Manage To Engage | Businesses Grow When People Do

In the last episode, we established that supervision is when people don’t take things as far as they can without a manager following up or offering assistance; it is the act of making sure that someone does what they already know how to do. Management, on the other hand, is when someone takes something as far as they can, then a manager supports them in growing and learning.   But that’s just the content of the manager-employee relationship, as well as the parent-child relationship, which is when most of us first encounter supervision.   So, today, I’m going to set up the context of this relationship dynamic through the lens of something we can probably all relate to: not wanting to do our laundry when we were children. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

Over the next three episodes, we’re going to explore one of the most critical dynamics in management: the differences between management and supervision and how the tension between these two causes most of us to experience some combination of lost productivity and existential angst.   We’ll start things off today with some definitions and, by the end of this series, connect these concepts to the art of self-management through an exercise that can help you identify and reduce the amount of supervision in your life.  I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

In the last episode, we explored the correlation between finding your passion path, finding your soulmate, and surrendering, and how our natural inclination to be in control can cause us to stray from the passion path.   Honing our awareness of this, as well as our awareness of our core values, is all a necessary part of the process.   Today, we will dissect a pivotal question that can both cause friction and propel you further into a life of fulfillment – a question that we live every day, especially at work.   And after you are done listening to this episode, I encourage you to block off some time to delve more deeply into what your soul-level values are because you have to have clarity on that before you can engage with any other part of this process. Take a few moments to examine the gap between your deepest values and your day-to-day actions, particularly where and how you work. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on

Last week, we established that finding your Passion Path is a journey, not a mission. There is no singular end goal that you’re ultimately working towards.   And like any good journey, we can’t control everything that happens. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from trying. We’ve discussed this common delusion before – the shared delusion that people know how reality tends to operate and, as such, can manipulate the outcomes – but time and time again, reality proves us wrong and punishes us.   So, today, we’re going to talk about meeting reality where it is on the passion path and how our old friend surrender, which is always an important tool in our self-management toolbelt, will help us make progress on our journey. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

If you didn’t have to work and you weren’t being paid, what would you do that creates value in the world?   That’s the question I asked at the end of the last episode, and it is the question that will help you find your Passion Path, or the day-to-day expression of your values, whereby you serve yourself as you serve others with your greatest gift.    And this Passion Path is half of the equation that adds up to human fulfillment. So in this episode, we’ll relate the passion path to the second thing you need to have clarity on in order to be fulfilled – and during this process, I hope you will consider where you are on your own journey to clarity and fulfillment. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

We start today’s episode with some reflections on the previous series about Desirable Difficulty. So, if you haven’t already listened to episodes 218 to 221, I recommend going back and listening to them first. It’ll be relevant later in this series as well.   We then segue into our topic for the next four episodes: your Passion Path.    We will view the nature of work from a historical point of view, revealing how things like slavery and unregulated factory work left scars on our language and cultural perspective, so that we can start identifying and working to change the cultural conditioning that all of us have undergone. In doing this, we can start engaging with work on a more productive and fulfilling level. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

Life isn’t about comfort. It’s easy to be tricked into thinking that, with all the ways humans have designed a world catering to comfort, but life doesn’t seem to agree.   Because life, again and again, comes back to bite us in the butt when we attempt to pursue lives that embody happiness and comfort.   On the other side of the coin, life always rewards us for choosing difficulty. It may not be what we want, but it always ends up being what we need. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

On the surface, a lot of us fear that we’re inadequate, not good enough, or powerless – but that’s just on a superficial level.   Underneath that, in the core of our beings, we are afraid of being powerful; we are making excuses to avoid the responsibility and expectations that come with our true potential.   Because where you are now is safe. It’s comfortable. And most of the human race is standing right beside you, choosing comfort.   But where could you be if you started diligently practicing self-management? if you started choosing the courageous act of subjecting yourself to difficulty? Well, that’s risky, and it can be lonely – and avoiding that fear is ensuring most people stay stuck in mediocrity. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

In the last episode, I introduced you to the concept of Desirable Difficulty, or the idea that personal growth and evolution only happen as a result of butting up against and working your way through a difficult problem or situation.   Is it fun? No. Is it necessary? Again, no.   But is it necessary if you want to achieve greatness? Absolutely.   So, today, we’ll be learning how this concept relates to The Art of Self-Management and how you can make a practice of choosing courage over comfort. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

How engaged were you in school?   When you were taught a new principle in class and then given a homework assignment to do before the next class, were you engaged?   What if, instead, you were assigned the homework first? What if you were asked to do something really difficult, something that challenges your ability to think critically and solve problems? You would probably fail and you probably wouldn’t enjoy it – and you would probably be a lot more engaged in the learning process.   It might not be as easy as the way we are usually taught things. In fact, it might be downright unenjoyable. But there is a level of difficulty that is desirable if you want to develop and grow as a human being.   So, over the next four episodes, we’ll be exploring this concept of desirable difficulty and why we are likely all being disserviced by the increasing convenience of society. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

