Personal management – Page 3

Find and fix problems, not symptoms

I’ve had my share of medical interventions over the last ten years – sometimes, I feel like I’ve had more than my share. My experience with the medical practitioners I’ve interacted with is that they tend to focus on the symptom the patient presents with. That is what they treat, particularly as that is often their specialisation. A knee surgeon will look at the problematic joint because that is where the patient reports the symptom. That makes sense, right? Doesn’t it? What does this have to do with the broader work and life sphere? What if this is the wrong approach?

New Year, Same You?

When is a door not a door? When it is a cross-dimensional portal to a realm populated by hideous creatures (tip of the hat to Marvel and Lovecraft fans). Or when it is ajar – I never quite remember. When is a New Year not a new year? When it is part of a continuum of blah and meh, such as many people have experienced during the pandemic. Many of us try to pin so much on the start of a New Year, but the reality is we can choose change and growth at any time.

On seeing and being seen

I’ve been thinking a lot about perspectives recently. I’ve also written before about the value of different perspectives from a leadership point of view. But, lately, because of something lovely that someone did for me at work, I’ve also experienced what it’s like to be seen.

Understanding outcomes

My teenage daughter lost her phone last week. It’s not hard to imagine how devastating that was for her. So many of us rely on our phones for everything from real-time payments to maintaining our online social identities. For a teenager the potential data loss was one part; the loss of access was another, more important part. (Honestly, she also thought my wife and I would be mad at her, as well, so add that to the emotional stew).

Watch out for the Whoa!

There’s a moment in a learning journey when something just clicks. It doesn’t have to be a massive revelation. It can be a minor insight or, alternatively, the sense of an enormous vista of new learning opening up in front of you. I’ve started to think of it as the “Whoa!” moment.

Give the Gift of Useful Feedback

Last weekend I wrote a post about the importance of receiving feedback openly and without falling into defensiveness. A colleague kindly reminded me that receiving feedback is only half of the equation. As managers, leaders and human beings, we all have the ability to give feedback to help improve others. Honest, sometimes brutal, feedback is a gift – here’s why it’s important to give it, and some suggestions on how to give it well.

Why it’s important not to be defensive when we’re wrong

We’ve all experienced that horrible, sinking feeling of realisation that something we thought was okay turns out to be far from it. In our personal and professional lives, we all make mistakes in word and action. When we identify the error (or have it pointed out to us), our default response is often to justify our position. Here’s why that happens and why it is important to resist that defensive urge.