Q: I would like to reinvent myself. I am starting a new role with a different company and I would like to start afresh leaving my cock-ups behind. How can I make sure this new approach is sustainable even during stressful and challenging times?

A: I like your enthusiasm but I'm worried it reveals an underlying lack of confidence. Never forget that cock-ups (others call them "great experiences") have helped make you a better manager and get the new job you're so pleased with. You are an ambitious young person whom I suspect will go far, but you need to regard your errors as some of your best training. If you heard some of the mistakes and false starts that very senior business leaders have shared with me, you may even feel like celebrating you've had these experiences early on.

It's no good thinking there is such a thing as the perfect manager and, even if there were, the stress of maintaining such a mask would be overwhelming. You need to be yourself, warts and all, but also have an awareness of learning where things went wrong and what could have been done to prevent them. You must also take risks. Some decisions won't work out, but you will be booted out quite quickly if you're not prepared to do stuff differently. By all means avoid repeating mistakes but be prepared to make new ones.

Q: I've always prided myself in working best to tight deadlines but recently I've felt I'm losing my way and am overwhelmed. I've taken on more responsibility and wonder if I should change the way I work.

A: If this worked for you before and if it's not working for you now, you need to ask yourself why. If it's because you have too much to do or at the last minute, something has to give if you want to stay at the top table.

I would first try hard to discriminate daily between what is urgent and what is important in your in-tray and act accordingly. Too many of us confuse these very different demands and remember if stuff is not important and not urgent, the bin is the only place to file it.

I would also recommend that you do some simple time management. Spend the last hour on a Friday being clear about your objectives and deliverables in following weeks, and review your actions in the previous period. CEOs I've worked with have found these two disciplines alone have changed their stress levels dramatically.

And a final thought: you say that you've taken on more responsibility. Have you dealt with taking on more delegation with the same readiness?

If you have a question for Sue, email her at sue@mountstevensexecutivecoaching.com.

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