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Home / Dealing with the Pressures of ManagingDealing with the Pressures of Managing
Mintzberg, Henry
The pressures of managing are constant, not temporary: in other words, pressure in this job is business as usual.
This topic looks at the popular myth of the manager as fully in control and replaces it with some of the facts about the characteristics of managing: the hectic pace, the fragmented work, the orientation to action. How is anyone supposed to think, let alone think ahead, amidst all this?
The objectives for this topic are to:
- Bring managing off its pedestal, into its realities.
- Appreciate the inherent characteristics of managerial work.
- Consider how best to deal with these challenges.
Product Reference:
Here's How it Works
Each CoachingOurselves topic is used by a team of 4-6 managers to guide a 90 minute discussion. Working through the topic one page at a time, the team reflects on their own experiences guided by the content, questions and exercises. There is no pre-work and no laptops, and the meetings are held anywhere managers normally hold work meetings.
"Experience is not enough. People may learn little from their experience unless they have a means for classifying and analyzing it" - Saul Alinsky
The management team begins by using a first topic with the support of a facilitator. They continue with or without the facilitator for the next 4-6 topics, bi-weekly or monthly, followed by a questionnaire to evaluate results and integrate learning. CoachingOurselves is used standalone, or included in broader initiatives to implement balanced 70-20-10 management learning programs.