International Women's Day: Life (and Work) Lessons Every Woman Should Learn Ngày QTPN - Bài học cuộc sống ( và công việc) mà mỗi phụ nữ phải học

International Women's Day: Life (and Work) Lessons Every Woman Should Learn
Ngày QTPN - Bài học cuộc sống ( và công việc) mà mỗi phụ nữ phải học

I want to take this opportunity to mark International Women's Day and a great new chapter by writing about the woman who had the greatest impact on my life -- my mother. Her advice, wisdom, constructive criticism, and unconditional loving have been the foundation of my existence.

Of the many things she taught me -- including the delightful notion that "Angels fly because they take themselves lightly" -- the one that's proved most useful in my work life is the understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it's an integral part of success.

She told me once that she operated like the government -- she first decided what it was that her children needed, and then she set out to find the money. My mother was one of the original deficit financiers. She made ends meet by borrowing or by selling her possessions -- from a carpet brought by her parents from Russia to her last pair of gold earrings.

By example, she taught me that there is always a way around a problem -- you've just got to find it. Keep trying doors, and one will eventually open.

And, by word and by deed, she regularly demonstrated the value of having a support group of family and friends -- what I call my "fearlessness tribe" -- in place to give you honest feedback, to support you when the going gets tough, to help salve your wounds... and, just as importantly, to help you celebrate and appreciate the good times too.

This is especially important for working women, who still face an ingrained double standard wherein the same behaviors that help men get ahead and prove their worth on the job are often discouraged in women.

In order to conquer the workplace as women, we need to approach it in our own unique way, not as carbon copies of men -- briefcase-carrying, pinstripe-wearing career machines who just happen to have two X chromosomes. We're faced with a double challenge, because aside from the office and career anxieties everyone faces, women have specific work-related fears that center on the paradox of maintaining relationships and remaining "feminine" while still doing a good job.

As working women, we have to weigh the psychic cost of not trying a new job or venture against the possibility of not succeeding and being embarrassed by our efforts. The former creates regret, the latter a few hours -- or perhaps a few days -- of licking our wounds. I've learned again and again over my career that if you want to succeed, there is no substitute for simply sticking your neck out.

And the world desperately needs women willing to do that. That's because women are ideally suited to supplying the qualities we need in our leaders right now -- being strong and decisive while at the same time being nurturing, wise, and respectful enough to tell the truth with a moral authority that inspires and empowers.

Indeed, if Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Brothers and Sisters, they might still be around. While the Brothers may have been bragging about having put in a 100-hour work week or having gotten only four hours of sleep the night before, some Lehman Sister might have noticed the iceberg looming ahead -- because that's one of the central parts of leadership: seeing the icebergs before they hit the Titanic.

The prevailing culture tells us that being plugged in 24/7 is essential, and that sleeping less and multitasking more are an express elevator to the top.

My mother begged to differ. Her life had the rhythm of a timeless world, a child's rhythm. In her world, there were no impersonal encounters -- it was a world where a trip to the farmer's market happily filled half a day, where there was always enough time for wonder at how lovely the rosemary looked next to the lavender. In fact, going through the market with her was like walking through the Louvre with an art connoisseur -- except that you could touch and smell these still lifes.

The last time my mother was upset with me was when she saw me talking with my children and opening my mail at the same time. She despised multitasking. She believed it was a way to miss life, to miss the gifts that come only when you give 100 percent of yourself to a task, a relationship, a moment.

The night before she died, we were having dinner at the home of some good friends. Near the end of the evening, our host asked everyone to talk about an important experience from their lives. When my mother's turn came, she talked about a moment that not only defined her but how she believed life should be lived. It was a moment during the Greek civil war, in the 1940s, when she was working with the Greek Red Cross and fled to the mountains with two Jewish girls.

She described the night when German soldiers arrived at their cabin and started to shoot, threatening to kill everyone if the group did not surrender the Jews the Germans suspected (rightly) they were hiding. My mother, who spoke fluent German, stood up and told them categorically that there were no Jews in their midst and to put down their guns. And then she watched the German soldiers lower their guns and walk away.

That story -- which ended up being the last one she told in her life -- really captured her: her indomitable spirit, her defiance of authority, her trust in life, her fearlessness.

There was a magnificence in the way she approached everything in her life. Especially her role as a mother. She brought me up to believe that there was nothing I should be afraid to try while at the same time making it clear that she would love me not one iota less if I failed.

She used to say that the goal of life is not to see what we can make of it, but what it can make of us. Well, she made of life a grand adventure -- and it made of her a magnificent tour guide.

Though she died in 2000, I can't help looking to her for guidance as I embark on what promises to be the greatest adventure of my career.

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan- Động đất và sóng thần ở Nhật bản

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan- Động đất và sóng thần ở Nhật bản

Please help the victims from Japan's earthquake.

