11
ISSMGE - The state of the Society (2009-2013) /
SIMSG - État de la Société (2009-2013)
Proceedings of the 18
th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
23 A SUCCESSFUL CAREER
A successful career is built on a series of demonstrated
successes by an individual alone or as part of a team. In the
performance of your job, remember when you make a decision
of any sort that one mistake will take ten successes to erase the
mistake from the mind of your peers. This is why it is always
important to concentrate and plan. Also remember before a
challenging moment that you may have been through similar
tough moment before and have done well; this reasoning will
give you added confidence and lower the stress. The following
are some thoughts on what is important in a career. They have
been inspired from discussion with many engineers over time
including Clyde Baker and personal experiences as well.
10. Chose the relentless pursuit of excellence as a way of
life
9.Be curious. The discovery process is a fountain of youth
8.Work hard but balance your interests (fun, family, sport, art,
world news)
7.Make lots of friends. Nurture your public relations
6.Look for solutions and not who is to blame. Leave that to
the judge.
5.Be firm in your decisions but always fair and polite
4.Treat others as you wish to be treated, you will lead by
example
3.Communication is the best way to solve problems.
Convince through logic and data
2.Surround yourself with smart people and role models
1.Go after your dreams with vision and perseverance
24 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING FOR THE PEOPLE,
BY THE PEOPLE, WITH THE PEOPLE
While we continue to advance the profession, there is also no
doubt that we do not get the recognition that we deserve. If you
go in the street today and say to a passerby “my child is a heart
surgeon”, that person will be very impressed. If you then say
my other child is a geotechnical engineer, you will likely be
asked: “what it that?”. There is a need to enhance the public’s
recognition and awareness of our profession and this is why we
have created the Public Relations Committee led by Marc
Ballouz. It will be a very long road before we are recognized as
heart surgeons are but the only way we can make a real
difference is if every one of you takes the time to explain it to
the people in the streets. One of our best ambassadors is Ikuo
Towhata from Japan who came up with this saying:
“Geotechnical engineering for the people, by the people, and
with the people”.
25 CONCLUSION
If someone asked me what has been the most rewarding part of
my presidency I would not hesitate and say that it is making so
many new friends all over the world (Fig. 17). Bill Gates, the
richest man in the world today, was asked “how do you measure
success in life?”. I believe he responded something like: “by
how many friends you have”. All of you have been very kind to
me over the last 4 years. I do not know if I will ever be able to
repay such kindness before I die but I can assure you that it did
not go unnoticed and it was extremely appreciated. Everywhere
I went it felt like coming home for a special event, you
welcomed me in your daily life as if I were coming to see the
family. You treated me like a close friend and made me feel
comfortable.
I believe in team work and the ultimate team is the family
(Fig. 18). I think that we have developed a better sense of
family in our society and we are stronger for it. I say good bye
as your President, but it will be my pleasure to become again a
regular member of ISSMGE and to continue to serve you to the
best of my ability. You certainly can continue to count on me if
I can help. While I will no longer be your president, I will have
the same desire to help you and to help the professional family.
You mean a lot to me. Thank you again for all your
kindness, take care, and remember that happiness is a choice.
UZBEKISTAN
AUSTRALIA
MOZAMBIQUE
LEBANON
ROMANIA
BRAZIL
SPAIN
HUNGARY
EGYPT
VIETNAM
RUSSIA
ITALY
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Fig. 17 So many new friends!
