MANAGING ONESELF animated book reviewsummary by Peter FDrucker

A lion, a monkey and a crocidile wanted to
see which one of them its the best. However, when trying to measure their abilities, they
discovered it would be foolish of them to compete in a the same discipline. The lion
would obviously run faster than the crocodile, while the crocodile would swim much faster
then lion, and the monkey would be the best at climbing trees. No matter how much effort
the lion put into perfecting his tree climbing, he would never become as good as the monkey.
He was born with a body that is not suited for climbing trees.

If a lion spends his entire
life judging himself by his ability to climb trees, he will feel inferior. That might sound
sad for him, but in reality it is liberating. The lion was born with other advantages. He
can excel at hunting, for example, and if he chooses to focus on doing the things that
come naturally to him, hell be happier and more succesful.
That sounds obvious, right? Of course lions cant climb trees.

However, many of us make
the same mistake in our lives. We try to get better at the things which were not suited
for, and so we can only ever become mediocre. There are a few areas in which you have the
potential to excel, and others in which your potential is small. You must find your strengths
and focus on those things, just as the lion must realise he is meant to run and hunt,
not climb trees.

On the other hand, I worked with great Engineers
who were very good at the technical part of their job. They believed that that was all
they needed to be very good at what they did, however they never got the promotions they
wanted to get and their careers as well as personal lives were limited. This is because
many of these engineers lacked the people skills required to maintain good relationship,
and since their bosses and coworkers didnt like them, they could never advance. In any
position, what you need is the technical knowledge but you must also maintain positive relationships
with those around you.

This is one example of an essential skill that the engineers were
missing, and if you find you have something like this intellectual arrogance holding
you back from success, you must fix it. Focusing on your strengths is the best place to start
to find success, and you must also fix any missing skillsets or mindsets that are holding
you back. A few years ago a highly respected diplomat
was asked to give a dinner to a foreign president, who was a notorious womanizer. The foreign
president made it clear what kind of dinner he wanted, and the diplmat refused to take
part in such a dinner.

He was reported to have said, I refuse to see a pimp in the
mirror in the morning when I shave. The diplomat instead chose to resign from his
position. The values of the diplomat did not match the values of the embassy whom had asked
him to perform this task. If you find yourself in a similar situation, where your values
do not match that of your company, you work will lead to frustration and bad performance.
Thats why you should carefuly choose a company whos value system matches your
own..