Ah, a new job! 

When we take a new job we’re doing so because a lot of promises have been made to us.  We may have been told that we’ll have a fancy title and they’ve  promised us a lot of pay. We’ve been told that we’re being placed in a  position of power and that we’ll be able to use our manager skills to  have a big influence on the direction of the company. However, when we  show up, we discover that what we were told does not match reality.  

Should we stay or should we go?

So here’s something that can be difficult for us to deal with: what do  you do when you are not #1? 

At work, I’m hoping, we all try hard to use  our manager skills and do our best. However, there will be times that  the people that we are working with, our peers, just simply outperform us.  When this happens and when we become aware of it, what is a manager to  do? Let us assume that giving up and going home is not an option. 

We’d  like to hang on to our job, what should we do in this type of situation?

So is there any downside to becoming a manager? 

One possibility is the  simple fact that it takes time. By the time most of us become managers, we’re not as young as we used to be.  What this means is that we find ourselves in a workplace filled with  younger people trying to use our manager skills to manage teams made up  of younger people. 

All of sudden it can be very easy for us to start to  feel as though we might not be keeping up. How can a manager deal with  this situation?

When we signed up for the job of being a manager, we may not have  realized the other things that came along with this job. 

One such thing  might be the anxiety that being a manager can cause in us.  This, of course, bring up the question about just exactly what anxiety  is. The dictionary tells us that anxiety is a feeling of worry,  nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something  with an uncertain outcome. As managers, no matter what manager skills we  have, this pretty much describes every day of our lives. 

What can we do to deal with the anxiety that our job creates?

How the members of your team communicate with each other is changing. 

There is a new wave of instant messaging applications that is in the process of changing how the members of your team communicate with each other.  This change may be causing the older members of your team to scramble  in order to keep up. 

As a manager, you are going to have to take steps  to use your manager skills to make sure that everyone on your team can  stay ahead of the changes that are being caused by instant messaging.

So here’s a quick quiz for you. 

How many times each day do the members of your team take out their phone and look at them? It turns out that the answer is 2,617 times per day that we all tap,  poke, pinch, or swipe our phones. From a manager point-of-view, just  exactly how much time does all of this take? The answer is 2 hours and  25 minutes each and every day. 

The bad news for you is that most of this  is happening while your team members are at work!

As a manager, your goal at work is to get ahead. 

You want to be seen as a  star performer who gets things done. You want your work to be viewed as  being of the highest quality and you want your management to come looking for you when they have a slot open up for promotions.  The big question that you are facing is the same one that we are all  trying to answer: just exactly what do you have to do at work to be  successful? 

It turns out that the answer may not be what you think that  it should be.

As a manager you are in charge of a team of people who have to do what you tell them to do. 

However, at the same time you work for a boss who can tell you what to do. What this means for you (and your career) is that you’d like to be able to use your manager skills to create the best working relationship with your boss that you can.  However, the mystery here is just exactly how to go about doing that.  

It turns out that it’s pretty easy, you just need to know what steps you need to take.

What’s your plan for getting promoted from the manager position that you currently have? 

You’d like to get kicked upstairs, but just exactly how are you going to go about making that happen? A lot of us hope that the quality of the work that we do will speak for  us and our bosses will notice us and our manager skills and will then  promote us. Good idea; however, all too often it does not work out this  way. We need to learn how to “manage up”. 

This one skill is the one that will shape your career. Do you know how to do it?

Let’s face it: being a manager can be a very stressful job. 

People are  always asking us for things and we are trying to do our best to use our  manager skills to manage our team. If we are not careful, the stress  associated with the job can become so much that it starts to affect our  relationships and potentially even our health. Managers need a way to  deal with all of this stress and our manager training does not tell us  what we need to do. In the past, managers have tried various activities  such as skydiving, mountain climbing, and going to the gym. 

However,  lately a new approach has shown up that can be done in the office: meditation.