Is Management Limited Their Employees?

Self-Management

Following my reading of an adaption from Making It Work by David Allen, I certainly was in agreement with the author that the two key ingredients for self-management are control and perspective. The author believed that if you can maintain a sufficient level in each, your world will be in order and you will be focused exactly as you should be.

Others believe that individuals who need change are more likely to succeed if they are in control of the change process. Getting people to learn and apply the appropriate principles is not very easy. Hence, to most, this self managed change is not an easy thing to do. Where do you start on such a task?

1 - First exhibit awareness of what changes are needed. Ask yourself, “What behaviors and attitudes am I using today that are prohibiting me from moving forward?” Once the inhibitive behaviors or actions are identified, then a plan must be developed to enable us to use new solutions or behaviors that will reflect our growth and development objectives. What does that mean? You must change your reactions, or habits to get a different result.

2 - For implementation to take place, we must translate our plan into goals that will bring us the desired change. This goal-orientation process is the most important component of self-management because it can be measured and the results are clearly defined. This allows us to be focused on the things that matter most, as I like to believe it is a contract with ourselves. This holds true for all areas in our life; not just work but home life as well.

3 - We also must have the right attitude because goal-orientation requires coaching and self-management. It is a model that is used by many professional coaches today. Positive attitude provides an overwhelming edge for our success. Our non-verbal communication, which is 60% of communication, is a direct reflection of our attitude. Our perspective on life will also certainly be reflected by our success in reaching our goals.

But are we ready for Self-Management? An article that appeared in the September 2006 issue of the Harvard Business Review by James Haskett, stated that “Predominant reactions to notations of self-management explored in this month’s column could be described best by two words, “enthusiasm” and “skepticism’”. Many respondents felt that the concepts of self-management should be implemented in organizations while others felt that obstacles to their implementation was real, and that management itself was the main culprit. As managers, are we our worst enemy for not allowing people to become self-managers?

Employees need to focus on the skill-sets and competencies that will help them manage themselves better both in the workplace and at home. Every worker must be considered a leader and their initial leadership focus should be on self-management. Self-management is not only understanding what is needed to be more productive, but it is also asking “How do I become a goal-oriented individual and learn to control priorities?” and “Do I really practice self-empowerment or even know what it means?”

I would like to see everyone conduct a S.W.O.T. analysis on themselves and understand that personal management can dramatically improve both your productivity and performance. If we learn and initiate the skills for effective personal management, then we just may be ready to accept the principles of self-management and its related components in the workplace today.

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