive, and in
some cases unjustly punished me for pursuing
what I knew internally I was capable of.
Fortunately, like Rudy Ruettiger, through
persistence, determination, integrity, high
ethical principles and a strong work ethic, I
have achieved accomplishments that I earlier
thought would never be realized. This can also
be your journey to personal success. You simply
have to believe in yourself, and learn from and
surround yourself by people who will inspire and
encourage you. You will then lead a life with no
regrets.
Supervisors and managers can
learn from the lessons taught in the Rudy
story. People who lead solely because of their
position and power, and through bullying and
employing their subordinates "at will" are in
the authors’ opinion not leaders. The
literature continues to be filled with advice
from experts professing remarkable new ways to
lead and motivate employees. In reality,
despite a changing world, the principles of
effective leadership and motivation have not
changed since day one.
And what was my "Rudy Moment"?
On 26 August, I completed my tenth and final
Ironman Triathlon, while in the same month
publishing my 460th reviewed article.
Yes, by believing in myself and by surrounding
myself with inspirational and motivating people,
my dreams have come true. And, yes, you too can
achieve achieve your dreams by surrounding
yourself with people who believe in you and
inspire you to pursue your maximum potential.
 The
film Rudy was released on 13 October 1993
by TriStar Pictures and is available on CD.
Rudy was the first movie that the
administration of Notre Dame allowed to be
filmed on campus since Knute Rockne, All
American in 1940. In 2005, Rudy was
named by a panel of sports experts as one of the
best 25 sports movies of the previous 25 years
by ESPN, and it was ranked the 54th-most
inspiring film of all time in the "America Film
Institute 100 Years" series.
 The
book, Rudy: My Story, is published
by Thomas Neilson (ISBN 978-0-8499-4839-8.
2012).
Other Bytes
Here are some of the things
going on in and around the community:
-
FORTUNE magazine has
published its annual listing of the “100
Fastest-Growing Companies” [166(5):137-143,
24 September 2012,
www.fortune.com].
Michael Cacace et. al. provide a guide to
the most vibrant sectors of companies that,
despite challenging economic times, have
shown resilience. Heading this year’s list
is Vancouver’s Silver Wheaton, a
precious-metals company; followed by Cirrus
Logic an Austin, Texas, a manufacturer of
audio chips; and in third place, Baidu, a
Chinese internet-search powerhouse. The
ratings methodology used to compile the list
is provided at the end of the article.
-
The 24 September 2012 issue
of Forbes focuses on innovation
[190(5):72-94,
www.forbes.com].
Two articles discuss innovation at
Intuit, a
leading software provider of business and
financial management solutions for small and
mid-sized businesses, consumers and
accounting professionals [pp. 72-78]; and at
Niche Pharma [pp. 80-89], a biotechnology
company. A third article “The Nifty Fifty”
[pp. 90-94] provides a listing of companies
that are considered as leaders in
innovation.
-
Jason Ankeny's article in
Entrepreneur, “The Next Picture Show,”
looks at an Austin-based movie theatre that
is successfully redefining the cinema
experience and looking at expansion into
other cities [40(9):26-36, September 2012,
www.entrepreneur.com]. This
novel approach occurs at a time when
attendance at traditional corporate-owned
multiplexes is in decline. A second article
in the same issue, “Youth in Revolt” [pp.
50-57], profiles revolutionary aged 30 or
younger high-earning entrepreneurs.
-
Creative ways that colleges
are using to finance essential
infrastructure projects are described by Bob
Woods in “Capital Improvement” [Community
College Journal, 83(1):32-37,
August-September 2012,
www.ccjournal-digital.com].
According to the article, an estimated $100B
of unmet U.S. community college
infrastructure needs exists. The article
provides several case studies on innovative
financial strategies to meet needs. An inset
provides a link to government proposed
spending packages that would provide
dedicated funding for community college
capital improvements.
-
Scientific American's
October 2012 cover story [October 2012,
307(4): 54-58,
www.scientificamerican.com]
provides insights into the complexity of the
functioning brain. No matter how much
technology develops, it is unlikely that we
will ever be able to create a device that
can equal the capabilities of the human
brain. In the same issue, a series of six
articles provide an overview of the “State
of the World’s Science” [pp.36-53]. The key
message is that science is increasingly
becoming a multinational activity, with
international collaboration among scientists
increasing.
-
“Professional Socialization
for the Ph.D.: An exploration of Career and
Professional Development Preparedness and
Readiness for Ph.D. Candidates” [The
Journal of Faculty Development,
26(2):5-23, May 2012 ] provides the
results of a research study into the career
readiness and professional development needs
of Ph.D. students at a large mid-western
research university. Among the findings is
that skill preparation is inadequate for
many graduate students.
-
Former President Bill
Clinton offers his view of five areas in
which there has been definitive, measurable
and reproducible progress that is resulting
in a better world in “The Case for Optimism”
[Time, 180(14):38-44, 1 October 2012,
www.time.com].
-
The October 2012 issue of
Inc. Magazine [www.inc.com]
includes on a special report on “How
Washington Can Help Entrepreneurs Restore
the American Dream.” A series of three
articles “Who Really Creates the Jobs” [pp.
52-56], "The Coming Revolution in Health
Care" [pp.58-65], and “What Has to Happen in
November” [pp. 66-70], discuss issues
important to the future of innovation.
Terrance Malkinson is a
communications specialist, business analyst and
futurist. He is currently an international
correspondent for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer, an
associate editor for IEEE Canadian Review, and a
member of the editorial advisory board of IEEE
The Institute. He was Vice-Chair of the IEEE-USA
Communications Committee (2004-2010), and
editor-in-chief of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer
Digest (2004-2008). He was an elected Senator of
the University of Calgary and an elected
Governor of the IEEE Engineering Management
Society as well as an elected Administrative
Committee member of the IEEE Professional
Communication Society. He has been the editor of
several IEEE conference proceedings, and past
editor of IEEE Engineering Management. He is the
author of more than 420 publications, and is an
accomplished triathlete. His career path
includes being an accomplished technical
supervisor and medical researcher at the
University of Calgary a business proposal
manager for the General Electric Company, an
associate for Sears Canada Inc. and research
administrator with the School of Health and
Public Safety/Applied Research and Innovation
Services at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary Canada.
The author is grateful to the
professional support of the Haskayne School of
Business Library at the University of Calgary.
He can be reached at
todaysengineer@ieee.org.
home
|
