Meaningful Manager (eBook)

How to Manage What Matters

Jeff Smith (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
204 Seiten
Lioncrest Publishing (Verlag)
9781544529479 (ISBN)

Infos

Discover the secrets of meaningful management Do you ever feel uncertain about what it means to be a good leader? This simple, reliable system for people management can help you handle any situation with confidence. Do you ever feel overwhelmed in your role as a manager? Learn how to refocus, increasing your team's performance, security, and growth by managing what matters. Do you struggle between supporting your team as human beings and maximizing their performance as employees? Create opportunities to resolve that tension and choose both. Do you think it's enough to help your team succeed at work? Or do you want to take your management skills to the next level, helping your team connect to their larger purpose so they can find success, well-being, and profound fulfillment in every aspect of their lives? Realize your full potential-and theirs-with The Meaningful Manager: How to Manage What Matters.Discover the secrets of meaningful management Do you ever feel uncertain about what it means to be a good leader? This simple, reliable system for people management can help you handle any situation with confidence. Do you ever feel overwhelmed in your role as a manager? Learn how to refocus, increasing your team's performance, security, and growth by managing what matters. Do you struggle between supporting your team as human beings and maximizing their performance as employees? Create opportunities to resolve that tension and choose both. Do you think it's enough to help your team succeed at work? Or do you want to take your management skills to the next level, helping your team connect to their larger purpose so they can find success, well-being, and profound fulfillment in every aspect of their lives? Realize your full potential-and theirs-with The Meaningful Manager: How to Manage What Matters.

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Focusing on
Self-Awareness

You have daily opportunities to significantly impact others around you. To maximize your impact and fulfillment, start with self-awareness.

Self-awareness is a lifelong endeavor. We all learn, grow, adapt, and evolve throughout our entire lives. We believe we know ourselves, but then an experience reveals a hidden strength, blind spot, or opportunity for growth and dramatically changes our values.

Importantly, remember that you can be successful by being yourself. Don’t feel like you have to embody antiquated leadership stereotypes such as extraordinary extroversion or a win-at-any-cost attitude. Anyone can be a successful manager and leader. There’s no type or set of strengths that’s required. Be your best self, not an imitation of someone else.

We are going to simplify our approach to self-awareness by focusing on meaning, passions, strengths, values, and vision. Revisit these topics at least every six months to help you understand how you are learning, growing, and transforming.

Meaning

Meaning is about understanding your purpose, sometimes called your “why.” Meaning involves the important things you want to fulfill in your life. Meaning provides a clear sense of direction. Meaning makes the time, energy, and effort you put into your work and life feel worthwhile. Your purpose can appear early in life—for example, someone who has wanted to be a designer since they were a child. Your purpose can also reveal itself later or after a change in perspective or circumstance—for example, a teacher who realizes they want to be a nurse after caring for an ailing loved one.

Meaning also includes the belief that you are significant and valuable. Because meaning often involves feeling connected to something greater than yourself, meaning and purpose are often about positively impacting others and the world around you. However, I want to remind you that while other people and causes matter, so do you. You have to invest in your own health, well-being, and self-care to reach your highest potential and maximize the positive impact you have on others.

As you are thinking about meaning, ask yourself these questions:

• When does expending your energy feel most worthwhile?
• What do you want to be known for?
• How do you want to be remembered?
• What do you feel called to do?
• What do you want someone to say during your eulogy?
• How does your purpose transcend money?
• What’s your why? Why do you do the activities you do? Why do you make the decisions you make?

In summary, what fulfills and inspires you? From a professional point of view, I feel fulfilled and inspired when I help leaders and organizations both love their people and achieve their organization’s mission.

If you are struggling to find your purpose, reflect on your passions and interests, things that you are curious about, activities that you enjoy, and experiences that energize you. Importantly, remember that you and your purpose may evolve and change. Sometimes, people feel too much pressure to discover their life’s purpose instead of focusing on their current purpose. You can have a number of purposes throughout your life. You can also find meaning in multiple endeavors at the same time. For example, someone may find meaning in managing a product team at work and loving their partner and dogs in life.

These are deep questions. Please take a moment to reflect on your responses.

Passions

Passions are strong inclinations toward self-defining activities that you like. Passion can be so intense that you might say you love the activity. Passions can be harmonious, balancing your needs with the needs of others. Passions can also be obsessive, leading to burnout and other challenges. Your passions may change and evolve over time.

