Passion, Persistence, and Patience with Dr. Robert Brodsky

Robert Brodsky, MD, is a world-renowned hematologist and the current Director of the Division of Hematology, as well as Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He focuses on bone marrow failure states, specifically the use of bone marrow transplants in sickle cell disease and aplastic anemia. His lab studies complement mediated disorders and he has also developed the diagnostic assay that is used to diagnose PNH around the world. Dr. Brodsky is a recipient of numerous national awards and was recently elected as the President of the American Society of Hematology, the largest professional society of hematologists in the world. “I remember driving down 83. I just couldn't wait to get into work…that excitement, that flutter in your heart, that's what defines success for me.” A sentiment passed down through now three generations of hematologists, Dr. Robert Brodsky, Director of the Division of Hematology at Johns Hopkins and President of the American Society of Hematology, joins us for a grounding conversation. Tune in as we dive into the leaders that showed him what it truly means to love your job, how asking the right research questions is the biggest predictor of success, and why it takes decades to build a career that’s worth having. Pearls of Wisdom:   1. Work-life balance is not every day. That is a critical distinction to understand, that overall, our lives should be balanced, but it's not an expectation we should come to work with every day. We should try to achieve the work-life balance globally, but not in a day-to-day, hour-to-hour fashion. 2. What is one of the biggest predictors of success? We connect it to the purpose behind the project: the Research Question. That's going to start the journey and create the flutter for us to come to work and pursue something that's actually going to have a meaningful change. 3. Life is likely to get more complicated as we move forward. The difficulty levels keep going up as we go to the next level, and therefore, if there's not a strong force driving us, we should not get to the next level just for the sake of getting there. It should be to reach an ultimate goal.