If You Want It Done Right, You Don't Have to Do It Yourself!. Donna M. Genett

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      Introduction

      For the past fifteen years I have coached executives to achieve their peak potential. These managers came to me with diverse agendas and goals. The problems they (or their organizations) presented to me were as varied as their job titles. At some point in the coaching process, I inevitably came to teach each of them how to improve their delegation skills. Each student of this process was grateful, relieved, and eager to try it out. But the dramatic applicability and impact did not dawn on me until one week in March of 2002.

      During this portentous week I coached twenty people. As usual, each client came to me with different concerns, from feeling overworked to wanting to learn how to develop his or her people to dealing with difficult employees. It seemed that regardless of their “symptom,” the “cure” was the same: learning how to delegate more effectively.

      I offer several consulting services so it is rare for me to have such a condensed experience in any one area as I did in this case. But the biggest eye-opener was to see how so many people consistently reacted to the delegation process I taught them. Comments like, “I wish I had learned this years ago!” “This will change my life!” and “Why don’t they teach this stuff in graduate school!” were common. But the most frequent comment was, “Every manager I know could benefit from this. It’s great stuff! You should write a book!” So I took their advice.

      Having been in management myself, I knew I wanted to write a book that was a quick and informative read. One that gives you something you can do that will make a positive difference the minute you put it down. A book that is simple and practical, yet life-changing—if it’s contents are put to use.

      May you have the same reactions to this powerful process as my clients have had. Happy delegating!

      

1

      Meet Jones and James: So Alike, So Different

      John Jones, Jr. and John James, Jr. weren’t typical cousins. They grew up in the same town, on the same street, next door to each other. Their mothers were identical twins and best friends who married John Jones and John James at about the same time. Amazingly, the two men had also grown up as best friends. Even more amazing, the two John Juniors arrived on the same day, in the same hospital, with their mothers sharing a semiprivate room!

      Because four Johns in such close proximity created confusion, the cousins were called Jones and James inside the family. In time, everyone else used these nicknames, too.

      No one knew if the cousins’ similarities were caused by identical-twin mothers. It didn’t matter; the cousins looked and acted like twins. Before they were in kindergarten, they had discovered the art of deliberately confusing family and friends. In elementary school, they perfected it. In high school, they spent almost all their free time together, took the same classes, played the same sports. They were equally matched as both students and athletes.

      The cousins attended the same college and continued to show up in the same classes. They took some flak about it, but anyone who was paying attention could see that they weren’t doing these things out of some kind of dependence. The truth was they genuinely enjoyed the СКАЧАТЬ