THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

I cannot forget the quote in Godfather II about the old man who sponsored the Cuba operation:

"He's been dying of the same heart attack for twenty years." The Godfather finally had to have the old bastard shot.

BoardAd is, LITERALLY, a lifesaver. He is so much in charge he seldom gets any mention. SysOps, who did BoardAd's job before and for whom BoardAd took over, was also a literal lifesaver. My whining should be called leveling with you.

It is true that my doctors worried about my taking on this burden, on and on. But it is also true that people who have heart attacks commonly live longer than those who do NOT take care of themselves after age 60.

I am not crying on your shoulder. I am asking for help and you are delivering.

My health has improved greatly since you started pitching in. I am very useful to you, but it is also critical that I don't perform the old man's trick of standing in the way. So I delegate, and I tell you why it is CRITICAL both to the cause and to my health that I delegate.

This approach meets Bob's Requirement Number One:

It WORKS.

I hope to remain useful for two more decades, but I refuse to be your Buddha or your Guru. I have said it before and let me say it again: A manager who does NOT find people BETTER than he is is a FAILURE.

This may be one of the most important lessons I teach here.