In this week’s insightful episode, I am joined by Ali Block and Rachael Dailey Goodwin. Ali is a former professional ballerina. She studied psychology at Columbia University and currently works as a Clinical Research Coordinator and Lab Manager at Icahn School of Medicine. Rachael is a former dancer and is currently Assistant Professor of Management at Syracuse University Whitman School of Management.

Together with Lyndon Garrett, they recently published an incredible research paper titled: Under Pressure to Be Perfect: How Dehumanizing and Rehumanizing Social Cues Lead to Maladaptive and Adaptive Perfectionism in Professional Ballet.

In this episode, we dive deep into how environment and culture shape our perfectionist tendencies and explore the role we all play in thriving in our pursuit of excellence.

Key Points in this Episode:

• What first drew them to study perfectionism in the world of professional ballet
• How high-pressure environments (such as ballet) often employ excessively high standards that may evoke harmful experiences of perfectionism
• The difference between maladaptive and adaptive perfectionism, and why perfectionism in general is not always harmful
• The role environmental cues play to support dancers in shifting from maladaptive to adaptive perfectionism
• The specific forms of dehumanizing and rehumanizing social cues
• How artistic leaders can become more aware of some of the ways they are subtly fueling dancers’ perfectionistic tendencies

Connect with Ali:

WEBSITE:  http://alipaigeblock.com/

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/ali_p_block

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-paige-block-b8798a112/

Connect with Rachael:

WEBSITE: https://www.rachaeldaileygoodwin.com/

FACULTY: https://whitman.syracuse.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-staff-directory/details/rdgoodwi

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaeldaileygoodwin/

Links and Resources:

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Let’s connect!

My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina

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Questions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com