7 Essential Management Skills for Career Survival

Two questions - Do you want a good career? Do you want a good career Fast or Slow?

If you answered positively to both questions, then you would want to carry on reading and find out the 7 Essential Management Skills you need for Career Survival.

Let us go back to the beginning: You want a Good Career fast? Well then, only PROFESSIONALS get to have a good career fast. BUT, Professionals have to pay a much higher price than semi-professionals and amateurs. So, do you want to be a Professional or Amateur?

OK, good. Since you are still reading I presume that you want to be a Professional in order to have a good career fast. What then are the 7 Essential Management Skills? Let us begin.

Firstly, are you interested in a Job or a Career? You have to learn how to differentiate the two. Check whatever you are doing now. If it's a job, you would have no interest in learning, no motivation to improve, no energy, no growth plans. If it's a career to you, you would be learning, always wanting to improve, lots of energy and have a firm growth plan. If what you are doing is a job to you, stop here. If it's a career to you, proceed.

The 7 Management Skills in summary are:

1. Managing your Job
2. Managing your Boss
3. Managing your Time
4. Managing your Relationships
5. Managing your Discipline
6. Managing your Attitude
7. Managing your Career

1. Managing Your Job

Remember this: "Know your job well, do it well, and be better than anyone else doing it." (this is taken from a book called "The Rules of Work" by Richard Templar). Bottom Line: You must be really good at your job before attempting anything else. Otherwise, it's just wasted efforts. Don't listen to those so called career coaches who ask you to 'dream' or 'envision' your career 20 years from now. That's just plain rubbish. If you are not doing your job well, or you are not the best in your job, don't even think about climbing the ladder. Do your job well first.

Make sure you know the difference between Activities vs. Results. What's the difference? We can either refer to our job in terms of Activities or Results. Whichever reference you choose determines your behaviors on a daily basis. Remember: Success depends on managing your job based on RESULTS-oriented thinking.

2. Managing your Boss

There are four parts to this: Understand and find solutions for your Boss' problems, Manage your Boss as a Client not a Boss, Manage and influence your Boss based on his Personality, and finally learn how to deal with Bad Bosses as well as when to give up and walk away.

3. Managing your Time

Time is irreversible, so make the best use of it every second of your life. What you really Value is found in how you spend your Time and Money. Love is spelt as T.I.M.E. to your loved ones. Interruptions will always happen, so plan for them every time. Time investments compound, so be patient and persevere. "I don't have time" is a sorry excuse for someone who has placed the issue as a lower priority. Time required for something expands according to expectations - which means that if you set an urgent time-frame, it will be done fast. If you set a long and relaxed time-frame, it will be done slow.

Only three things really matter in Time Management: 1) Learn how to Prioritize, 2) Develop and use a To-do List, and 3) learn how to Maximize Time

4. Managing your Relationships

Why? Because good performance and skill won't get you very far. You need others to succeed.

You cannot get people to listen to you if they don't like you. And if they don't listen to you, you won't accomplish anything! Remember that Relationships = Expectations. You must know the expectations and manage those expectations.

People are interested in themselves, not in you. What is the most interesting subject in the world to them? THEMSELVES. Take four words out of your vocabulary: "I, me, my, mine" and substitute for the most powerful word: "YOU". Remember that the more important you make people feel, the more they will respond to you. Avoid arguing.

5. Managing your Discipline

Discipline consists of three parts: discipline in Habits, discipline in Self Development, and discipline in Feelings.

Control your habits, and you can control your Success. Failure is also because of habits. The only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habit. Think about it - your actions are ruled mostly by your habits. Only a habit and control another habit. It takes an average of 21 days to form a new habit. The goal habits: It will be part of your subconscious mind. You need to form good habits in 3 areas: Thinking, Speaking, Doing.

Self Development is an Investment in your self. Investment means how much Time and Money you spend on your self. Nobody is going to invest in you. Start Early because small differences compound in the long-term.

Control your emotions. "Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not easy." (I think this is by Aristotle)

6. Managing your Attitude

List down Bad Attitudes - and reverse them. Be careful of 'us' vs. 'them' thinking. Serve before expecting to be served. Have high standards for yourself. Never complain about how hard you work.

7. Managing your Career

Just remember the following biggest career mistakes a person can ever make: Keeping a career in line with your education, Getting career advice from your parents (or relatives), Changing jobs without long-term strategy in mind, and Letting your Boss (or company) manage your career.

Remember: If you are not doing your job well, or you are not the best in your job, don't even think about climbing the ladder. Do your job well first. Don't say I didn't warn you.