Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead_. But Gutsy Girls Do - Kate White [37]
Rebecca Matthias says the same thing a slightly different way: “In our company, our approach is ‘Don't tell us you're studying it, don't tell us you're working on it.’ If the customer likes it, do it now. Find the middle ground between getting it right and letting it go. There's always room for refinement.”
Her company motto: Speed is life.
One little electric cattle-prod trick you can use if you're in a stall is to schedule deadlines for yourself. And if you really want to be gutsy, send a memo to your boss saying when you expect to get a project in. Or—and this really takes nerve — schedule a meeting at which you'll present it in person.
3. Give Away the Grunt Work
I'm a ruthless delegator today, but it didn't come naturally to me. I often found myself buried under work that could easily have been done by others simply because I felt uncomfortable about telling another person to do it. I'm ashamed to admit that years ago I even took on certain secretarial jobs myself because I wanted to avoid seeing my assistant roll her eyes and sigh when I handed them to her.
Today I give away absolutely every bit of grunt work I can and save for myself the fun and important stuff of putting out the magazine. Maybe that's not “nice.” But the twenty minutes it would take me to fill out the Writer's Digest questionnaire about what Redbook is looking for from writers is twenty minutes I can't devote to planning the August issue.
The way I got over my paralysis was to begin delegating a little bit at a time. As soon as I discovered the exhilarating sense of freedom and power it offered, the more I began to unload. It's not unlike hiring a weekly cleaning person for the first time. For years you tell yourself it really wouldn't be right to pay someone to do your own cleaning and, besides, housework gives you a chance to gather your thoughts. Once you finally get beyond that line of thinking and hire someone who makes your stove gleam and folds your underwear into little packets, you realize that you will never again be so stupid as to do it yourself.
The first step in delegating is figuring out what you should give away. It's basically quite simple: You give away anything you possibly can that doesn't necessitate your expertise and judgment. But don't go through the process once. Many of the most successful women I know say they regularly reflect on their responsibilities and determine what else they might be able to turn over to someone else. (If you haven't done a delegating review in more than a month, chances are you're doing something you shouldn't be.) When in doubt, ask yourself these questions:
• Will this activity really get me closer to my goal?
• Is this something someone else could do just as well?
• Would my boss mind if I gave this to someone else?
• Will anything really bad happen if the person screws up?
Even once you know there's work you can delegate, you may still feel uncomfortable letting go because of how people will react to being given “your” work, particularly the unpleasant stuff. The twenty-something generation, in particular, has a tendency to look miffed at being handed anything that doesn't seem to advance their careers. You may be wondering, in fact, how people react to my “dumping” techniques. There are two little strategies I use that appear to work for my staff (they're here, aren't they?):
• Always tell a subordinate that you have something for him to do rather than ask him if he can take it on. Asking not only allows the person to wiggle out of the task with one of those “Gee, I don't know. … I'm really swamped” comments, but it makes the task seem like something you're simply trying to ditch rather than a duty that's perfectly appropriate for this person.
• Whenever possible, package the task so that it seems critical or, even better, like a delicious opportunity. When I took over Child magazine, I discovered that there were only five staff members, a minuscule budget, and ninety pages to fill each issue. One cost-cutting idea I came up with: Each issue we'd fill four or five pages