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Light on Leadership
Change... or Be Changed.
Welcome to Light on Leadership! In under two minutes, our newsletter delivers one book recommendation, one leadership action step, and two leadership tips. We know you're busy, so we've designed this content to be both useful and shareable. Enjoy!
One of Peter Drucker’s most enduring insights is this: we must place ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution. That responsibility doesn’t end when we choose a major or start our first job. In today’s world, most of us will work 40–50 years—years that demand curiosity, adaptability, and the discipline to evaluate whether our work still aligns with who we are becoming.
This is easier said than done. After decades of studying some of the most effective leaders in the world, Drucker concluded that long-term success depends on a simple but challenging question: What does it mean to truly manage oneself across a lifetime of work?
Most people begin their careers with a clear picture of their chosen profession—shaped by high school, college, trade school, or graduate programs. But as the years pass, the work changes. We change. New responsibilities emerge, skill sets evolve, and organizational needs shift. At key moments, every leader must pause and ask:
Are the duties I’m performing today still aligned with my strengths, my energy, and the unique contribution I’m capable of making?
Drucker’s reminder is both practical and powerful: managing oneself is not a one-time decision—it is an ongoing leadership practice that shapes the impact we make across the entire arc of our career.
👉 Quick Action Step:
Take 10 quiet minutes to evaluate the work you’re doing right now. Ask yourself: Which parts of my role energize me, and which parts drain me? Identify one responsibility that fully aligns with your strengths and one that may no longer fit.
Book Recommendation:
Managing Oneself: The Key to Success.
By Peter F. Drucker
Purchase this book! https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Oneself-Peter-F-Drucker/dp/163369304X
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Two Tips
Sometimes we confuse being busy with being a leader — Drucker reminds us there’s a big difference between managing what is and leading what could be. Watch this short clip to see why leadership is about challenging the status quo, not just keeping the machine running.
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
- Peter Drucker
The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it.