As you are considering your passions, ask yourself these questions:

• Where are you willing and eager to put in energy and effort?
• Where do you find yourself completely absorbed in your work or other activities?
• What sparks your curiosity?
• What piques your interest?
• What naturally energizes you?

Marketing is an example of a current passion of mine. I could review ads, brainstorm about campaigns, read about the latest trends, and listen to podcasts about marketing for hours. What energizes you?

If you are having trouble thinking of any activities that energize you, consider talking to a mental health professional. I speak with a cognitive-behavioral therapist weekly, and she is invaluable for my health and well-being. If you aren’t sure what you are passionate about, keep trying new activities, and fake it until you make it!

Strengths

Strengths describe what you naturally do best. I’ll try to avoid making too many concepts “my favorite” throughout this book, but strengths are definitely one of them. Aligning one’s prioritized goals, role, and strengths can increase productivity, impact, fulfillment, and even joy, so it’s important to know your strengths and use them on a consistent basis.

Some people are natural strategists, while others are natural executors. Some people can inspire an entire room, while others specialize in deep, personal connections. Any combination of strengths can be the foundation of successful management and leadership. Strengths include courage, creativity, and compassion for others.

My favorite three strengths assessments are Gallup’s CliftonStrengths™, Tilt 365’s True Tilt Profile, and VIA’s Survey of Character Strengths. Each of the assessments is worth the investment in money and time. Using these assessments can accelerate not only your self-awareness but also how well you understand your team. Strongly consider using these assessments for yourself, your team, and your organization.

If you do invest in a strengths assessment, remember that your strengths are a foundation for your achievements, security, and growth. Awareness of your strengths should elevate your self-confidence and sense of possibility, but some strengths assessments make it seem like you can only learn and grow in an area of strength. This is a fundamental mistake. You, your strengths, and your skills are not fixed. Growth may be more challenging in some areas than others, but people can learn and grow in nearly infinite ways.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help determine your strengths:

• What brings you the most satisfaction?
• What activities do you most enjoy?
• When does success feel easier?
• When do learning and growth feel most natural?
• When do you feel powerful?

You can also ask others what they think your strengths are. Simply say, “I’m reading a book about how to become a better manager and leader. It says to ask others what I do best, and I value your opinion. What do you think I do best?” If you like, you can share what you think the other person does best as part of your response.

Combine results from different assessments with your own reflections and observations from others. Look for themes, and compare them to your own experiences. Does using these strengths feel natural, easier, and empowering?

Boldness is a strength that shows up for me across various assessments. I have a bias for action and often think the best way to decide on a course of action is to act and learn along the way. I need to be mindful about taking boldness too far and becoming reckless.

Once you understand your strengths, apply them at work and in life. Look for ways to use your strengths to accomplish your vision and goals. Many people are surprised to hear they should use their strengths in life, not just at work. If you only use your strengths at work, you are missing opportunities to positively influence other areas of your life.

Ask yourself:

• How often are you using one or more of your strengths at work and beyond?
• How often do you feel instinctual and successful?
• How often do your accomplishments and growth happen naturally and even easily?

Often, our greatest weaknesses are overused strengths. A lack of courage is cowardice. Too much courage is recklessness. A lack of compassion for others is callousness. Too much compassion for others can lead to martyrdom and a lack of healthy selfishness. Watch out for overused strengths, especially when you’re under a lot of stress.

Values

Values describe what is most important to you.

At the organizational level, your values will inform how you hire and fire people based on your values. Note that hiring for values fit does not mean hiring the same exact people. Hire people who add to your culture. As an individual, your values should reflect what’s most important to you at this moment in time. Here are some examples to help you get started:

• Accomplishment
• Adventure
• Community
• Compassion
• Equity
• Family
• Friendship
• Freedom
• Fitness
• Fun
• Growth
• Independence
• Learning
• Money/Financial Security
• Peak Experiences
• Power
• Relationships
• Safety
• Self-Care
• Spirituality
• Status
• Well-Being

Remember that your values may change or evolve over time. For example, traveling used to...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.4.2022
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management ► Unternehmensführung / Management
• ISBN-13: 9781544529479 / 9781544529479