Musings from the CU Suite

Jul 23, 2013

...You might be a manager

Written by Anthony Demangone

Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I always enjoyed Jeff Foxworthy's comedy routines. Especially the "you might be a redneck" bits.  Sure, they sometimes hit a bit close to home, but I always thought it was healthy to laugh at yourself every so often.

I'm a firm believer that every segment of society should be able to poke fun at itself.  I was trained as a lawyer. There's a ton of low hanging fruit there if you ever need a laugh. Believe me. 


But this blog is about management.  So with a hat tip to Mr. Foxworthy, here goes.

  • If someone asks you how your train ride was, and you respond, "Fantastic! I knocked out about 200 emails,"....you might be a manager.
  • If you have four business books sitting on your nightstand...you might be a manager.
  • If the fact that you haven't picked up a one of those four business books in a week bothers you...you might be a manager.
  • If you have more "productivity" apps on your phone than games...you might be a manager.
  • If someone asks you who your favorite author is, and Jim Collins comes to mind...You might be a manager. 
  • If you compare notes with friends to see how they handle their email in-box...you might be a manager.
  • If you consider bragging about a spreadsheet you developed...you might be a manager.
  • If you have a folder filled with articles on how to improve meetings...you might be a manager. 
  • If you ever created a checklist to improve your checklists...you might be a manager.
  • If you ever made a New Year's resolution to read more business books...you might be a manager.
  • If you've ever done research on how to improve your checklists...you might be a manager.
  • If a slow spell at work makes you nervous...you might be a manager.
  • If you rate airports by the number of free outlets they make available...you might be a manager.
  • If you find it hard not to rate people solely by how well they do their job...you might be a manager. 
  • If a blog post by John Spence or Dan Rockwell nearly brings you to tears...you might be a manager.
  • If you watched a TED video and thought to yourself...man, this could change my life...you might be a manager.
  • And if the length of this blog post is starting to bother you because of all that's on your plate...you might be a manager.

Feel free to add to the list, folks.  Have a great week!