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You're the OneLet's say you're an executive who has been assigned to head a cross-functional task
force to work on solving a problem of critical importance to the future of the company. You've been given a team of high fliers, ample resources, and (naturally) a tight deadline. The terms for success are clear: come up with a plan that will work and implement it. You've got a track record of getting results wherever you've been up until now, but this time the stakes are really high; you're being called on to demonstrate your
effectiveness — and perhaps even grace — under pressure. You've read dozens of books on leadership, and you know there are dozens of possible leadership competencies, depending on whose opinion you buy. But for my money, I'll consult the management guru's guru, Peter Drucker, still delivering sage and concise advice after a career that spans over six decades. And I'd distill his recent writings into
this one pearl of wisdom: effective leadership is all about managing yourself. Because when you absolutely, positively, have to get it right, you're the one. That's not to say that you're the one who has to do it all, but rather that you're the one everyone will look to for wisdom, guidance, focus, and strength. Managing yourself to deliver on these qualities requires self-discipline, and a set of practices you follow
rigorously. Drucker has outlined a series of questions for leaders to ask as a foundation for managing themselves, and these inquiries are disciplined practices in themselves. I like to focus on these five key questions: - What are my strengths? Most people are well-acquainted with their weaknesses after a lifetime of report cards and performance evaluations, but few really know
their strengths. The best way to discover your own strengths is to track yourself over time, setting goals for yourself and then evaluating what you did (and didn't) do.
- How do I perform? Most people have no idea how they actually do their work. It's practically impossible to see yourself clearly in action, so the best way to answer this question is to constantly seek out feedback from the people who
work with you. You want to know, for example, how do you learn? Do you work well with other people, or are you a loner? Do you perform well under stress, or do you need structure and predictability?
- Is my value system compatible with the organization's? This is an area for reflective thinking about where you stand not just with respect to ethical questions, but also on what really matters to you. When push comes to shove,
will you still be able to walk your talk? This requires self-discipline, as well as self-knowledge.
- What needs to be done? This is really a question about priorities and focus, and your ability to sort out from the long list of tasks the two or three things that you and you alone must constantly attend to. Results will be accomplished by the whole team, but you've got to home in on the things that the situation demands,
even if you'd rather be focused elsewhere.
- What's right for the whole enterprise? Shifting your perspective from yourself and a singular group of others (shareholders, board members, employees, e.g.) is critical to leading under pressure. You're being called upon to act in the interests of the whole, so you have to think from that viewpoint from the outset.
This means that you not only need to see the big picture, but also that you must stay open to new possibilities.
These days, much of an executive's daily work shows up as these make-or-break situations, so the practice and discipline of self-management is key to surviving over the long haul as well as in the crunch times. It's a good idea to learn self-management early on, so you don't end up learning how to ice skate at the Olympics. How skillful are you at managing yourself? If you’ve got a make-or-break situation
coming up, or you just want to get better at self-management to prepare for future challenges, let’s talk about how coaching can work for you. Or, join us on June 25 at an interactive workshop on “Mastering Your World” that will give you some hands-on tools and techniques for more effective self-management (more details below.) Call (410)626-6008, or email info@bloomfieldassociates.com. 
To develop some data about how you are managing your time and energy, turn your calendar into a time management log for a two-week period. Using your paper calendar, a printout of your online calendar, or working directly with your electronic calendar, divide your day into 15-minute increments and note what type of activity you performed. You may use categories like phone calls, meetings, direct conversations, email, reading, etc. Don't change your normal pattern of activity, at this point
you are simply collecting data. At the end of two weeks, add up the time spent in each activity. What do you notice? What patterns emerge? |
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80% of companies with more than 100 employees use teams, and 90% of all U.S. employees work part of their day in a team.
A recent survey by the University of Michigan of 561 executives and managers at companies of various sizes and in various industries found that nearly three-fourths were already outsourcing jobs or planned to outsource positions during 2004. However, 94% said that no more than 25% of their jobs being outsourced were being “offshored” — sent outside the country. In a survey of executives and managers in more than 1,000 US companies by NFI
Research, 61% said the amount of time they have spent working out of the office (telecommuting, home office, etc.) has increased over the last three years. Only 9% said their amount of time working away from the office has decreased. Almost half the respondents say it has made their life overall either extremely or somewhat better. 
Neurodiversity The variety of non-debilitating neurological behaviors and abilities exhibited by the human race. The neurodiversity movement is based on the belief that there is no such thing as "normal" human mental activity; the "neurotypical" person simply does not exist, and brain differences, like body differences, should be embraced. The assumption
that we all more or less see, feel, touch, hear, smell, and sort information, in more or less the same way (unless visibly disabled) is being challenged. 
 “What Makes an Effective Executive”, Harvard Business Review (June 2004), by Peter Drucker. What I like about it: When was the last time
you read a seminal article on management that’s only five pages long? Drucker has an amazing ability to boil things down to their essence, and in the process to demystify seemingly complex topics. Together with his earlier HBR article on “Managing Oneself”(March-April 1999), this new piece outlines a set of practices that every aspiring leader should adopt.
Beth Bloomfield
Executive Coach, Strategy Consultant
Principal, Bloomfield Associates  The Age of Spiritual Machines, by Ray Kurzweil. What I like about it: By comparing the evolutionary process of man to that of computers, and applying
quantum theory, chaos theory and historical fact, the author suggests an evolutionary schedule for computers that will rapidly out-pace man. The reading is both scientific and philosophical and not without humor, probing such questions as - "Can an intelligence create another intelligence more intelligent than itself?" "Can a computer have a conscience, or feelings?" "Since a disembodied mind will quickly get
depressed, what kind of bodies will we provide for twenty-first-century machines?" Coming from a respected scientist and entrepreneur, this book was an eye-opener. The good news is, I'm not likely to be around when we reach the point where humans and computers are indistinguishable -- oops! I gave away the timeline!
Bob Peahl
Vice President
Claims Litigation
American International Companies (AIG)
www.aig.com Share what you’re into — books, articles, movies, music, websites — with others on the list! Send us the title and author or other pertinent information, along with a sentence or two on what you like about it, and if we use it in A Different Optic we’ll not only quote you, we’ll provide a link to you or your website. |
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“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.”
— Lao Tzu
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Beth Bloomfield will present a half-day public workshop, “Mastering Your World: A Workshop for Leaders and Human Resource Professionals,” on June 25, 2004. The workshop is sponsored by the Howard County Human Resources Society and Howard County Community College, and will be held on the college’s campus in Columbia, Maryland. This looks to be a great event, with plenty of opportunity to network with
business and community leaders over breakfast and lunch. Click here for more information and to register. NEW!!!…for coaches — we are inaugurating a new service, Mentor Coaching, for new and not-so-new executive coaches. Beth Bloomfield, PCC, faculty member and learning circle coach in the Georgetown University Leadership Coaching Certificate Program, will be working with a select few coaches to deepen their coaching skills, especially focusing on designing effective practices and getting clients “unstuck.” If you’re interested in continuing your growth as a coach in a learning environment that focuses directly on you and your needs, contact Beth at (410) 626-6008.
Yes! You asked, and we listened – Beth will be offering her popular six-session teleclinic, “Building Your Leadership Coaching Practice,” once again this fall, starting in mid-September. This time we plan to offer recordings and transcriptions of the calls, in addition to the information-packed resource emails. More information will be forthcoming, via email announcement,
in the next couple of weeks, but if you already know you are interested, please contact us and get on the list now for an early bird rate (no obligation!) | | |
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