Throughout this series, I’ve come back to the question, “Who do you want to become and how are you using your job to become it?” If you don’t have the answer to this question, then you are, by definition, not engaged at work – and if you don’t have an answer to this question, I’d venture a guess that the people who you manage probably don’t have an answer, either.   Because engaged managers produce engagement.   And if, after this episode, you don’t choose to take action and figure out the answer to that question, which won’t be easy if you’re honest with yourself, then you will just perpetuate the broken system of disengagement in your life and/or work. Anything else you try to do will just make things a little less bad. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

If you normally listen to these episodes as a fly on the wall, I’d like you to approach today’s episode a little differently. I want you to put yourself in the seat of a person on this coaching call and imagine that I am asking you the questions that I ask in this episode.   These questions are meant to help you identify where the embodiment gap is in your life, or where your actions don’t express your deepest values – and then, possibly, close it, if you choose to take action. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

In the last episode, I introduced you to the Good Vs. Less Bad paradigm. We often have the option to make a system in our life good or less bad, and more often than not, we choose to make it less bad because making it good comes with costs that we don’t want to pay: emotional discomfort, facing the unknown, and actual change.   Today, we apply a critical lens to some real-life problems, reveal the underlying systems that contribute to those problems, and consider the long-term impact of living with a “less bad mindset.” I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

If you’re consistently getting results that you don’t want, a system in your life is either broken or not working the way you think it is – and you will continue to get undesirable results until you know how the system works AND change something.   Otherwise, anything you do is just going to, at best, make things less bad. And we are all faced with this decision, over and over again, throughout our lives: do we want to make a situation less bad or do we want to make it good?   Today, we’re going to get to the bottom of why “Less Bad” is such a popular choice – and what it costs to actually make something good. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

I’d like to start the episode by going back to the question that started this series on hunger: Can we teach someone to be hungry? Can managers teach someone to want to be awake, to pursue excellence, to evolve, to learn, to grow?   Not exactly. You can’t make a horse drink water. However, you can make it as easy as possible for a horse to find water. You can help people navigate The Competence Paradox and realize that they are doing the best they can do, at least today – and, tomorrow, they can do a little bit better.   So, today, we’re going to go through a crash course on managing evolution and inspiring your team. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

In the last episode, we touched on the value of intrinsic value hunger... although, if you have experienced drive or motivation in your life, it probably didn’t take a lot to convince you that it’s a powerful and important element to not just achieving success but undergoing self-development.   And that, really, is the crux of this series on hunger – it’s a tool for self-development, not a means to an end, and as such, it’s an important tool in the manager’s toolbox. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

In the last episode, I introduced you to The Competence Paradox.   This is the idea that, on one level, people are always doing the best that they can with what they have; the incentives, resources, and awareness that they are equipped with, in that moment. However, in the next moment, that can all change – and that means “your best” is conditional.   But our best also has an arch-nemesis, and it’s a pervasive enemy that we foster and cultivate throughout our lives – excuses!   So, today, we’re going to consider how we use excuses to cripple ourselves and avoid our destiny, what a human might look like with no excuses, and how motivation or hunger can cut through them. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

What’s the most that you are capable of? How do you know?   The truth of the matter is that, whether you think you’re capable of quite a lot or nothing at all, you’re probably wrong. People are terrible at self-assessment, especially when it comes to assessing their own skill and ability, and this one of the reasons people need management at various points in their life.   So, today, I am going to introduce you to The Competence Paradox – something that every manager needs to be aware of if they want to get the most out of their team and help their team grow. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

Leaders generally become leaders because they are predisposed to choosing challenges – and if you are choosing to listen to this podcast to better yourself as a leader and a manager, then you are probably predisposed to this way of framing life as well.   That means, as a manager, you have a valuable perspective to offer the people who follow you, and you should give it to them. So, to conclude this series on embracing being tested, we’re going to learn how managers can help others dig deep into discomfort and surrender to life. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)

Over the last two episodes, we’ve established that there’s no mystery shrouding the path to greatness – either you choose to test yourself, or you don’t. It’s a rigorous choice to choose one practice and make it more important than anything else, and when you do, you’ll find that what you learn about yourself is far more valuable than what you accomplish.   Today, we will examine how this dynamic of embracing or not embracing challenges shows up in the workplace, and we’ll consider the role that managers and leaders have to take on to cultivate greatness in their teams. I’d love your feedback. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1234688298 (Click here to leave a rating & review for the show on iTunes.)