Summary: Druckers 7 Experiences

The man who invented management was the title given to Peter F. Drucker by BusinessWeek. In this summary he narrates to us how he was inspired from various people and how these inspirations helped him to become a better and successful human being. The first lesson that he learnt was from an Italian composer, Verdi who wrote his final opera Falstaff at an age of 80. Verdi always strove to achieve Perfection and even though he was immensely famous for his compositions he always believed that perfection had eluded him. Drucker learnt that a person could never achieve perfection and still had to put his best efforts to achieve it because once you believed that your work is perfect, never again will you believe in hard work. This leads us to his second teaching by a sculptor of ancient Greece known as Phidias. He knew that the statues he would create would only be seen from the front but still made them round. He felt that he had to give everything into his work and even though no one will notice anything wrong, it was his duty to try and achieve perfection. Next, as a journalist, Drucker learnt that in order to be successful one does not have to have knowledge about his field of work. He should be able to understand every field even though he may not be a master in that particular field. This helps in broadening our horizons and provide many alternatives to solving a particular problem, each solution have their own unique characteristics. Fourthly, from his employer, an editor in chief, Drucker learnt how one should evaluate himself periodically. This evaluation is always necessary as one should know his own strengths and weaknesses and also to work out a plan so as what to do in future to better oneself. A person should be his/her own critic as no one better than himself can tell him/her whether he is successful in doing a particular task or not and if not what should be done in order to accomplish the task. Every situation presents with it an opportunity to do things differently and in a more efficient way. The saying of the founder of the bank showed Drucker that one has to change his mind set before starting a new job as each job is unique in its own way and should be approached differently and has new learning associated with it. The sixth learning was quite similar to the fourth. It taught Drucker to know his own strengths and weaknesses, to know what he is capable of and what he is not, is the key to learning. Lastly, Drucker leant from his fathers friend, Schumpeter that one should always be clear of what goals they wish to attain in his life. The goals will also undergo a change with the level of maturity and changes in the world and one should always count his achievements by the amount of change he was able to bring in the life of other people.

Summary: What makes a leader by Daniel Goleman

EQ or Emotional Intelligence is the ability of an individual to work and mingle with colleagues and understand their feelings. Most companies nowadays have hired psychologists to identify people with leadership qualities in order to train and nurture them right from the very beginning. In his research Goleman found out that even though it is not technical skills and cognitive abilities but Emotional Intelligence that plays a major part in distinguishing leader from others. The EQ increases as one move up the hierarchy. Emotional Intelligence comprises of 5 main components: Self-awareness: It is the degree to which one understands how many their attitudes and feelings affect the other people surrounding them and their job performance. It is also the knowledge people have about their goals and values. A high self-aware person would be motivated towards achieving their goals and this would help them to increase their performance. Self-aware people also possess self-confidence and are aware about their limitations and have no regret in criticizing themselves. In his research it is seen that the companies however do not give too much importance to this trait. Self-Regulation: It is the component of EQ in which people learn how to manage their feeling and thus control their actions. It teaches us not to get into hasty judgments but to analyze the situation and take decisions only after carefully studying the situation. Self-regulation also helps to increase competitiveness of individuals by making them more adaptable towards change. It helps a person to say no to impulsive urges and understand the situation. This factor also does not get due importance as self-regularity is sometimes seen as Lack of Passion. Motivation: This is a universal trait found among each and every leader that they are able to motivate themselves to the achievement of a particular goal. All great leaders are passionate towards a given cause and they take great pride in doing their job. They are eager towards practicing new ideas and are often restless towards while waiting. They do what they do for the benefit of all and no just themselves. They are committed towards their organization. Leaders try to take benefits from adverse situations. They show optimistic attitude where a normal person would most likely go into depression. Empathy: This is the most recognizable attitude that people possess i.e. the ability of a person to take into consideration other peoples thoughts and emotions while making a decision. A leader has to be empathetic towards his/her team member for efficient functioning of the team. Also empathy makes people more comfortable in their surroundings and motivates them towards work. People are more likely to shift jobs in an unpleasant environment. Also the

