This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Pam Manfredo Curtis, author of “ Origin of a Leader. ” It has been edited for length and clarity .
It’s no surprise that we often make choices based on how we were raised. I can see it in my own life: my mom was a school psychologist. I went into psychology, too, and married a man who is also an industrial and organizational psychologist, like me.
In our field, there’s a lot of focus on empathy, tuning in to others, and helping them understand why they show up the way they do. Oftentimes, the answer lies in childhood.
I know that might sound like psychological gobbley gook, or Freudian…
