I watched the interview with Gina Rudan, author of the book Practical Genius. She explains that geniuses can come as the Einsteins or Bill Gates or Steve Jobs of the world. These guys were geniuses from birth it would seem and they also were passionate and driven in certain areas. But Rudan argues in her book that anyone can become a genius and be successful, especially in the business realm. She also points three factors to success for women in the business realm. The first being prioritizing visibility. This means that don’t wait around to get your boss to notice that you’re doing great work. Volunteer for the big and important tasks, let your voice be heard. The second factor is to get a sponsor or mentor. This is really helpful in finding jobs and promotions; it’s good for networking. Lastly, diversify yourself. Don’t just think about work and revolve your life around work. It’s a good idea to have something outside of work that is a part of your life. It is also good for networking when meeting people away from your usual routine.
I really enjoyed this interview, and for picking it completely at random was kind of lucky. It gave me a lot of insight on how to further a career and start a career. Andrew Keen (the interviewer) had good questions about why Silicon Valley seems to be run by male CEOs and how women could step into that position. Explained above were the three factors women can do to further their career. I think it was very persuasive. But I don’t think it was reached to the right audience. I could be mistaken but the interviews at the site seem to have a more male audience and this was mainly about females. Nonetheless it was a good interview.
The book, The Cult of the Amateur, was written by Andrew Keen. It is about how the internet is changing our culture. I agree with him there but he also says that it is changing it in a negative way which I don’t agree with. The only connection I saw from the interview and the book was that it was related to technology in a sense but even the interview wasn’t very tech-y.