Thursday, August 18, 2011

How to set priorities at work

Erika Andersen has an excellent post here about helping leaders figure out what they need to do themselves and what they should be handing off to others.  It's a common problem we've seen, too: after a promotion, people often find it difficult to stop doing their old tasks and focus on the demands of their current job.  Whether it's the school principal who keeps hanging out in the classroom or the executive who can't stay off the manufacturing floor, we all like to continue with tasks that we enjoy and do well.

Erika's rule of thumb:
"Only do what only you can do.  In other words, only do those things that no one below you is capable of doing. And if you’re doing tasks that someone else less highly paid and skilled than you could do...but there’s no one in the organization to do them...consider hiring someone."
Good advice for all of us, from one-person consultancies to CEOs of multinationals.


Photo:  Creative CommonsBy akeg

Monday, August 1, 2011

Good words

The expert is one who, having incorporated his tools, is unaware of them.  Douglas Harding