The Gift of Time: How Delegation Can Give you Space to Succeed

From us to you... the precious gift of freedom from your unbearable workload and space to breathe! What is the main thing that stops you doing all those things you'd love to do? That stops you trying a new idea, starting a new hobby, looking for new opportunities or finishing that long-overdue project. It's time isn't it? It certainly is for most of us. We're all drowning in work – never-ending to-do lists, constant deadlines one after the other, too many emails to possibly answer! If only some of that load could be lifted. If only we could find some space, some breathing room, some time to actually think. It would mean we could try new things, think creatively, do our best rather than just enough to get it done and off our plate. Certainly in work, business growth is dependent on creative thinking and innovation – you need time to do that. If you want to succeed in your career, or make more room in your life for the nonwork stuff, then you need to free up some time. And what's the key to finding time? Delegation. Let Gail Thomas teach you to art of delegation. Stop wasting your time on tasks you're overqualified for and see how you actually can focus on the important stuff. And you won't just learn how to delegate 'down' – Gail will also help you master upwards delegation. The Gift of Time includes: How proper delegation can lead to a more successful career and a happier life Solid research into the value of delegation in real monetary terms An examination of the attitudes and barriers to delegation and how to overcome them Different types of delegation – not just 'downward delegation' but upwards and sideways delegation, silent and stakeholder delegation Articles by guest writers – experts in particular areas, such as parental delegation Case studies to illustrate exactly how effective delegation has been done to great results

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 Part One Introducing delegation 1 The definition of delegation 9 2 The benefits of delegation 19 3 The value of delegation 27 4 Types of delegation 47 Part Two Getting delegation to work 5 Barriers to delegation 65 6 Over-capability 85 7 The delegation mindset 91 Part Three Your delegation plan 8 Step 1: Why delegate?101 9 Step 2: What to delegate? 113 10 Step 3: Who to delegate to 127 11 Step 4: Getting from ‘I do’ to ‘You do’ 161 12 Step 5: How to delegate 167 Part Four Delegation in context 13 Delegation as a new leader 191 14 Delegation and other leadership skills 205 15 Disastrous delegation 211 16 Delegation for parents 219 Conclusion: To only do, what only you can do 241 Appendix 1: The art of delegation white paper 243 Appendix 2: The art of delegation manifesto 255 About the Author 258 Acknowledgements 259 Index 261

About the Author :
Gail Thomas is delegation consultant and founder of the Virtual PA company, a nationwide shared secretary service. A professional speaker and business consultant, Gail has studied in depth, the value and benefits of delegation; and has published a white paper and manifesto as part of a PhD. Her company The Virtual PA has achieved 14% growth while 85% of the industry has seen decline. Her corporate background includes roles as the ecommerce director of Whittard of Chelsea plc and Head of Boots Direct managing cross function teams of 50+. She has an MBA in Financial strategy, Business strategy and creative management.She has been finalist in the Everywoman Business Woman of the Year Awards, Women in Public Life Awards and Yorkshire Rural Entrepreneur.

Review :
 “There’s plenty here for a time-poor entrepreneurs looking to create a more efficient workplace” (Elite Business, March 2015) "The tone is crisp and well paced...this reviewer recommends it for someone who needs to lighten their own load while streamlining operations" (Entrepreneur Middle East, October 2015)