I Can’t Know Everyone
I love people, and I’m outgoing. Put me into a room full of people, and I feel
energized. So it goes against my grain to restrict myself from spending time with
lots of people. To compensate for that, I’ve done a couple of things. First, I’ve
chosen a strong inner circle of people. They
not only provide tremendous
professional help, but they also make life’s journey much more pleasant. Second,
I ask certain friends to catch me up on what’s happening
in the lives of other
friends. I usually do that when I’m traveling and can’t block out the time I would
need for focused thinking.
I Can’t Do Everything
There are only a few exceptional opportunities in any person’s lifetime. That’s
why I strive for excellence in a few things rather
than a good performance in
many. That’s cost me. Because of my workload, I also have to skip doing many
things that I would love to do. For example, every week I hand off projects that I
think would be fun to do myself. I practice the 10-80-10
principle with the
people to whom I’m delegating a task. I help with the first 10 percent by casting
vision, laying down parameters, providing resources, and giving encouragement.
Then once they’ve done the middle 80 percent, I come alongside them again and
help them take whatever
it is the rest of the way, if I can.
I call it putting the
cherry on top.
