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If you want advice on leadership, delegation and overcoming workaholism, a good place to turn is the Bible, specifically Exodus 18, suggests Thomas Nelson chief executive officer Michael Hyatt.
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Moses had just led the Israelites out of Egypt after more than 400 years of slavery, but he was struggling, working from early morning until late at night, trying to resolve the many conflicts amongst his followers. His father-in-law, Jethro, became the first management consultant when he realized that Moses's workload was unsustainable, and pulled him aside to give some advice. On his blog, Mr. Hyatt highlight five principles Jethro set out:
Admit that working non-stop is unsustainable
Jethro put it bluntly: "The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself." The same will happen to you, Mr. Hyatt says, if you try to work around the clock. You'll wear yourself - and your people - out.
Understand your unique calling
Jethro pointed out that Moses had to focus on matters where he alone could - to use today's terminology - add value. Moses then had to offload work to those folowers who could handle it. As Jethro put it: "Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do."
Select qualified leaders to assist you
In deciding which people you should delegate to, the focus should be on their character, Moses was told: "Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, [and] hating covetousness." Mr. Hyatt adds: "Your people can gain knowledge and experience, they can learn skills and develop their gifts, but you must start with a foundation of godly character. When you have this, it is much easier to delegate."
Give leaders responsibility and authority
Many leaders struggle with span of control - how many people should be reporting to them. For Jethro, it was 10, leading to a specific organizational hierarchy built on that base: "... and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times." Mr. Hyatt stresses those various management levels were not designed to impede decision making but to facilitate it. The key is to give people authority. Sure, they will make mistakes, but that is part of the price to develop leaders (and reduce your overload).
Only do those things others cannot do
Jethro advised Moses to follow the principles of what we now call management by exception, focusing only on the unusual matters his subordinates couldn't handle themselves. As Jethro put it: "Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you." The result, he promised, would be that that Moses "will be able to endure" and there would be fewer conflicts.
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POWER POINTS
Partial makes perfect
Perfectionists should just concentrate on doing the next action in a project or task perfectly, rather than worrying about how to be perfect on the entire effort, says productivity expert David Allen. GTD Times
Hey, where did that printer come from?
Count the number of printers in your company. In any medium or large business, IT consultant James Gaskin is willing to bet, you'll find at least one printer you didn't know you had. That's a preliminary step to saving money before centralizing the supplies purchasing for all those printers. IT World
