Acronym

Okay, somewhat cheesy metaphor alert:

In my backyard, we have a Japanese maple (which just happens to be my favorite kind of tree, although it was already there when we moved in). In the years we've lived in our house, the maple has been somewhat stunted--it was overshadowed by two large pear trees and always had to struggle for sun. But a few weeks ago, a windstorm damaged the pear trees and we had to take them down, leaving the maple standing by itself. I swear to you, that maple is already standing a foot taller, just because it no longer has to reach sideways to get at the light.

Watching that tree stretch itself out after years of living in shadow made me think of some of the programs that I've managed in the past. There have been times when I've had far too much on my plate (as an association professional? never!), and I've shamefully neglected some of those programs just because I didn't have time to do anything with them. Every time I thought about them, I winced, because I knew they had potential that wasn't being realized.

But in some cases, I had the good fortune to hand those programs off to another staff person with interest and time. And it was amazing to watch the programs (and the staff person) take off running.

Are there anything on your to-do list that could use a little more support than you have time to give to it? Is there anyone else who could do more with its potential than you're currently able to? If you have twinges of "I really should do it myself" or guilt for delegating, ignore it. Just think about what those programs (or products or services) will look like once they've had a chance to get a little light.