3 minute read
EDITOR’S COLUMN
–R. Buckminster Fuller
(American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist)
I don’t know if any of you have ever felt like a caterpillar in a world full of butterflies. I have, and it can be pretty hard. The thing is that every caterpillar has inside itself the very thing needed to become a butterfly. In fact, that transformation is the caterpillar’s destiny.
Imaginal cells (a lovely and unusually poetic name for a bit of biology), which are present within the caterpillar’s body, are responsible for the transformation. Once begun, the process is unstoppable. The caterpillar is no more. The beautiful butterfly emerges.
I like to think that we have our own kind of imaginal cells. They are just waiting to help us become the butterfly we were meant to be—to listen to that voice inside us, instead of the noise around us. If we can have the courage to just be our true selves and follow our own paths, we can each achieve our own kind of success.
Buckminster Fuller transformed himself, and his life, at a particularly low point in his life. He had lost his job, most of his money—everything seemed to go wrong. He was despondent, to say the least. When it seemed there were no good choices left, he somehow pivoted to a new path—his own path—and the rest, as they say, is history. His achievements are many and varied. He became a giant.
So, I leave you this time with a second pearl of wisdom from Buckminster Fuller, or Bucky, as I understand his friends called him. I think it’s worth pondering . . .
As always, thanks for reading.
Teresa Fausey
Associate Editor
PAGE 46 Cross-Cultural Communication: Beyond Words
By Dr. Thomas J. Bussen, African Leadership University in Rwanda
In this article, Dr. Thomas J. Bussen talks about the importance of language in cross-cultural communications. And the misunderstandings that often occur, the prejudice against foreigners who don’t speak the local language well, and literal translations that don’t work at all.
PAGE 52 Career Choice: Perpetuating Income and Social Inequality?
By Amanda J Felkey and Dimitra Papdovasilaki
Amanda Felkey and Dimitria Papadovasilaki discuss the lack of diversity, not just in the C-suite, but also at entry level, and how the racially motivated exclusion from particular career pipelines may perpetuate or exacerbate social inequality.
PAGE 50 Women Invest 29% Less than Men? This Survey Says Yes
By Paula Mariani, Director of user experience at N26
Paula Mariani presents the results of a survey conducted by N26 that shows that women tend to invest less than men. The reasons are many—less money to invest, less confidence about investing, a closed male-dominated system that tends to shut them out, and more.
PAGE 54 Each of Us Must Help to Foster an Inclusive Culture
By Yusuf Z. Zakir, Davis Wright Tremaine
Yusuf Zakir shares his story of growing up in Canada, the child of parents who had immigrated there from East Africa, and the feeling of “homelessness” he often lived with. And how it made him the person and the diversity leader he is today.
PAGE 56 2022 Women Worth Watching® in STEM Awards
PDJ proudly presents its fourth annual Women Worth Watching in STEM Award recipients. This year, the magazine honors another group of outstanding women, who have overcome bias and achieved success in the one of the STEM fields.
PAGE 84 Where are they now?
Catch up with another 12 past Women Worth Watching® Award recipients and find out what they’ve been up to professionally. Whether they have moved up the career ladder, joined a new team, or struck out on their own, their contributions and achievements continue to impress and inspire.
PAGE 98 Coporate Index
Check out the list of organizations that appeared and/or advertised in this issue. Their contributions are invaluable.
