managing oneself eng

maruays@hotmail.com

February 12, 2015

Peter F. Drucker

PUBLICATION DATE: January 01, 2005

Best of HBR 1999.

Peter F. Drucker is the Marie Rankin Clarke Professor

of Social Science and Management (Emeritus) at

Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.

He was an Austrian-born American

management consultant, educator, and author, whose

writings contributed to the philosophical and practical

foundations of the modern business corporation.

He was also a leader in the development of

management education, he invented the concept

known as management by objectives, and he has been

described as "the founder of modern management"

Throughout history, people had little need to manage their careers--they were born into their stations

in life or, in the recent past, relied on their companies to chart their career paths.

But times have drastically changed. Today we must all learn to manage ourselves. What does that

mean? As Peter Drucker tells us in this seminal article first published in 1999, it means we have to

learn to develop ourselves. It may seem obvious that people achieve results by doing what they are

good at and by working in ways that fit their abilities. But, Drucker says, very few people actually

know--let alone take advantage of--their fundamental strengths.

He challenges each of us to ask ourselves: What are my strengths? How do I perform? What are my

values? Where do I belong? What should my contribution be? Don't try to change yourself, Drucker

cautions. Instead, concentrate on improving the skills you have and accepting assignments that are

tailored to your individual way of working. If you do that, you can transform yourself from an ordinary

worker into an outstanding performer.

Today's successful careers are not planned out in advance. They develop when people are prepared for

opportunities because they have asked themselves those questions and rigorously assessed their

unique characteristics. This article challenges readers to take responsibility for managing their futures,

both in and out of the office.

1. What are my strengths?

2. How do I perform?

3. What are my values?

4. Where do I belong?

5. What should I contribute?

Responsibility of relationships

The Second Half Of Your Life

Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know

themselves-their strengths, their values, and how they best

perform

History great achievers have always managed themselves.

That is what makes them great achievers

We will have to learn to manage ourselves

We will have to develop ourselves

We will have to place ourselves where we can make the greatest

contribution

We will have to stay mentally alert and engaged during a 50-

year working life, which means knowing how and when to

change the work we do.

Know what you are good at. A person can perform only from

Strengths. One cannot build performance on weaknesses, let

alone something one can not do at all.

It is easier to know what we are not good at- than to know

what are we good at.

A person can perform only from strength

Discover your strengths through feedback analysis.

Feedback Analysis is the only way to identify your strengths.

Write down expected outcomes for your key decisions and

actions. 9 to 12 months later, compare them with the results.

Action plan:

Put yourself where your strengths can produce results

Work to improve your strengths

Avoid intellectual arrogance – acquire skills as required

Remedy bad habits; have no lack of manners

Know what not to do – identify incompetence areas and avoid them

1. Concentrate in your strengths (put yourself where your

strengths can produce result)

2. Work on improving your strengths (improve your skills or

acquire new ones)

3. Discover where your intellectual arrogance is causing disabling

ignorance and overcome it (remedy your bad habits)

As any personality trait – How a person performs is a given, just

as what a person is good at or not good at.

Different people work and perform differently

Too many people work in ways that are not their ways.

How one performs is unique: matter of personality

Do not try to change yourself (too much) – instead, work harder

to improve the way you perform

A reader, like American president Kennedy or Sec McNamara,

prefers reading reports before press meetings or discussions

A listener, e.g. president Roosevelt, likes facing it, and talking

the matter out aloud instead of reading and writing

A reader can not fully become a listener – and vice versa

A person may learn by reading, writing, doing, talking, listening

to, or with a combination thereof

One must always employ the methods that work

The mirror test: Ethics require that you ask yourself, What kind of

person do I want to see in the mirror in the morning?

Personal value system should be compatible with that of the

organization’s. The typical conflicts to avoid are:

Organization’s commitment to new vs. old employees

Incremental improvements or risky “breakthroughs”

Emphasis on short-term results vs. long-term goals

Quality vs. Quantity and Growth vs. Sustenance

In other words, values are, and should be, the ultimate test for your

compatibility with an organization

Mathematicians, Musicians and Cooks are usually mathematicians,

musicians and cooks by the time they are four or five years old

Highly gifted people must realize early where do they belong, or

rather where do they not belong

Successful careers are not planned,

Successful careers develop when people are prepared for opportunities

because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values

Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person – hardworking

and competent but otherwise mediocre – into an outstanding performer

Or where I do not belong…

A big or a small organization?

Yes, I will do that”

If I am not a decision maker I should have learned to say no to a

decision maker assignment.

When we answer to the three previous questions, I can and

should decide where I belong.

A knowledge worker’s quest on contribution involves:

What does the situation require?

Given my strengths, methods, and values, what is ‘the’ great

contribution to what needs to be done?

What results have to be achieved to make a difference?

It is rarely possible to look too far ahead – 18 months should be planned

to –

Achieve meaningful results and make a difference

Set stretched and difficult goals that are reachable

Gain visible and measurable outcome

Define course of action: What to do; where and how to start; and what

goals, objectives and deadlines to set

Bosses are neither the ‘title’ on the Org chart nor the ‘function’

– to adapt to what makes the boss more effective is the secret

of “managing the boss”

Working relationships are as much based on people as on work

– co-workers are as much human and individuals as you are

Taking the responsibility of communicating how you perform

reduces personality conflicts

Organizations are built on trust between people – not

necessarily meaning that they like each other – but that they

understand one another

Managing oneself increasingly leads one to begin a second

career:

Start one (move to another organization

Develop a parallel career

Social entrepreneurs (another activity, usually a nonprofit)

People who manage the second half of their lives may always be

a minority

The majority may “retire on the job

In the knowledge industry,

Mostly, success is at best an absence of failure

Knowledge workers outlive the organizations

Knowledge workers are mobile, and may not stay put

The need to manage oneself is therefore creating a revolution in human

affairs

Managing oneself requires new and unprecedented things from

the individual – to the point where each knowledge worker

thinks and behaves like a CEO

" Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know

themselves- their strengths, their values, and how they best

perform."

"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."“

"Taking responsibility for relationships is therefore an absolute

necessity. It is a duty."

(1) use "feedback analysis" to discover and focus on your strengths.

(2) determine how I best perform, as a reader or as a listener,

determine how I learn, and determine if I work well under stress or want

highly structured, predictable environments.

(3) know what my values are, and align my organization with them.

(4) build relationships, and communicate clearly, effectively, constantly

within them, and

(5) after 20 years, most high-performing people will seek out or start

a 2nd career, and planning for it or developing it while in the 1st one is

most successful.

•What are my strengths?

•How do I perform?

•What are my values?

•Where do I belong?

•What should I contribute?