WANT TO "WORK LESS, MAKE MORE"?
Learn to Duplicate Yourself -- Here's How!

Kansas City, Missouri -- "People are working harder these days and enjoying life less." "Stress is everywhere." "Everyone I know is stressed out." Sound familiar? Why are so many people genuinely overworked? Jennifer White, success coach and author of the new book, "Work Less, Make More®" (Wiley & Sons) thinks it's because we have become a nation that overvalues our work. "You need to feel superfluous," says White in a statement sure to induce the nation's workaholics to lose their lunches over their laptops.

To become superfluous and, in the bargain, "Work Less, Make More," White recommends two complementary strategies:

1. Delegate your work: Find others whose strengths are your weaknesses. If you hate to clean, hire someone who loves to keep things neat.
2. Duplicate yourself: Find others who have your strengths, personality and brilliance, and who will do parts of your job as well or better than you. If you are good at connecting with customers and following up by phone, fax and e-mail, find someone just as good to do that part of your job. It may take 10 people to fill your shoes. That's OK, says White. With 10, if someone leaves or you are off thinking of new ways to grow the business and thus, working less and making more, the business doesn't crash.

Have you heard of Dolly? She is the exac duplication of another sheep -- a clone. When the news reports about Dolly first came out, White had more than one client say to her, "Jen, I wish I could figure out a way to clone myself."

White does have a way. It's called duplication.

Duplication, a term unfamiliar to most of us, is not about hiring an employee to work with you. That is more delegation than duplication. It's not about you dictating a letter that your assistant types. In that case, you're still doing the work. Duplication means you do not do anything to generate what needs to get done. Nothing. It is hiring your personal support team. The team does what you do well; they are clones of your strengths. And when you find and train them and divide up your job, you do nothing to generate what needs to get done. Nothing. Nothing, that is, except take a vacation where you cut yourself off from the office. When you return, says White, you will know where the duplication process worked and where it didn't.

While that may frighten many modern business leaders, the idea is not new. Although remembered more for the assembly line, Henry Ford was a duplication pioneer. Ford was a man, says White, who hired people who were smarter and better than he was. He put aside his ego, harnessed the power of others who were like him, and made it work.

White goes to great lengths to give readers the courage to investigate duplication in their own jobs. "How do you go about finding the right people?" Here are her suggestions:

• Look for clones who have the same chemistry as you. If you are upbeat and your customers appreciate that, find someone with the same characteristics.
• Find people who have already done what you most need. With their track record, they could bring a new twist to what you do.
• Hire people who are willing to commit to the long term. The last thing you want to do is to train people to duplicate you and then have them jump ship.
• Find people who are coachable. Duplication is not about hiring people and then dumping them in the middle of the ocean to see if they will swim. Coaching ensures that they will duplicate what you want duplicated.
• Make sure that your staff has the right attitude. No matter how brilliant they are, if they do not have a positive mental attitude, they will wear you down.

There are numerous ways to duplicate yourself. Hiring the right people is one way. Automation is another. By asking yourself, "How can I automate this so no one has to do it," you are open to duplicating yourself through technology.

If White believes in her philosophy, has she duplicated herself? With a new book, a website, electronic newsletters, and a team of success coaches across the country who do what she does best, she has put technology and the right people to work for her. On her free days (check out the book to learn more about Laser Days, Support days and Free Days), she can be found at home not even thinking once about the office. Want to join her? Start by delegating something you usually do and use the free time to read "Work Less, Make More."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A former corporate executive and small business owner, Jennifer White was one of the world's most sought-after success coaches before passing away suddenly in 2001. She was the founder of JWC Group, now based in Plymouth, Michigan, and her company continues to provide success coaching nationwide to individuals and groups. She is the author of the book "Work Less, Make More" (John Wiley & Sons, 1999), which is available at www.worklessmakemore.com, or through your local bookstore. To learn more about JWC Group, visit  www.worklessmakemore.com, or call JWC Group's office at (734) 254-9970.