"Too many pressures! Not enough time!"
Sound familiar? But how to rise above this?
In "Dealing With the Pressures of Managing", Henry Mintzberg revisits the realities of managing. Forget the myth of the manager as an organized, systematic planner; management is inherently fast-paced, full of interruptions, and fragmented. Managers spend most of their time dealing with crises. (Does this sound familiar?) But how to deal with the unique challenges of "this most demanding of jobs"? How to think - let alone think ahead - amidst the chaos?
Appreciate what it takes to "keep cool" and discuss which skills can get you there. This topic encourages you to generate solutions and strategies with your colleagues based on your unique work context.
"Dealing With the Pressures of Managing" is based on Henry's books, Managing (due in 2008) and The Nature of Managerial Work (1973), and gleaned from his hundreds of observational studies of managers on the job.
Henry Mintzberg
Henry is a prolific writer, a partner in CoachingOurselves, and a professor at the Desautels School of Management at McGill University in Montreal. Hailed as a "management guru", he has also been described by Tom Peters as "perhaps the worlds' premier management thinker", by others as a "heretic", and by Fast Company magazine as the "Mick Jagger" of business.
For more information make sure to check out:
-Henry's personal website...complete with photos of his beaver art collection
-The International Program in Practicing Management (IMPM)-An innovative management development program co-founded by Henry
-The International Program for Health Leadership (IMHL)-Henry is co-founder and Faculty Director
-The Business Library at the University of Western (London, Ontario) has a page dedicated to Henry including a list of articles written about him, many of which are available by searching on the net
Other CO topics by Henry include:
-Chains, Hubs, Webs, and Sets
-Crafting Strategy
-Decision Making: It's Not What You Think
-Global or Worldly
-Management Competency Raising
-Management Styles: Art, Craft, Science (with Sasha Sadilova)
-Managing On the Edges
-Silos and Slabs in Organizations
-Strategic Thinking As Seeing
-Understanding Organizations