Who is Really in Charge?
Increase Font Size
| 
Normal Font Size
We all wake in the morning to complete darkness, or to the sun, signaling the start of a new day! Our pre-work routines are as important as what we do every day at work. My first question is: “Do you control the day or does the day control you?” What I mean by that is simple; does your day happen, or do you have a plan for each day? When do you schedule your day? Is it a work in progress from the previous day? Does your staff add to your work load? Does your wife, or do your children, add to your workload? Who is really in charge?
We have all heard for years that we need to work smarter and not harder. Do we perceive that the new day presents us with new opportunities; or will our time be spent attending to the many challenges that present themselves each and every day? Do those opportunities exist only in the daily grind or do they exist at home as well? How do we recognize these opportunities? Perhaps we should ask, “What is in charge?”
My second question is: “Do we respond to the varied tasks by ourselves or do we ask for, or demand, assistance from our office staff?” Is the help we receive asked for or implied? Can we rely on our office staff to help us to succeed? For your office staff to help they must be trusted. In addition you must allow them to assist you in the organizing your day. This one activity can create the additional time we need to identify the opportunities rather than concentrate on the challenges. Personally, I prefer to be productive! Perhaps we should ask “Why am I in charge?”
The reason for this article is two fold. First, I want everyone to think about the New Year and realize that if we do not start planning for the future we will never finish working for today. Second, it is always the efforts of others that allow us to succeed. Please recognize the “others” in our lives now, and thank them for the current year, and begin to review expectations for 2007. I find it hard to complete a well conceived plan if the moving parts within that plan know nothing about what is expected and when!
My challenge to you is really an opportunity. I challenge you to develop a plan for the New Year that includes the help of “others.” However, each of the “others” must be made aware of how they have an impact on you and your success. Show them how their efforts create the possibilities, the time required of you to face the opportunity, and how each of them, independently and collectively, make it work successfully.
I ask again; “Who is in charge?” It might be that your name is on the door. It might be that you have all the ideas. It might be that you have all the money. However, I can guarantee you that you do not have all the time or the expertise to make it happen when you must make it must happen by yourself!
Good Luck in 2007!
