SELF DEVELOPMENT

Self Development - managing oneself

 Leadership Development by PALS (logo)

ARTICLES:

Comfort Zone
Theory X and Theory Y

Further pages to be added. Please see the Subject search at bottom of page.

If you cannot be bothered to read this article are you capable of managing self?

You may think your good at managing work or managing staff and take for granted that you are good are managing self. But are you really? Have you ever conducted a self evaluation? Do you know how to?

This section links to a number of ideas on self development as well as providing some tools to help managing oneself.

We all have to learn to manage ourselves and our own development. During our working life we will be faced with many challenges and also have many opportunities. To manage the challenges and take advantages of the opportunities we need to be mentally alert and have the skills to be successful.

I once remember being told a story of a footballer who could kick the ball well with his left foot but was hopeless with his right. His coaches were forever trying to get him to use his right more but with little effect. In fact over time his skills with his left foot degenerated because he did not practice enough.

A business coach was called in and he quickly got the player to concentrate on his core skills which were being quick off the mark and scoring goals with his left foot. The player started to score a lot of goals and was eventually transferred to a bigger club for lots of money.

What are your core skills and strengths?

Take time to think about them. Jot them down and really think about them. Are you really sure that you are good at them?

Most people think they know what they are good at but they are often wrong. Before you stop and say to yourself "Well I know" please read on.

More often people think they know their weaknesses but again are often wrong. They work on their perceived weaknesses but not their perceived strengths. A person can only perform at their best by using their strengths. Very often you may not be able to do much about your weaknesses anyway.

How do I discover my strengths?

  

Can I discover them through self evaluation?

You will not find the answer to be short term one. All the more reason to start as soon as you have read this article.

One method that sticks in my mind is from a book by Peter Drucker called Managing Oneself. (Inexpensive which is probably why I bought it!)

In the book Drucker wrote that the only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis:

  • Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down what you expect will happen.
  • Several months later compare the actual results with your expectations.
I also believe that the idea is also expressed in Peter Drucker's new book Management Challenges for the 21st Century.

That was it really. I suggest that when you write down your expectations that you think about why you expect certain events to happen and write down your reasons as well.

Now obviously this will take some time and you will need to practise consistently - but you will find out where your strengths lie.

Remember to concentrate on your strengths - keep improving them. Obviously also try to improve on your overall skills but waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence.

The entries that will be in this section are listed on the menu to the left and the other sections are shown on the right.

Books on Self Development.

We will be adding a number of articles over the coming months.

In the meantime we are offering you the opportunity to search our database for any relevant articles on Self Development.

All you need to do is to click on the Start Search button. There is no need to enter any text! However you can refine your search by adding a word or short phrase in the text box first. It is your choice.

Text
   

For information on CD's and audio books that may be of use please click here: Self Development CD's and audio books.

Self Development.
Can we help? - Contact Us