When David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford wrote The Trusted Advisor over 10 years ago they struck a chord. By defining what the components of a trusted advisor were, they created the possibility to develop high quality relationships through a thoughtful and systematic approach rather than simply hoping that the “magic” occurred.

 

Now, in The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook (Wiley, 2012) Authors Charles Green and Andrea Howe take the next steps in our development. Taking an academic approach, this manual illustrates how we can overcome some of the most basic – and most difficult – interpersonal situations and employ a methodology that will deliver us our best results.

 

Among the situations addressed are Closing Sales, and Building Trust from a Distance, Dealing With Untrustworthy People, Navigating Office Politics, and many others.

 

You manage small scale projects in between the larger, more far-reaching projects. You strategize to integrate the right resources for all of your projects, and you also spend a lot of time managing your subordinates.

 

You are there to encourage or educate them when things go wrong, you take the time to recognize their efforts when they excel, and you still take time to manage long-term planning processes for next year and beyond.

 

It’s common for business leaders like you to be “too busy” seemingly all of the time, running faster and faster. They are living life from problem to problem, and as a result, there is no opportunity to enjoy all that you have fostered in other people and all the ideas you have developed while excelling at your job. Regardless, a business or even a department within an organization is a reflection of the person running the show.

 

If that person is stressed or poorly organized, then these characteristics will be reflected in the business.

 

So why not manage yourself? Here are some reasons why you may not have been managing yourself so far:

 

You may be getting energy (and possibly identity!) from being stressed and overworked.

 

Now let’s put you on the path to better self-management.

 

1. Clarify your personal goals. Many of us lose sight of these as we get immersed in rush of day-to-day life. Do your personal goals complement your business goals? Asking yourself this question will root out any dissonance between these two areas of your life. And remember, you DO have two areas; professional and personal. If they are not in harmony, determine whether the business goals can be re-oriented or modified to support what you would like to achieve personally.

 

2. What role do you want to have? Imagine yourself three or four years from now. Think about who you want to be. What role do you want to have in the business? Thinking about what you want in the future can give you great insights into what strategies you may need to put in place now.

 

3. Look at how you are actually spending your time. This is where the rubber meets the road. If you really are true to yourself when you do this exercise you will learn a lot about where the potential lies for making changes. How are you really spending your time?

 

Break your day down into at least half hour slots and write down exactly what you do in each 30 minutes. Imagine that you are on a diet and your doctor has asked you to keep an honest food journal, to reveal your major calorie intake times of the day. This is what you want for your time journal.