Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/37

 To anyone who may be called upon to occupy the position of a chief official in any great undertaking, such as the one herein described, one or two hints, the result of the writer's practical experience of five-and-thirty years, may not be without their value. The first discovery that any man makes on his being appointed to such a post is that if the day consisted of forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four, and every hour were devoted to his office, his time would still be insufficient to meet the demands on it. It thus becomes essential to economise time as a most precious commodity, and this is best accomplished by acting strictly upon the following maxims:—

(1.) Choose your subordinates carefully and well, and let them be men you can thoroughly rely on. Do not concern yourself too much with points of detail, with which you must be fully conversant, but with which they are just as well able to deal as you are, and reserve yourself for such matters of moment as they are not competent to decide without your authority and experience.

(2.) Before any question is submitted to you for decision, insist upon having all the details filled in, and all the facts before you, so that you may not have to apply your mind to it a second time, but may decide it once and for all with a full knowledge of all its bearings.

(3.) Always decline steadily to attempt to do two things at once. If you are giving an audience to one person, be it a head of department, or any other, let your door be rigidly closed to everyone else for the time being. Let "one at a time" be always your maxim, and act upon it strictly. The man in authority who is seen