HOW TO MANAGE by Sohail Hydri | Published 6th February 2026
Understanding Management in Life and Work
Whenever, someone refers to the word “management”, the public at large, on a general level, associates this word with the course of events in the corporate and business world. However, when the same person pays a little more attention and reflects upon this word a little more deeply, he would realize, understand and appreciate that management is not restricted to business or corporate affairs only. Every single step that he takes in life, every course and every path that he treads upon, actually needs management. As such, apart from the rigmarole of the office work, one need to manage the requirements of Allah (God), the requirements of family and friends, one’s own personal requirements and, all of these requirements demand management for a fulfilling and a satisfied life.
When it comes to formal work i.e. business and the corporate world, so much has been researched and written with millions of pages typed out that this writer does not need to reinvent that particular wheel. What perhaps has been missing in some researches or books is the equation between the work management and the spiritual management and, how the human emotions intrinsically volunteer themselves in this whole equation. Without the involvement of the spiritual and emotional dimensions, any management cannot be really effective and cannot achieve its desired objectives.
Therefore, it is not required to indulge into teaching what management is and one cannot actually do this in one article. What we can actually do (and while the principles of management are indeed subjective based on situations and from case to case), we can look at the abbreviated principle guidelines which would cover the hard core management and the spirit and emotions behind it.
We can quickly go through the “technically researched” principles at the work place. When we do move on to the other side of the requirements, the readers would come to know and would appreciate that most of the principles in both cases are commonly applied and cannot be separated. So, in essence, the subject matter “how to manage” is symbolic of how one needs to manage his whole life.
Technical Principles of Formal Management
Below are some of the principle technical guidelines when it comes to formal office or business work. I take here some extracts from the works of Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell:
Although, there are various approaches to formal management, majority of the companies employ the operations approach which is more commonly and frequently used in the corporate world. While implementing the operations approach, the manager (at his own level and in his own portfolio) has to perform the following functions. These are again principle guidelines which give a flavor of the work related to the management.
Planning – planning involves selecting objectives and the strategies, policies, programs and procedures for achieving them;
Organizing – organizing involves the establishment of structure of roles through determination of the activities required to achieve such goals. This requires delegation of authority and provision for coordination of authority both horizontally and vertically in the hierarchy;
Staffing – staffing involves manning and, keeping manned, the positions provided for by the organization structure.
Directing and leading – this is complex and, the superior managers have to inculcate in their subordinates a keen appreciation of enterprise traditions, objectives and policies;
Controlling – controlling is the measuring and correcting of activities of subordinates to assure that events conform to plans.
Coordination, the essence of manager ship – many people consider coordination to be a separate function of the manager for the achievement of harmony of individual efforts towards the accomplishment of group goals.
The above gives a bird’s eye view of what is really technically involved in managing the work force and the work itself.
Let us now come to the second part where some of the general principles apply both to work and to the personal lives of the common people.
Management Principles for Life, Faith, and Personal Growth
Even the best of policies and planning can sometimes fail in any particular situation; nothing is guaranteed. However, Allah says “and they planned but Allah also planned. And Allah is the best of planners” (Surah al Anfal). Therefore, be ready to accept failures sometimes. Most of the times, a person is looking at a smaller target or objective while Allah has designed something much better for him and that particular failure is part of that design. Therefore, one should not get depressed or aggressive due to any particular failure/s.
Faith, self appreciation and self criticism are three main pillars to drive motivation. Which comes first? Self appreciation or self criticism? If one has faith in himself and has self appreciation, he will be confident to start the action. He may subsequently fall down. It will force him to analyze himself in a critical mode and find out the reasons of the failure and then move on to correct those mistakes and then stand up again and continue with the work that he was doing.
Therefore, faith and self appreciation do come first. When one falls, he will stand up again and again. The most important lesson here is to learn from those mistakes and do not repeat the same mistakes again.
Too many people say negative things about themselves, about their families and, about their futures. They don’t realize they are prophesying their futures. To quote “we will eat the fruits of our words” this means we will get exactly what we have been saying.
