Peter Drucker – Managing Oneself
In 1999 Peter Drucker’s Managing Oneself article appeared in the Harvard Business Review.
Put it on your “reread this one annually” list.
The whole piece is about self-knowledge, probably the most important lever in sustained and longstanding professional and personal success.
From the opening, just to give you a flavor of both the content and Drucker’s direct, no-nonsense writing style:
But then out of left field Drucker spends a good chunk of time saying that it’s crucial to know if you learn best by reading or listening (apparently General Eisenhower was a reader, President Lyndon Johnson was a listener).
One final gem from the article that you don’t expect from a management guru:
from: Sasha Dichter's Blog
Peter Drucker – Managing Oneself | Sasha Dichter's Blog
Link: http://sashadichter.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/peter-drucker-managing-oneself/
Blogger Postscript: Maybe we can use the ideas in this article to take an inventory of our skills and talents available, in spite of m.s. If we focus on what we can still do, not on what we have lost, we can maintain a positive outlook going forward with new self- employment or other choices we make.
In 1999 Peter Drucker’s Managing Oneself article appeared in the Harvard Business Review.
Put it on your “reread this one annually” list.
The whole piece is about self-knowledge, probably the most important lever in sustained and longstanding professional and personal success.
From the opening, just to give you a flavor of both the content and Drucker’s direct, no-nonsense writing style:
"History’s great achievers – a Napoleon, a da Vinci, a Mozart – have always managed themselves. That, in large measure, is what makes them great achievers. But they are rare exceptions, so unusual both in their talents and their accomplishments as to be considered outside the boundaries of ordinary human existence. Now, most of us, even those of us with modest endowments, will have to learn to manage ourselves. We will have to learn to develop ourselves. We will have to place ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution. And 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."Most of the article covers: how to know your strengths and build on them; understanding your weaknesses; the power of real and honest feedback; etc.
But then out of left field Drucker spends a good chunk of time saying that it’s crucial to know if you learn best by reading or listening (apparently General Eisenhower was a reader, President Lyndon Johnson was a listener).
One final gem from the article that you don’t expect from a management guru:
Manners – simple things like saying “please” and “thank you” and knowing a person’s name or asking after her family – enable two people to work together whether they like each other or not. Bright people, especially bright young people, often do not understand this. If analysis shows that someone’s brilliant work fails again and again as soon as cooperation from others is required, it probably indicates a lack of courtesy – that is, a lack of manners.Hope you enjoy the full article (“Best of HBR”) as much as I did.
from: Sasha Dichter's Blog
Peter Drucker – Managing Oneself | Sasha Dichter's Blog
Link: http://sashadichter.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/peter-drucker-managing-oneself/
Blogger Postscript: Maybe we can use the ideas in this article to take an inventory of our skills and talents available, in spite of m.s. If we focus on what we can still do, not on what we have lost, we can maintain a positive outlook going forward with new self- employment or other choices we make.
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