Bringing My Selves to Work: A Revisionist History of an Academic Career (Maitlis, 2024)

Welcome to Revise and Resubmit, the podcast where research takes on new meaning, and scholars tell stories that shape both minds and lives. In today’s episode, we dive into "Bringing My Selves to Work: A Revisionist History of an Academic Career," an inspiring essay by Sally Maitlis that navigates the delicate art of balancing multiple identities. Published in the Journal of Management Inquiry by Sage and the Western Academy of Management, Maitlis takes us on a personal journey—one where the worlds of organizational behavior and counselling psychology collide, intertwine, and evolve. At first, she kept these two identities compartmentalized, afraid that one might disrupt the other. But, as life has a way of doing, these worlds began to bleed together, subtly influencing her teaching, research, and emerging clinical practice. In this beautifully reflective piece, she contemplates what might have happened had she embraced both paths fully from the start—and what it truly means to bring your whole self to work. This essay isn’t just a career reflection; it’s an invitation to think about the choices we make in our professional and personal lives—and whether living divided really serves us best. A huge thank you to Sally Maitlis, along with the publishers Sage and the Western Academy of Management, for bringing us this thoughtful reflection. Make sure to subscribe to Revise and Resubmit on Spotify, and head over to our YouTube channel, Weekend Researcher, for more insightful content. Here’s the question we’ll leave you with: What parts of yourself are you keeping hidden—and what might happen if you brought them into the light? Reference Maitlis, S. (2024). Bringing My Selves to Work: A Revisionist History of an Academic Career. Journal of Management Inquiry, 33(4), 345-350. https://doi.org/10.1177/10564926241261903