Manage this!
Time management, change management, personnel management, project management, resource management, information management, business management, process management, risk management, chaos management……We talk about these things ad infinitum and ad nauseum.
For instance, time: It continues with or without our supervision or permission. It will not be managed in any way, shape, or form. Can you slow time or quicken it? Can you make it go backward? There is no such thing as time management. It is an illusion. All you are can manage is yourself, within any period of time.
How about information? Do we really manage it? I don’t think so. Information is just information. You don’t have any effect on how much information exists. It won’t be managed any more than time will. You can find yourself swimming in it until you drown. You can manage yourself, not information.
Chaos? Are you kidding me? You mean to tell me it’s management when you are running from problem to problem, not stopping long enough to go to the bathroom? I have had clients tell me “I didn’t have time to call my doctor and set an appointment. A big project just landed on my desk.” What? That’s not managing chaos. Breathing like a rabbit and drinking when you get home to relax is just gambling with your health.
Emergency: We’ve been thinking about earthquake preparation and disaster recovery a lot lately, given the recent earthquakes and natural disasters. We can’t control or manage when these events occur and what the outcome will be. To think we can is delusional. All we can manage is ourself prior to, during, and after an emergency occurs. That is all.
Personnel: An employee may be manipulated, bribed, tricked, coerced, or lured into certain activities. In good environments, an employee may be empowered or engaged, but certainly not managed. Are you being managed by someone? By whom? Most of you bristle at the thought of being managed by someone other than yourself. So do your employees. Think about it. They are managing themselves. And so it should be.
We all manage ourselves. That’s really all we can manage. To the extent we do it effectively, and create value and/or produce worthy results, we are successful. To the extent we are honest about what we can actually control, we are able to handle what comes our way, both in the workplace, and in life. Out of that we create our quality of life. Not out of the toys we buy right before we have bypass surgery.
The Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the
difference. (The wisdom to know the difference. That’s the secret sauce, isn’t it? )
So here’s the question for you today:
What are you trying to control and manage that won’t be changed…..time, other people, information, events, what? Now, while you’ve been trying to control that, what’s gotten out of control within yourself, that you could be working on right no
I am committed to your success. Not your hospitalization. I welcome your comments.
Tags: Change Management, Executive Coach, Executive Health, Executive Performance, Executive Wellness, Management, Management Consulting, Senior Management, Serenity Prayer, Stress Management, Time Management