TOKYO—The most surprising thing about the magnitude-8.9 earthquake that hit Japan today is that it was a surprise. Despite what may be the world's most intensive effort to map faults and assess risks by a notoriously earthquake-prone and earthquake-conscious nation, such a strong quake was not anticipated for the region, says University of Tokyo geophysicist Robert Geller.	TOKYO-Điều đáng ngạc nhiên nhất về trận động đất 8,9 độ richter- tàn phá Nhật Bản ngày hôm nay là nó là một sự bất ngờ. Bất chấp những nỗ lực chuyên sâu nhất thế giới để tìm lỗi và đánh giá rủi ro cho một quốc gia vốn nổi tiếng là dễ xảy ra động đất và có ý thức về động đất, thì một trận động đất mạnh như thế này đã không được dự kiến ​​cho khu vực, nhà địa vật lý Robert Geller thuộc Đại học Tokyo cho biết.
The earthquake occurred 130 kilometers east of Sendai and 373 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, along or very near the boundary between two tectonic plates, where the Pacific plate is being drawn under the Japanese islands. Movement along plate boundaries is known to be capable of producing major earthquakes. And Japan's latest national seismic risk map gave a 99% chance of a magnitude-7.5 or greater quake occurring in that area in the next 30 years, Geller says.	Trận động đất xảy ra 130 km về phía đông của Sendai và 373 km về phía đông bắc Tokyo, dọc theo hoặc rất gần ranh giới giữa hai mảng kiến ​​tạo, nơi mà các mảng Thái Bình Dương đang được kéo ra bên dưới quần đảo Nhật Bản. Chuyển động dọc theo ranh giới của các mảng được biết đến là có khả năng gây ra động đất lớn. Và của bản đồ nguy cơ địa chấn quốc gia mới nhất của Nhật Bản đã đưa ra một khả năng 99% của một trận động đất cường độ 7.5 hoặc lớn hơn xảy ra ở khu vực này trong 30 năm tới, Geller nói.
Although today's quake technically satisfies that prediction, the logarithmic scale used for measuring the power of earthquakes means that a magnitude-8.9 earthquake releases well over 100 times more energy than does a magnitude-7.5 quake. "I don't think those hazard assessments are meaningful," Geller says.	Mặc dù trận động đất ngày hôm nay đáp ứng về mặt kỹ thuật dự đoán đó, nhưng tỷ lệ logarit sử dụng để đo sức mạnh của trận động đất có nghĩa là một trận động đất 8,9 độ richter, giải phóng năng lượng hơn 100 lần hơn so với một trận động đất 7,5 độ richter-. "Tôi không nghĩ rằng những đánh giá rủi ro là có ý nghĩa," Geller cho biết.
Geller believes the quake is the strongest to hit Japan since the start of reliable observations over a century ago. It is also more than 1000 times the force of the magnitude-6.3 quake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, on 22 February.	Geller tin rằng trận động đất là mạnh nhất xảy ra tại Nhật Bản kể từ khi bắt đầu có quan sát đáng tin cậy hơn một thế kỷ trước. Nó cũng mạnh hơn 1000 lần so với trận động đất 6,3 độ richter, đã tàn phá Christchurch, New Zealand, ngày 22 tháng Hai.
Authorities are just beginning to count deaths and casualties; it will take much longer to tally damage to buildings and infrastructure. But it is likely to be the tsunami that started hitting the coast barely an hour after the quake that will prove to have the biggest impact on lives and property. Initial television coverage shows that buildings left standing after the shaking were inundated and often swept away by the massive waves. Japan's building code is among the most stringent in the world, but its provisions don't anticipate tsunami effects.	Các nhà chức trách chỉ mới bắt đầu thống kê số người chết và bị thương, và sẽ mất nhiều thời gian hơn để kiểm kê thiệt hại cho các tòa nhà và cơ sở hạ tầng. Nhưng rất có thể sẽ là chính sóng thần mà bắt đầu tràn vào bờ biển chỉ một giờ sau khi trận động đất sẽ cho thấy những tác động lớn nhất đến sinh mạng và tài sản. Những hình ảnh truyền hình đầu tiên cho thấy những tòa nhà còn trụ lại sau địa chấn bị ngập nước và cuốn trôi bởi sóng lớn. Quy định xây dựng của Nhật Bản là một trong những quy định nghiêm ngặt nhất trên thế giới, nhưng nó vẫn không lường trước tác động của sóng thần.
"There is a lot we don't know about the Earth and a lot we are unlikely to know in the future," says Geller. He says the only way to prepare for earthquakes is to "expect the unexpected."	Có rất nhiều điều chúng ta không biết về trái đất và rất nhiều chúng ta là không thể biết trong tương lai," ông Geller cho biết. Ông nói rằng cách duy nhất để chuẩn bị cho trận động đất là "chờ đợi những điều không mong chờ."
Translated by nguyenquangy@gmail.com