As Paul Kennedy sits in Cleveland's endless morning traffic, his thoughts are going in all sorts of directions, even if he's not. He's worried about his wife, who may be coming down with a cold right before their wedding anniversary. He's worried about the pitching and fielding assignments he'll have to make for tonight's Little League game. He's worried about the health of his boss, Larry, who recently had a heart attack. He's worried about his associate, Lisa, whose mother is ill and whose work is slipping. He's worried about the Cleveland Browns. He's excited too, though, about his plans to expand Daner Associates into Europe and the reorganization he's recommending, which would take a load off Larry by ceding day-to-day operations of the "new media" company to a new CEO--probably Paul, from all the hints he's heard. "I could swear Larry's been doing the nudge-nudge, wink-wink in my direction," Paul says to himself. And why not? He's been there for 10 years; he knows every facet of the operation. Customers, vendors, and employees love him. But when he meets with his boss that afternoon, Paul is in for a rude shock. Larry is considering hard-nosed George for the top slot and Paul for the No. 2 role. Paul has many of the right ingredients to be CEO, Larry explains, but he's got to get tougher. "What does that mean?" Paul thinks indignantly, back in traffic, on the way home that night. "Become an absolute jerk like George?" What can Paul do to show he's CEO material? In R0602A and R0602Z, four experts--Google CEO Eric Schmidt, author Stephen R. Covey, AVL North America CEO Don Manvel, and executive coach Maggie Craddock--comment on this fictional case study.

As Paul Kennedy sits in Cleveland's endless morning traffic, his thoughts are going in all sorts of directions, even if he's not. He's worried about his wife, who may be coming down with a cold right before their wedding anniversary. He's worried about the pitching and fielding assignments he'll have to make for tonight's Little League game. He's worried about the health of his boss, Larry, who recently had a heart attack. He's worried about his associate, Lisa, whose mother is ill and whose work is slipping. He's worried about the Cleveland Browns. He's excited too, though, about his plans to expand Daner Associates into Europe and the reorganization he's recommending, which would take a load off Larry by ceding day-to-day operations of the "new media" company to a new CEO--probably Paul, from all the hints he's heard. "I could swear Larry's been doing the nudge-nudge, wink-wink in my direction," Paul says to himself. And why not? He's been there for 10 years; he knows every facet of the operation. Customers, vendors, and employees love him. But when he meets with his boss that afternoon, Paul is in for a rude shock. Larry is considering hard-nosed George for the top slot and Paul for the No. 2 role. Paul has many of the right ingredients to be CEO, Larry explains, but he's got to get tougher. "What does that mean?" Paul thinks indignantly, back in traffic, on the way home that night. "Become an absolute jerk like George?" What can Paul do to show he's CEO material? In R0602A and R0602Z, four experts--Google CEO Eric Schmidt, author Stephen R. Covey, AVL North America CEO Don Manvel, and executive coach Maggie Craddock--comment on this fictional case study.

As Paul Kennedy sits in Cleveland's endless morning traffic, his thoughts are going in all sorts of directions, even if he's not. He's worried about his wife, who may be coming down with a cold right before their wedding anniversary. He's worried about the pitching and fielding assignments he'll have to make for tonight's Little League game. He's worried about the health of his boss, Larry, who recently had a heart attack. He's worried about his associate, Lisa, whose mother is ill and whose work is slipping. He's worried about the Cleveland Browns. He's excited too, though, about his plans to expand Daner Associates into Europe and the reorganization he's recommending, which would take a load off Larry by ceding day-to-day operations of the "new media" company to a new CEO--probably Paul, from all the hints he's heard. "I could swear Larry's been doing the nudge-nudge, wink-wink in my direction," Paul says to himself. And why not? He's been there for 10 years; he knows every facet of the operation. Customers, vendors, and employees love him. But when he meets with his boss that afternoon, Paul is in for a rude shock. Larry is considering hard-nosed George for the top slot and Paul for the No. 2 role. Paul has many of the right ingredients to be CEO, Larry explains, but he's got to get tougher. "What does that mean?" Paul thinks indignantly, back in traffic, on the way home that night. "Become an absolute jerk like George?" What can Paul do to show he's CEO material? In R0602A and R0602Z, four experts--Google CEO Eric Schmidt, author Stephen R. Covey, AVL North America CEO Don Manvel, and executive coach Maggie Craddock--comment on this fictional case study.

Many managers feel overwhelmed. They have too many problems--too many monkeys--on their backs. All too often, they say, they find themselves running out of time while their subordinates are running out of work. Such is the common phenomenon described by the late William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass in this 1974 HBR classic. They tell the engaging story of an overburdened manager who has unwittingly taken on all of his subordinates' problems. If, for example, an employee has a problem and the manager says, "Let me think about that and get back to you," the monkey has just leaped from the subordinate's back to the manager's. This article describes how the manager can delegate effectively to keep most monkeys on the subordinate's back. It offers suggestions on the care and feeding of monkeys and on how managers can transfer initiative. In his accompanying commentary, Stephen R. Covey discusses both the enduring power of this message and how theories of time management have progressed beyond these ideas. Management thinkers and executives alike now realize that bosses cannot just give a monkey back to their subordinates. Subordinates must first be empowered, and that's hard and complicated work. It means bosses have to develop their subordinates and establish trust. Perhaps even more important and relevant than it was 25 years ago, Covey says, this article is a powerful wake-up call for managers at risk for carrying too many monkeys.