Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/38

 continually surrounded by a throng of subordinates and striving to meet all their demands at once is the man who, by reason of excessive wear and tear, is most likely to break down in mid-career and fail either in health or intellect; but the man who steadily concentrates his brain power upon one thing at a time, never wasting a moment, but never flurried or hurried, is the man who gets through the greatest amount of work with the least toil and harassment to himself and in the shortest possible time.

(4.) Always make a point of refusing (except, of course, in special circumstances) to see chance callers, who will otherwise occupy the best part of your time with trivial matters which could just as well be attended to by your subordinates. It is a good plan to make it a rule to see no one without an appointment made beforehand either in writing or through your secretary, or else without previously knowing their name and the nature of their business. It is very amusing, at times, to see the pertinacious attempts which are made to break through this rule, and it can only be maintained inviolate by the agency of a wily and imperturbable secretary, and an office which can only be approached through his. The man who has had a box delayed, the woman who conceives she has been overcharged in her fare, the discharged footman who seeks employment as a porter, will each and all insist upon seeing the general manager; each believes that no one else can or will give them a satisfactory answer, and it is often very difficult to get them even to disclose their business to another person.