Harvard Business Review’s management tips of the day

3 Signs You Need to Broaden Your Focus

The lens through which leaders view the world can help or hinder their ability to make good decisions. If your lens is too narrow, you risk making everything all about yourself or your team. While it can be helpful to see the fine points, you might be missing the big picture. Here are three signs it might be time to zoom out:

1. You’re overwhelmed by details. Being too focused on small things can be overpowering. Ask yourself what really matters most and focus on that.
2. You put yourself first. A tight focus doesn’t leave room for others. Consider the needs of those around you.
3. You treat every situation as unique. Narrowly focused leaders tend to reinvent many wheels because they treat every project or issue separately. Look for similar situations to use as analogies and make your job easier.

3 Tips for Giving Your New Boss Feedback
Giving your manager feedback can be nerve-racking, especially if you’ve never done it before. Yet, many strong work relationships are based on openly sharing advice and input. If you have a new boss, or are providing her with feedback for the first time, here are three tips to make it go smoothly:

1. Determine willingness to listen. Before you say anything, assess whether your boss is open to hearing what you have to say. Make sure the payoff is worth the risk of upsetting her.
2. Schedule it. Don’t take your boss by surprise. Let her know you want to discuss an important issue in private.
3.Gauge reaction. Present the feedback directly and accurately. Watch her body language to be sure you aren’t alienating her. You can check in by occasionally asking, “Does this make sense?”

3 Steps to Changing Offensive Behavior
Being authentic is not an excuse for being a jerk. Yes, we all have bad habits that feel innate, but don’t claim “that’s just the way I work” when your behavior hurts or impairs others’ progress. Instead, face the truth and find ways to change your bad behavior:

1. Find out what others think. You may not know what your worst habits are. Ask a trusted colleague what is difficult about working with you. Listen carefully, do not try to respond, explain, justify, or defend.
2. Find an alternative. Next time you have the urge to misbehave, what will you do instead? Make a promise to your team or peers to act differently.
3. Pay the price. Commit to a consequence for breaking your promise. Make sure it has a cost to you but is also constructive.

Nine Things Successful People Do Differently

Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.