Managing oneself, by Peter Drucker

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"Most people, especially highly gifted people, do not really know where they belong until they are well past their mid-twenties. By that time, however, they should know the answer to the three questions: What are my strengths? How do I perform? What are my values? And then they can and should decide where they belong. Or rather they should be able to decide where they do not belong.

Successful careers develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work and their values. Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person into an outstanding performer.

What are my strengths? The only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis: comparing your expectations with your results.

Discover where your intellectual arrogance is causing disabling ignorance and overcome it.

It is equally essential to remedy your bad habits. Many brilliant people believe that ideas move mountains. But bulldozers move mountains. Ideas show where the bulldozers should go to work.

For example, feedback will reveal when the problem for your effectiveness and performance is a lack of courtesy — that is, a lack of manners. Manners are the lubricating oil of an organization. It is a law of nature that two moving bodies in contact with each other create friction. This is as true for human beings as it is for inanimate objects. Manners, simple things like saying “please” and “thank you”, knowing a person’s name or asking after her family, enable two people to work together whether they like each other or not. Bright people, especially bright young people, often do not understand this.

How do I perform? Like one’s strengths, how one performs is unique. It is a matter of personality. Whether personality be a matter of nature or nurture, it surely is formed long before a person goes to work. Just as people achieve results by doing what they are good at, they also achieve results by working in ways that they best perform. A few common personality traits usually determine how a person performs.

Am I a reader or a listener? How do I learn?

Do I work well with people or am I a loner?

If you do work well with people, in what relationship: as subordinate, as team member, as coach and mentor, as...?

Do I produce results as decision maker or as an adviser?

Do I perform well under stress or do I need a highly structured and predictable environment?

Do I work best in a big organization or a small one?

To be able to manage yourself, you finally have to ask, what are my values? Ethics requires that you ask yourself, what kind of person do I want to see in the mirror in the morning?

Organizations, like people, have values. To be effective in an organization, a person’s values must be compatible with the organization’s values. They do not need to be the same, but they must be dose enough to coexist. Otherwise, the person will not only be frustrated but also will not produce results."

Peter Drucker