The Manager - 113 - Measure your life

THE MANAGER - BY ROB LAMBERT

Hi,
 
I hope you are safe and well.
 
Life has been a little up and down this last week, for reasons I won’t go in to here, but suffice to say, it’s got me thinking a little about the Pillars of my life and what’s important.
 
I’m reminded of a great talk (and idea) by the late Clayton Christensen where he talks about how we will measure our lives.
 
He tells the story of his annual class re-union and how each year more and more people turn up divorced, alienated from their kids and in an emotional ruin. He makes the point of saying that none of them left University with that as a strategy for their lives.
 
These were well paid, well known, industry recognised leaders whose personal lives had become devoid of joy and love. What had gone wrong he wondered?
 
The conclusion is simple – they’d measure the wrong things in life. They’d let their purpose for them as humans, be pushed aside as they sought to grow the wrong numbers.
 
They had focused on job titles, salary, money in the bank, the nice car, the nice house and other yardsticks we often measure success by. I see people chasing large twitter followers. I see people hustling at all costs as they believe they’ve only made it if they are earning 6 figures and have their own business.
 
If we measure these things, we’ll focus on them. A classic management truism is that what gets measured gets managed. It’s true because it works. Start measuring something at work, and people will pay attention. Start measuring something in your personal life and you’ll make changes to move it in the right direction.
 
So, it pays to be careful what you measure.
 
There is no harm in measuring salary, job titles, nice cars and the like. But they need countering with other measures; hours spent working out, eating clean, meditation time, time spent being present with those we love.
 
It’s why I talk about the Pillars of Life so much – the tension is real. 

Your pillars will never be in balance, but they can be managed. But that requires being present and consciously choosing to move the needle on the things that matter most to us. We are all in different seasons of life too – so we should be aware of that.
 
But be careful not to make the mistake of measuring just a few things that society says are important; salary, job title, social media following and the like.

It might not be this year, or next, or even in a decade’s times, but if we only focus on these measures of success, we could find our lives out of balance. We could find that we alienate the very people who love us. We could let our health suffer. We could end up losing those things that deep-down mean so much to us.
 
What are your personal measures of success? Job title? Salary? Savings? House? Nice Car? Or time spent with people who love us? Or time spent being present with our family?
 
It’s often too late before we realise, we may have been measuring the wrong things.
 
But the good news is – we can always change our focus. If your pillars are out of balance, what could you do today to start managing that tension? And as managers, it pays to remember that those under our supervision also have pillars in their lives too. Let's not always be about business. Life is much more than that.

Until next time

Rob..
 

What's new on Cultivated Management?

This week I released a new video:

10 Reasons why being a scrum master sucks

FOOD FOR YOUR MANAGEMENT BRAIN

1. Thank you to all who have purchased my Super Power communication workshop. As you'll know, in one section we cover how you feel, and how this affects your communication. I talk about how listening to music can make you happier - and as such, boost your ability to communicate effectively. Here's an article listing the happiest songs - according the science ;)

2. Whoa! What a great resources - loads of articles and insights on feedback and coaching for managers - 

3. Great article on why feedback for women requires more structure, not less. 

4. Our words matter. via Seth Godin.

5. 6 things productive people do. via Barking up the wrong tree.

7. Long and interesting article on how and why great teams have better focus.

Learn with me

Learn how to develop your superpower in the world of work - effective communication skills.

My award winning in-person Communication workshop, is now online as a modular text only course. Complete it at your own pace, practice the lessons with practical exercises and develop a solid understanding of the science of communication. 

Find out more here.

Thanks for reading this week's edition of The Manager. 

If you enjoyed this newsletter and you think someone else would benefit from it, then please share it.

If you'd like to support Cultivated Management, consider buying a book - or working with me.

If this is the first time you've seen this newsletter - then you can subscribe here.

If you like videos - then check out the YouTube channel. 

Thanks
Rob..