Managing Oneself: An Evolution in Human Affairs

I continue to highlight excerpts from Harvard Business Review’s book, On Managing Yourself. Peter Drucker’s article, “Managing Oneself,” gives a different perspective in how to stay engaged during the course of your working life.

Because it is more commonplace today for people to outlive the organizations for which they work, and to be mobile, “The need to manage oneself is therefore creating a revolution in human affairs.”
“Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values.” It’s more effective to build on strengths than weaknesses.

Key questions to ask yourself:
What are my strengths?
How do I work? Understand how you learn and what environments you work best in.
What are my values? These answers help define what has purpose and meaning for you, which fosters your commitment to the work and organization.
Where do I belong?
What can I contribute?

The aspired to results should be meaningful, visible and measurable. “From this will come a course of action: what to do, where and how to start, and what goals and deadlines to set.”

Managing yourself requires you to take responsibility for relationships that will help make this work come to fruition. Organizations today are built on trust which requires that we also understand individuals with whom we work: their strengths, values, how they perform and their proposed contributions. How do you know this?  You ask those who you work closely with so you can best discern how to complement each other. For some people this can be threatening. The key is to focus on how best to leverage others’ strengths and support them in areas they are not as strong in.

This week’s reflection questions: Where do you need to take more responsibility for yourself – in owning and navigating your work and purpose? What could you do differently in communicating and partnering with others?

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Managing Yourself: How Will You Measure Your Life?

How’s this for a light question on a Friday afternoon?

The other day, while I was in Grand Central Station in New York City, parched and looking for water, I came across this fantastic book: On Managing Yourself – eleven articles from Harvard Business Review. They are short, insightful and impactful. I thought it could be enlightening to highlight one a week for a while.

This first one is by Clayton M. Christensen: How Will You Measure Your Life? He espouses that management can be one of the most noble professions. It enables people to understand how best to allocate resources which, when people apply the principles in their personal lives, can help them attain happiness at home

Key questions he poses:
How can I be happy in my career?
How can I be sure that my relationship with my family can be an enduring course of happiness?
How can I live my life with integrity?

Simple questions without always easy answers. Simple questions that require a strength, rigor and sense of adventure to live into the answers.

Just as in business, so too in life, it is important to be guided by a sense of purpose and be willing to balance short-term gain with long-term viability.

He says: “The key is to define what you stand for and draw the line in a safe place…The marginal cost of doing something wrong ‘just this once’ always seems alluringly low. You don’t see the end result to which that path leads.”

How long and hard have you thought about your purpose and what is your commitment to it? How do you define success on your terms? What are your non-negotiables on this path? What are triggers that entice you to stray? How do you stay focused?

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

What is Coaching?

Coaching can be a powerful tool for developing leaders.

If you are thinking about coaching and want to know what it is, check out this short video that gives you a quick overview on what takes place in the process.

Coaching is about creating a partnership with a coach to help you articulate your vision. The coach gives you support and tools to help you navigate all the challenges and obstacles you will face in realizing your vision. There will be times when you are stretched so far outside your comfort zone that you aren’t sure you can reach your aspiration. Coaching can help you in creating a mindset shift to enable you to persevere, be creative and get the extra support you need to achieve your goals.

The coach does not give you the answers but the tools and support you need to the find the answers and strength within yourself.

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.