Week 43 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the new book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Mark Bargaehr is our guest writer today.
Week 43: A Catalyst to Help People Manage Themselves and Move to the Second Half of Their Lives
THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: Managing oneself is one of the key ingredients if men and women are to effectively move from the first half of life (success) to the second half of life (significance).
MARK BARGAEHR'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 43, pages 336-340:
• Because most knowledge workers have working lives of 50 years or more (Drucker’s career spanned close to 70 years!), many will make a career shift as they enter “Halftime.”
• This shift will require that they “repot” themselves!
• “What’s commonly called ‘burnout,’ the most common affliction of the 40-something knowledge worker, is very rarely the result of stress. Its common, all too common, cause is boredom on the job. Managing oneself therefore requires that you prepare for the second half of your life.”
• “Boredom leads to an underutilization of our talents. It can also lead to destructive behaviors such as drug or alcohol addiction. So, while it may be risky to attempt a move from success to significance, it may be more risky not to—especially for people who are experiencing boredom on the job.”
MARK BARGAEHR'S COLOR COMMENTARY:
After accumulating way too many frequent flier miles crisscrossing the U.S. every week in the first half of my life, my wife, Vikki, and I made a big fork-in-the-road decision about our second half. We decided to change our game plan from success to significance, from being about my business to being about Kingdom business.
So for the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of serving in my second half for significance as a nonprofit CEO, a pastor, a ministry consultant, an adjunct professor, and multiple stints as a transitional pastor for churches.
I resonate with what Drucker and Maciariello say about “Halftime” (a time to plan the second half of life) and how to prepare for it:
1st: “Managing oneself requires that we understand what we are good at—that is, our strengths.” I agree that this is where to begin. This may require asking people who know you well to help you narrow this from idealistic thinking to reality. Grab some good friends and ask for the unvarnished truth!
2nd: “Managing oneself requires that we understand our values.” I spent considerable money to find this out from a well-known consultant. His three questions to help me plan for the second half I now give to you for much less than the $10,000 I spent. Answer these three and see if they help you clarify your values and your second half:
• What do you want to be?
• What do you want to have?
• What do you want to do?
3rd: “We should understand how we work best—alone or with others as a team.” Great advice as we are NOT all team players. Some of us work better alone, so find this out.
4th: “Are we good at taking on unstructured tasks, or do we do better when we understand the structure at the outset?”
This insight will be especially helpful to you if you’re making the transition from marketplace to ministry: “Once we understand our strengths, our values, how we work, and areas in which we are likely to make a contribution, we are ready to manage ourselves in the second half of our lives. These of course are the same specifications for managing our first half but the answers probably will be different.”
I’d encourage you to go deep in discovering your purpose and plan in your second half. Perhaps you’ll find, as I did, it has something to do with God’s plan and purpose for you all along!
THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY MARK BARGAEHR:
Next week, Mark Bargaehr will begin serving Wilshire Avenue Community Church, Fullerton, Calif., as their transitional pastor (while the search begins for the next senior pastor). In addition to teaching on the adjunct faculty at Azusa Pacific University, Mark’s second half also includes chairing the supervisory committee at Christian Community Credit Union. Along with his church and ministry consulting work, he frequently greets the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean with his surfboard and wetsuit!
TO-DO TODAY:
• “Begin thinking of a parallel or second career you might find fulfilling. List areas of work that interest you, including work as a volunteer in a nonprofit organization.”
• What goals could you set now to prepare for your second half?
• Ask the above three questions and see where they lead.
Read Bob Buford's Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), with a foreword by Jim Collins (published this month with more than 750,000 previously sold).
NEXT MONDAY:
On Nov. 2, 2015, watch for Gary Bishop's color commentary on Week 44’s topic, ““Our Society in the U.S. Has Lost Its Sweetness,” the first chapter in the book’s final section, “Character and Legacy.”