increasing cross cultural teams need empathetic leaders as leaders should be able to take decisions that do not go against anyones beliefs. People, as seen in the research, do not get much respect for empathy in todays world as there would be someone whose interest would have to be sacrificed in order to achieve the greater good and that particular person would be against the leader. Social Skill: The last component of EQ is social skill, in which a leader is friendly with the people and also moves them in a particular direction i.e. towards the completion of a particular task. People with high social skill find a common base for friendship with almost all the people they meet. With high social skill comes the ability to manage others as everyone will heed your words. They are also good at persuading others. It is the social skill that allows a leader to put his Emotional Intelligence to work. It would however not be fair to say that IQ and other old methods are completely irrelevant. Instead it would be better to say that in order to have a perfect cuisine, a suitable mixture of technical ability, cognitive abilities and Emotional Intelligence is necessary.

Summary: Managing oneself by Peter F. Drucker

Managing oneself is the art by which people master what they should do and what means can they adapt to fulfill a particular purpose. A person always finds a way to solve a particular problem which appears easiest to them and which adapts to their skillset. To do this properly one must look inside themselves and find their own strengths and weaknesses. What are my Strengths? : Strengths can be discovered only by feedback i.e. how well can we predict the outcome of a particular decision. This practice can be employed every time we take a decision and more often than not the outcome will be favorable and we will learn something new about ourselves. We will learn about our strengths, areas where we are not particularly competent and where we are incompetent. Thus we will be able to work in fields where our strengths lie, improve less competent areas and do not do things in which we are incompetent. Feedback may also help us to reveal problems such as lack of manners and that of intellectual arrogance. How do I perform? : Like no two minds are alike, the way in which two individuals perform are also very different. It depends on his personality how he behaves and works and personality can be slightly altered but never completely changed. Few common personality traits are Reader/Listener - A person should be well aware if he is a listener or a reader as a confusion in this can lead to disastrous results. A reader is one who can read from a script while a listener can actively take part in a conversation. A full transition from a reader to a listener is very hard to achieve and so is a combination. How do I learn? People should always be aware how they memorize things. This can be achieved by various ways such as talking, writing or discussing. Leaders/Subordinates- Some people perform well in carrying out commands while others are born to lead. If you confuse these traits then it would lead to unsatisfactory results. Decision maker /advisor- Similarly, people can be advisors or decision makers i.e. a person may or may not have the courage to take a particular decision while he may come up with excellent alternatives and vice versa. Group- There are people who work best in a group while they may underperform if they are left alone and vice versa.

What are my values? : Values are a set of beliefs that shape up the behavior of a person in a particular situation. If a person works at a place incompatible with his value he will easily get frustrated and it will most certainly lead to non-performance. For a person to be successful in a company his values should closely match with those of the organization.

Where do I belong? : Very few persons are able to see what they will become from a very young age. A person should not take up a job in which he knows he is not compatible. This knowledge can help the person transform into an outstanding performer as he will be able to direct his energy into the field in which he knows he can succeed and this results in a positive outcome. What Should I contribute? : In the earlier days, the life of the people was directed by their immediate supervisors. Nowadays nobody wants to be told what to do rather they ask themselves what they want to do. This procedure requires us answering the questions of: What needs to be done, how can my strengths contribute in the given situation and will the obtained results enough to make a significant difference? Responsibility for relationships: Managing oneself includes taking responsibility for relationships. Firstly, understanding that the people you work with area also humans and they will also tend to make mistakes. They also have feelings and their own strengths and weaknesses and we need to take care of this fact. This includes us reading and analyzing both our superiors and subordinates and shaping our behavior in accordance with them. Also important is the way people communicate. If a person does not know what the other is doing and what he expects, there is most likely to be a miscommunication between the two. People should be aware whether there decisions are impacting others and should at least try to minimize this effect by the process of communicating with the person/department concerned. In this world where every single person behaves like a CEO, it is important to manage yourselves and the other people that are concerned with you. In order to succeed one have a clear conscience along with being clear about his goals and the means by which he plans to achieve those goals.

-Raghav Chawla 9502905 A7