Genie Sockel is a trained attorney and Workplace Sensitivity Training specialist.
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[tab:About the Talk]
Genie Sockel: Your Akamai Self
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T / Find out what it means to me,” Georgetown Law graduate Genie Sockel sang these Aretha Franklin lyrics to the students at Grady High. Sockel stopped by the home of the Knights to talk to the students about becoming their “akamai selves” and respecting the akami selves of others. Sockel spoke with the class about the importance of following their hearts, and the equal importance of allowing everyone else that same privilege.
Akamai is a word from a 13 letter native Hawaiian language, Sockel explained, which means smart. She then asked the students to state the apparently obvious: to tell her what “smart” means. “Getting As and Bs,” most responded. Turns out, the answer isn’t quite so obvious; Sockel said that yes, it is certainly smart to get good grades. But there’s a lot more to it than that, she continued. She told the students about Jerome Kagan and his idea of “multiple intelligences.” “It’s not how smart you are, it’s how you are smart,” Sockel said to the class. She explained the idea behind multiple intelligences: that intellectual abilities aren’t the only determinants of intelligence. All skills, passions, hobbies, dreams and interests are intelligences, she said. Whether it’s in music, art, sports, math or stamp collecting, everyone is akamai in something. Sockel told the students that to become their akamai selves, they must answer the question: “what’s akamai about you?” Sockel advised the students to think long and hard about what matters to them, about what excites and invigorates them and makes them want to get out of bed in the mornings. Pursue your interests, Sockel said, because your interests are your gifts, they’re the keys to your akamai selves and they will help you make original contributions to the world.
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Genie Sockel has worked with managers and key leaders to provide one-on-one intensive sensitivity training for the last nine years. These professionals have heightened their workplace antenna to nimbly identify and follow actions that add to workplace comraderie and respect. They have improved the clarity of their communication so that the impact of their behavior is consistent with their positive intentions. With these enhanced skills, these professionals have improved the overall morale, productivity and professional timbre of their workplace.
Genie has conducted one-on-one sensitivity trainings for high level executives and managers from large corporations to family owned businesses with diverse industries including college athletics, lending institutions, medicine, automobile manufacturing and the military.
Genie’s interest in the interplay among cultural influences on group dynamics began as she grew up on the multicultural island of Oahu, Hawaii. Genie explored this interest at Yale when she wrote her Senior Thesis as a Psychology Major, “Academic Achievement at the Expense of Cultural Identity: Psychological Stressors of Academically Advanced, Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents”. She further developed this attention to different perspectives when she wrote “Evaluating The Reasonable Woman Standard in Labor Arbitration” while at the Georgetown University Law Center.
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- You convinced me that you have to follow your dream. I was absolutely inspired by your presentation.
- You helped me put my future into perspective. You showed us when you said just because you went to college for law, you still changed your career path.
- Your presentation has motivated me to take more control of my life and career path. I admire your hard work and it make me want to work even harder.
- You made me realize that through work and perseverance, you can achieve anything.
- You have inspired me and releaved stress. Now, I’m not worried about zig-zagging and changing my major or career path.
- You are an amazing person. Even your background story was influential and touching.
- Thank you for coming on short notice. I really did learn something.
- You are awesome. Your personality is wonderful. I enjoyed your time.
- I really took what you said into consideration.
- Thank you for being an inspiration and teaching us something new.
- You taught me “Akamai” which I think is cool.
- I feel as though you have a great personality and you are also a great person.
- You have inspired me and relieved stress. Now, I’m not worried about zig-zagging and changing my major or career path.
- You are great people!
[tab:Further Study]
by Alex Viguerie
SYNOPSIS:
-Everyone has their own unique strengths and intelligences. Genie Sockel, successful attorney turned sensitivity coach, talks about the importance of identifying these strengths and building one’s career and life around them.
KEY POINTS:
-2:00 – Here, Genie and the group discuss different ways of being “smart.”
-3:39 – Genie discusses how people can use their strengths to overcome their weaknesses.
-7:40 – Here, Genie talks about an important career decision she made with her natural talents in mind.
-11:19 – Genie is starting her own company- and it’s largely based around her own personal strengths and interests.
-13:10 – Genie reminds her audience to always be aware of the impressions they leave.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
-When discussing her college career, Genie mentions that she applied to fifteen schools? Why is it important to cast a wide net in such situations?
-What are some ways that people can discover their own strengths?
-How can people be aware of the impressions they leave?
-Genie discussed the theory of multiple intelligences. Are some of these intelligences inherently more valuable than others? How can this theory be applied to team-based work?
-Is the theory of multiple intelligences similar to the Hermann Brain Dominance theory? How is it different?
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Genie Sockel: Being Your Akamai Self from Grady Talks on Vimeo.