12 Rules for Self-Management

Management is not just for managers, just as leadership is not only for leaders.

We all manage, and we all lead; these are not actions reserved for only those people who happen to
hold these “positions” in a company. I personally think of management and leadership as callings, and
we all get these callings to manage and lead at different times, and to different degrees.

Considered another way, I believe we can all learn to be more self-governing through the disciplines of
great management and great leadership; these are concepts that can give us wonderful tenets to live
and work by.

For instance, these are what I’ve come to think of as 12 Rules for Self-Management. Show me a business
where everyone lives and works by self-managing, and I’ll bet it’s a business destined for greatness.

1. Live by your values (ЦЕННОСТИ), whatever they are. You confuse people when you don’t,
because they can’t predict (предвидят) how you’ll behave.
2. Speak up! (Изрази мнение) No one can “hear” what you’re thinking without you be willing to
stand up for it (защитя). Mind-reading is something most people can’t do.
3. Honor (Уважавай) your own good word, and keep the promises(обещания) you make. If not,
people eventually stop believing most of what you say, and your words will no longer work for
you.
4. When you ask for more responsibility, expect to be held fully accountable (очаквай да те
държат отговорен за всичко). This is what seizing ownership of something is all about; it’s
usually an all or nothing kind of thing, and so you’ve got to treat it that way.
5. Don’t expect people to trust (вярват) you if you aren’t willing to be trustworthy (заслужаващ
доверие) for them first and foremost. Trust is an outcome of fulfilled expectations.
6. Be more productive by creating good habits (навици) and rejecting (отхвърли) bad ones. Good
habits corral (събира) your energies into a momentum-building rhythm (ритъм на съзидаващ
импулс) for you; bad habits sap (втечнява) your energies and drain you (изцежда).
7. Have a good work ethic, for it seems to be getting rare (рядкост) today. Curious, for those “old-
fashioned” values like dependability (надеждност), timeliness (точност), professionalism and
diligence (усърдие) are prized more than ever before. Be action-oriented (търси действието).
Seek (търси) to make things work. Be willing to do what it takes (бъди готов да постъпиш по
нужния начин).
8. Be interesting. Read voraciously (лакомо), and listen to learn, then teach and share everything
you know. No one owes (дължи) you their attention; you have to earn it and keep attracting it.
9. Be nice. Be courteous (учтив), polite(възпитан) and respectful(уважителен). Be
considerate(внимателен). Manners (добрите обноски) still count for an awful lot in life (все
още тежат страшно много) and thank goodness they do.
10. Be self-disciplined (самодисциплиниран). That’s what adults (възрастен) are supposed to
“grow up” to be.
11. Don’t be a victim (жертва) or a martyr (мъченик). You always have a choice, so don’t shy from
it: Choose and choose without regret (съжаление). Look forward and be enthusiastic.
 12. Keep healthy and take care of yourself. Exercise your mind, body and spirit so you can be
someone people count on (разчитат), and so you can live expansively (с размах) and with
abundance (в изобилие).

Managers will tell you that they don’t really need to manage people who live by these rules; instead,
they can devote their attentions to managing the businesses in which they all thrive. Chances are it will
also be a place where great leaders are found.