212 Management skills and an appreciation of the meaning of personality and its dimensions in terms of individual traits and types. Against this background, this chapter reviews in succession five key aspects of managing yourself, namely: self-as- sessment; managing another key resource ­ your time, the skills you need to organize yourself and your work; managing stress ­ in yourself and others; the need for continuing personal development; and, finally, how to adopt a professional and ethical approach to your work. Individual differences The development of HR processes, the design of organizations and the ways in which people manage others are often based on the belief that everyone is the same and will behave rationally when faced with change or other de- mands. But the behaviour of people differs because of their characteristics and individual differences and it is not always rational. When managing yourself it is equally important to know how you fit in with other people in all their variety so that, as necessary, you can adapt your behaviour. The management of people and working with them would be much eas- ier if everyone were the same ­ but they aren't. As discussed below, they are of course, different because of variations in personal characteristics ­ their personality, abilities and intelligence, and the influence of their background. Gender, race or disability is also considered a factor by some people, al- though holding this view readily leads to discrimination. Variations in personal characteristics, The headings under which personal characteristics can vary have been clas- sified by Mischel (1968) as follows. competencies ­ abilities and skills; constructs ­ the conceptual framework which governs how people perceive their environment; expectations ­ what people have learned to expect about their own and others' behaviour; values ­ what people believe to be important; self-regulatory plans ­ the goals people set themselves and the plans they make to achieve them. These are affected by environmental or situational variables, which include the type of work individuals carry out; the culture, climate and management style in the organization; the social group within which they work; and the `reference groups' which individuals use for comparative purposes (eg comparing conditions of work or pay between one category of employee and another).