Resisting Technology, Appalachian-Style (15:16)

Sherry Hamby is Research Professor of Psychology and Director of the Life Paths Research Program at the University of the South.  Dr. Hamby is also founding editor of the American Psychological Association journal Psychology of Violence. When people hear “Appalachia,” stereotypes and jokes may jump to mind, so we asked one of our employees from West Virginia what jokes she knew. We heard “land of the toothless,” “our family trees go in circles,” and apparently her high school even had “drive your tractor to school day.” But jokes aside, Appalachian attitudes about technology’s role in daily life are extremely sophisticated – and turn out to be both insightful and useful in a technology-centric society.

 

Job Burnout (1:08:39)

Dr. Clark Gaither is a board-certified family physician, Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and Medical Director of the North Carolina Physicians Health Program (NCPHP.org). He has extensive knowledge and experience in the arena of professional job-related burnout. He is an avid writer and has authored three books, his latest on job-related burnout, "Reignite: Transform from Burned Out to On Fire and Find New Meaning in Your Career and Life". He is also an accomplished blogger, keynote speaker, corporate consultant, and personal life coach. For businesses, burned out employees create additional workplace problems which demand additional resources. The costs can be disastrously high. Dissatisfied workers lead to inferior products and services which leads to dissatisfied patients, clients or customers. Dissatisfied consumers lead to a loss of business and falling profit margins. This is a recipe for failure. Bottom line, if you are burned out you will never feel you are living a life of purpose with passion. It doesn’t have to be this way. Dr. Clark Gaither has not only experienced this but has come up with a plan to help us avoid job burnout.