The Fire Within

Management is a word that is used so frequently in business today that I think we lose site of what it means to be a manager. There is project management, task management, financial management, server management, content management, the list goes on and on. These have much to do with managing things, in a sense we all do that, but a manager is in charge of people. Because of that we need to put a lot more emphasis on what those people do and the fact that it is so different then simply managing a list of things. One of the biggest gaps in business, and I would probably think this reaches into all areas of the world, is that we have a lot of very smart people, that get promoted because they are good at their jobs, and ultimately they become responsible for people. They have reported to people their entire career that are in the same boat, so we are perpetually identifying new managers and not teaching them how to manage people. When I first became a manager, that was me. I focused o

There are two schools of competing thoughts about people and their ability to change. I believe that most individuals fall generally into one of these two areas. Those that believe that people are generally the way they are and they really don't change. Those that believe anyone can change I am of the mind that people can change, the key is that only they can choose if they are going to change or not. You can't make anyone change. You can guide, offer corrections, point out mistakes and how to do things better, but ultimately if there is a change to be made the individual needs to decide for themselves if they are actually going to change who they are. I think this is an important point and why most people get hung up in the two schools of thought. Because people have to make a choice and take actions, be purposeful about changing who they are, most people don't change. But everyone has the power to change.  If you think about yourself how does it feel if you