Article written by Mike Anderson (NSBC Founder & CEO)
Show me a business where everyone lives and works by self-managing, and I’ll bet it’s a business destined for greatness. Make sure that the first person you are managing every day is yourself.
In business, we all know that management is everything. If you don’t manage your resources properly your business won’t succeed, it’s as simple as that. We spend a tremendous amount of time and energy in learning to manage our surroundings but not ourselves. We live in a world that is dominated by commerce and economics, we end up forgetting to manage the most important thing, which is ourselves.
Trying to manage the outside world without managing ourselves is surely a recipe for disaster, so let’s get back on track with some key reminders for “Managing Me”:
- Live by your own values. Be true to yourself, help others and you will always be ok.
- Master the art of human relations. Approach every relationship by focusing on what you can offer the other person rather than on what you might want or need.
- Speak up and make yourself understood. No one can ‘hear’ what you’re thinking without you be willing to stand up for it.
- Honour your own good word and keep the promises you make. Under-promise and over-deliver. Remember, if you have integrity nothing else matters and if you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.
- Be an inspirer and motivator.
- Celebrate the success of others.
- Take responsibility for whatever is thrown at you.
- Be nice, courteous, polite and considerate. Remove your ego, listen carefully and empathise. Exhibit respect and kindness.
- Don’t keep other people waiting.
- Soar with the eagles and rid yourself of the toxic people in your life
- Don’t bad mouth others, and try not to speak about others unless they are present.
- Be a problem-solver, not a complainer.
- Commit to continuous improvement through rigorous self-evaluation.
- Be an accurate source of information.
- Be a model of trust. Don’t expect people to trust you if you aren’t willing to be trustworthy for them first and foremost.
- Practice old-fashioned good manners.
- Focus on doing your tasks very well and very fast, all day long.
- Be more productive by creating good habits and rejecting bad ones.
- Have a good work ethic.
- Be action-oriented. Seek to make things work. Be willing to do whatever it takes.
- Be interesting, not interested. Read voraciously, and listen to learn, then teach and share everything you know.
- Be self-disciplined.
- Whatever happens, live without regret. Just look forward and be enthusiastic.
- Take good care of yourself so that you can bring your best self to your business every day. Exercise your mind, body and spirit so you can be someone people count on, and so you can live expansively and with abundance.