Topic: Maja Djikic on ‘The Possible Self: A Leader’s Guide to Personal Development’
Dean Susan Christoffersen of the Rotman School of Management hosted a discussion with Maja Djikic, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Director of the Self-Development Laboratory and Faculty Teaching Fellow at GATE. At the event, they highlighted the insights from Maja’s new book, ‘The Possible Self: A Leader’s Guide to Personal Development’ with over 700 event attendees.
Maja shared with us that in order to discover purpose and achieve real, lasting change, we need to move beyond narrowly targeted ideas and strategies like changing our mindset or slightly altering our behaviour, and instead go deeper and focus on our innate desires and achieve true healing.
Maja explored how sustained change can only happen when all five parts of ourselves move in the same direction and at the same time. She introduced a transformational system called the Wheel of Change—a simple, five-segment plan that corresponds with the five key parts of ourselves: Desires, Actions, Emotions, Thoughts, and Body.
Maja also discussed external factors in our lives, such as discrimination, stereotyping, and bias, and how they can hinder our ability to heal and move forward, especially affecting those in marginalized communities. She emphasized the importance of healing, highlighting its role in fostering growth and positive change within our communities.
“There’s this dichotomy that ‘we need to change the world, not the person’, but we can help ourselves heal so we can interact with the world in a way that benefits us.”
– Maja Djikic