Do you master management or does management master you?

What are the 5 keys to mastering management? How well are you practicing these keys?

George Leonard wrote about mastery in Esquire magazine in  1987 and then wrote the book Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment in 1991. It is a book I re-read every couple of years. Click here to read Bren’s post about mastery in Slacker Manager back in 2005.

Most people live and die and they don’t even know what their calling was. Maybe they didn’t take the time to push the pause button. What happens when you find your calling – everything stops and you just see what you’re supposed to do and why you’re supposed to do it.  ~ Carlos Santana 

Use the 5 keys of mastery below to assess your level and commitment to management mastery:

1. Surrender to your passion: Is management just a job for you or does it ignite and embrace you passion?
2. Practice, practice, practice: Do you practice the art and science of management one day at a time to develop a greater sense of mastery?
3. Get a guide: Who is your coach, teacher, mentor of guide as you develop management mastery?
4. Visualize the outcome: Can you see where you are headed in management and do you have both a dream and a plan?
5. Play the edge: Are you thinking outside the box or differently inside the box or have you opened the management box to create a whole new edge to how you work with people, resources, organizations, and strategy?

I encourage you to read the book and use the 5 keys above to unlock your own personal mastery of management.

Photo Credit: Cubic conundrum by http://flickr.com/photos/cgines/1904658060/

David Zinger