EI 3.1 Examples of Self Management

Here are two examples of self management in common life. The following two people are the kind of people we come across in our everyday life. Take a look. Observe the contract in two personalities. Do you see yourself in one of the following two characters -

What Self Management Looks Like in Real Life

Girish Mathur, GM Customer Care
Self Management: High

What people who work with him say about him:

“Girish handles stressful and confrontational situations very well. No matter how harshly the customers and his sales counterparts hammer him, he never loses his cool! This gives him lot of acceptance and respect from colleagues. He is able to work with people who have a very different style of working. In his job, getting stuffed with complaints and blames is quite often. This can be really overwhelming at times. But I have never seen him lose his patience.”

“Many times people are quick to blame customer care for the fault of some other flaws in other departments. But I have never seen him ruffled by this. He makes his views in spite of the barrage of arguments thrown at him. I have never seen him reacting to absurd allegations and pointing fingers. He deals with them politely and professionally.”

“I have seen him handle some very frustrating situations where the organization directed against his personal views. He is able to maintain an objective view and aligns very fast with the organization goals.”

“I have never seen Girish speaking negatively about issue even about issues about which he feels very strongly. You will never find him speaking ill about anyone behind his back! He just never does it.”


What Lack of Self Management Looks Like in Real Life

Jacob Mathew, Sales Manager
Self Management: Low

What people who work with him say about him:

“In stressful situations Jacob sometimes responds too quickly and disjointedly. He is very emotional. When he is under stress, he almost always reacts to situations rather than thinking and responding. I wish he could take some time to cool off and slow down before responding. Sometimes it is impossible to recognize him when he is under stress. He becomes an absolutely different person. Otherwise he is generally a cool guy.”
“Jacob should be more aware of his behaviour and his outbursts when he is upset. He doesn't seem to recognize that it has a huge impact on his team’s morale. He definitely cares for people. However when he is upset, he can be very damaging. I remember when one of his subordinates Alan had made a mistake. Jacob just lost his temper. He shouted at him in full visibility of other co workers. The whole atmosphere of the office became much tensed after that. Poor Alan couldn't look into the eyes of others for a very long time. I wish someone could teach Jacob to count till ten when he is angry”

“Jacob is a good guy. But I don't like one habit of his. Sometimes late in the evening he will call me and would be desperate to discuss and issue with me in detail. The fact is that I sit very close to him in office. He may not speak to me or say Hi to me the whole day. But just while I would reach home and would be dying to spend some time with my children, he would call me and would keep talking. Almost in all instances, he could have waited to discuss the same with me the next morning. Nothing on earth would have moved otherwise if he could. I think it would be good if he learns to ‘sleep over’ some issues rather than trying to solve it late nights and disturbing people.”