Managing the Self

Peter Drucker, in one of his articles in Harvard Business Review, said, "Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves – their strengths, their values, and how they best perform." In this age of unprecedented opportunities where if you’ve got ambition and smarts, you can rise to the top of your chosen profession, regardless of where you started out. But, Drucker asserts that with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies, today, may not always be in a position to manage their employees and employees’ careers. In the light of the significance and inevitability of managing oneself in order to manage others effectively, Drucker advocates that the knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own chief executive officers. It is one’s own responsibility to carve out one’s place, to know when to change course, and to keep oneself engaged and productive during work life. This necessitates an ambitious individual to cultivate a deep understanding of oneself – not only what one’s strengths and weaknesses are, but also how one learns, how one works with others, manages others and what one’s values are etc. The basic theme of this book is to discuss those various areas, where people from various walks of life can manage to sustain themselves in the competitive world and also bring about a balance in their hectic lives. The book passes on an advocacy for managing and improving oneself and others and thus help oneself in faring well in the professional as well as personal life.