An effective method for making your subconscious positive in character is to eliminate certain expressions of thought and speech which can be called “little negatives”. For example, “I am afraid I will be late”; “I’ll never get through this job”. So one should be determined to go to work on “the little negatives” and root them out of their conversation. As someone has stated “you are what your thoughts are”. Looking back gives you regrets and looking ahead gives you new opportunities. Never lose faith in yourself and never lose courage to handle any trouble situation. As long as you are sincere and you are a good person, Allah will help you in many other ways.
Lessons from Allama Iqbal
Allama Iqbal says “tu shaheen hai parvaz hai kaam tera; tere saamne aasman aur bhi hain”. As per Iqbal, a shaheen is never static; it is always moving forward to achieve his objectives.
Remember that you cannot manage your worldly deeds without managing the requirements of Allah; they go hand in hand and create the harmony that you need for success. You alone are not sufficient; take advice from elders whether at work or at home; take advise from younger people, whether at home or work. Sometimes, the children teach you something practical which you didn’t know from before.
Allah has ordained work for sustenance of life. However, for some of us, work becomes the life. Such people miss the other elements of life like Ibadah, the intimate relationship with Allah, the worldly elements which entertain and sustain us in our worldly life. Some such activities are sports, reading, health, exercises; spending time with spouse, children and friends; taking care of others, etc. Every day one should try to balance his life in whatever way he can. Without balance, one does not have a rich life at all.
Don’t think about what happened in the past and what is going to happen in the future; live in the present.
Seizing Opportunities at the Right Time
William Shakespeare has stated “there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.”
What Shakespeare means is that always grasp an opportunity when you have it; don’t let it go away due to your laziness or indecision.some decisions need deliberation and some decisions are to be taken immediately. This is subjective and involves your experience and gut feelings. However, don’t be afraid to take decisions; one missed chance can cost you a life time of riches and satisfaction whether it is worldly or Godly.
On the other hand, remember, not to go after people who overlook you; your self respect and integrity is the most important thing in your worldly life. If you lose your integrity, you will not be able to manage any one properly in the way you want to manage whether it is at home or at work or within your friends or in the market. On the other hand, never blame anyone in your life. Good people give you happiness; bad people give you experience. Worst people give you a lesson and the best people give you memories. We are often let down by the most trusted people and loved by the most unexpected ones. Some make you cry for things which you have not done while others ignore our faults. Some people leave us when we need them most while some stay with us. The world is a mixture of people. We just need to know which hand to shake and which hand to hold. After all, that’s life; learning to hold on and learning to let go.
Don’t look for short cuts; master one subject at a time. Only your self respect and your honesty will give you tremendous results in the long run. Take one step on the ladder at one time; don’t try to reach the top in one climb. May be you will not be able to stand up from that fall.
When you work with people around you, love them; they are your strength. Make the weak strong and convert somebody else’s proudness to humbleness. Never criticize anyone in front of others; criticize alone in a room or a space where there is no one. On the other hand, praise in front of others. Do it subtly.
You are not a good manager unless you create a better manager than yourself. Most of the people are afraid to hire better people and that is their mistake. When you hire better people, they can replace you and you can move forward in your journey.
Thomas Edison has stated “ninety eight percent of your genius is hard work. As for genius being inspired, inspiration is in most cases another word for perspiration.” When you go into details and do hard work, you avoid making mistakes or you make fewer mistakes. Details driven through hard work also give you new ideas to implement and, it is this combination which Edison describes as being a genius.
The late spiritual leader Yogi Bhajan once said “if you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it” as Steven Bartlett has said “you don’t become a master because you are able to retain knowledge; you become a master when you are able to release it.”
“Sleep, lift, move, smile, laugh, listen, read, save, hydrate, fast, build, create. Your habits are your future.”
Life gives you what you give to life. If you give happiness to people, life will return back the happiness to you. Remember, when passionate employees become quiet, it is a sign that the work place has become toxic. If employees leave without a backup job, the problem is not them – it’s your work place. “The impact that leaders have doesn’t just stay at work, it goes home with employees at the end of each day. Leaders and managers should never forget power and the responsibility they have to take care of their people”. Employees don’t leave the companies; they leave their managers.
From the above, we can say that nothing is definite in management and, thus, it is both a science and an art.
Sohail Hydri
The Writer is a former CEO
Published in the Digital Social Media | 6th February 2026
