Summary: Smarts

Review and Analysis of Martin, Dawson and Guare's Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9782511019863
• Topic: Développement personnel
• Subtopic: Carrières

The must-read summary of Chuck Martin, Peg Dawson and Richard Guare's book: `Smarts: Are We Hardwired for Success?`.

This complete summary of the ideas from Chuck Martin, Peg Dawson and Richard Guare's book `Smarts` shows that there are 12 executive skills that help you get stuff done. Most people are strong in two or three areas and weak in others. Effective organisations recognise this and create teams that ensure all 12 skills are accounted for. In their book, the authors provide readers with guidance on how you can assess your strengths and weaknesses in order to plan better career goals and progress in the right direction. This summary also teaches managers how they can use their knowledge of these 12 skills to create the most productive team.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your business knowledge

To learn more, read `Smarts` and learn how you can make the most of the 12 key productive skills.

Summary of Smarts (Chuck Martin, Peg Dawson and Richard Guare)

Find your own profile – and then do the same for those you work with

In order for you to use your executive skills profile to best effect, you first need to carry out some self-assessment. Determine what your profile looks like and then note the strengths and weaknesses of others you interact with routinely. This will ultimately provide you with clues on how best to build your own career and how to work effectively with others.

To measure your competency in each of the twelve areas and develop your own profile, consider these points and rate yourself on the questions for each area. The rating scale to use is:

Come up with a score for each skill area. Since there are five questions per skill, the highest you can score is 25. You can then identify your two or three areas of strength and weakness.

Skill #1 - Self-Restraint

This skill is about having the capacity to think before you speak or act. It is the opposite of what is commonly referred to as “putting your foot in your mouth”. A person with self-restraint takes a methodical approach and thinks everything through logically rather than being impulsive.

• I always take my time before making up my mind.
• I am generally tactful and diplomatic.
• I usually think before I speak.
• I always make sure I have the facts before I act.
• I seldom make comments that make others uncomfortable.

Skill #2 - Working Memory

This is your ability to hold information in your mind while you perform other complex tasks. People with good working memories remember appointments or even the items they need to buy without using written lists. The opposite of good working memory is usually described as being absent minded.

• I remember facts, dates and details readily.
• I am good at remembering my commitments.
• I naturally remember to complete my tasks.
• I always keep sight of the goals I want to accomplish.
• When busy, I can see both the big picture and fine details.

Skill #3 - Emotion Control

This skill is all about ensuring your emotions don’t get in the way of what you’re trying to accomplish. When you have high levels of emotional control, you don’t get side-tracked and you find ways to dwell on the positives of each situation you encounter. People who are low in emotional control are very sensitive to criticism and go into situations expecting to fail.

• I can keep my emotions in check while on the job.
• I usually handle confrontations calmly.
• Little things at work don’t distract me from the task at hand.
• When frustrated or angry, I keep my cool.
• I defer my personal feelings until the task is completed.

Skill #4 - Focus

Focus is the ability to stick with something through to completion. When you have executive focus, you become immersed in a task and filter out distractions. You’ll have a reputation for meeting your deadlines. If you’re low in focus, you’ll get easily sidetracked by frivolous matters.

• When I have a job to do, I easily avoid distractions.
• Once I start something, I work at it until it is finished.
• I find it easy to stay focused on my work assignments.
• When interrupted, I quickly get back to work again.
• I attend to my tasks, even when they seem tedious.

Skill #5 - Task Initiation

Those who are strong in this area find it easy to begin new tasks. This is the opposite of procrastination. People with strengths in task initiation will find it easy to start new projects and will want to tackle assignments right away rather than putting things off until the very last moment. A good indicator of strength in this area is if you hit the ground running each morning rather than needing to psyche yourself up.

• As soon as I get a new assignment, I like to get to work.
• Procrastination is usually not a problem for me.
• I believe in getting started on things as soon as possible.
• I get to work even if I’d rather be doing something else.
• I generally start my assigned tasks early.

Skill #6 - Plan & Prioritize

People with strengths in this skill are well organized, efficient and clear thinkers. If this is you, then you probably have no problems saying no to other requests on your time which would distract from your achievement of key objectives. If you’re low in this skill, you’ll keep on running around in circles being unable to tell where to start and what’s important. You may even drop out o...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of Smarts (Chuck Martin, Peg Dawson and Richard Guare)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright