This all goes back to this self-awareness factor that we need to have in order to position ourselves for long-term success. How do I perform? 'Most people, especially highly gifted people, do not really know where they belong until they are well past their mid-twenties.' - Managing Oneself, page 31Īfter determining what some of our strengths are, the next item that we as individuals need to evaluate is ‘How do I perform?’ The quest of understanding you perform relates to the size of the organization that one chooses to work for (large or small), along with determining whether you are a decision maker or more of an advisor. Although a short read (55 pages in total), Managing Oneself has been hailed one of the most important business books of all time. Through what is discussed in this book, it’s Drucker’s aim to help us position ourselves to make the greatest contribution we can during our 40+ year working life. In Managing Oneself, Drucker outlines how to develop this self-awareness skill and learn how we can effectively manage ourselves. He was hailed by BusinessWeek as “the man who invented management”. Peter Drucker, the author of Managing Oneself, is not only a writer but a professor, management consultant and self-described “social ecologist”. However, this isn’t a skill that we necessarily learn in school, is it? So, how do some people innately have this ability to be self-aware, while others seem completely oblivious to it? Whether you are a business leader, coach or parent, this skill has the ability to make you a high achiever. Being self-aware is a valuable skill to have in any walk of life. Self-awareness is defined as a conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires. That, in large measure, is what makes them great achievers.' - Managing Oneself, page 1 'History’s great achievers – a Napoleon, a da Vinci, a Mozart – have always managed themselves.

Managing yourself by peter drucker