Book Review: Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker

Managing Oneself  
by Peter Drucker
Harvard Business Review Press
107pp

Peter Drucker emphasizes that all of us can separate the wheat from the chaff by focusing on the right priorities. Mega talent like DaVinci, Napoleon, Mozart have always managed themselves. With talent alone they would have fallen off the pages of history. We can all use a little help learning to manage ourselves. 

This small but wise primer might is a must-read for everyone. No matter what you do for a living, entrepreneur or corporate executive, creative professional or hobbyist pursuing a passion, we all need to develop focused discipline. “Managing Oneself” identifies questions that you ought to ask yourself to be a better business person. But answering these questions will also help you to take charge over your life. 

In Managing Oneself, Drucker suggests following eight practices: What needs to be done? What is right for your enterprise. Develop action plans.  Take responsibility for decisions. Take responsibility for communicating. Focus on opportunities rather than problems. Run productive meetings. Think and say “we” rather than “I.”

Drucker also recommends that we should develop action plans that require a bit of stretching, reaching for barre, or pushing a new boundary. At the same time, all goals should be realistic and obtainable. The results we want to achieve should be meaningful, and make a difference in our lives. Results are always visible, for they are tangible and can be measured. 

We all have a finite amount of time, but entrepreneurs have even less time to get things done than all the rest of us. It’s only when we operate with a combination of our strengths and self-knowledge that we can achieve true and lasting excellence.