My hometown recently became the not-so-proud owner of a huge black eye. You may have heard about it. The story made national headlines and was featured on Good Morning America. One of our professional football players took a very vocal stand regarding some bad fan behavior directed at one of his teammates. The team has struggled and the quarterback has received significant share of the blame. This quarterback was knocked unconscious during a game, and his teammate was shocked by the number of loud cheers that erupted from the crowd.

I admit it. I used to be a control freak. And for many years, the word “delegate” wasn’t even in my vocabulary.

I knew I could do any job, assignment or task better than anyone else. The thought of delegating something to an employee—no matter how willing and able—scared me. What if they drop the ball … miss a deadline … make a mistake … or, heaven forbid, make me look bad?

The greatest success in any endeavor lies in the details. At work, it’s about doing the little things correctly and consistently, day in and day out. Not forgetting an appointment. Responding quickly to your boss’s request. Making sure all the complexities of an order are covered. Re-reading your message one last time before you send it. (You know—“dotting all your i’s.”)

It’s about thoroughness, focus, concentration, care, attention. And, on a personal level, it’s about pride in the way you perform your job.

Recently I went to a computer store to pick up a Web camera for a project we were working on. Since their Web site showed one in stock (you probably see where this is going … ), I happily spent 20 minutes looking through every box they had searching for the particular model I wanted.

Finally, I admitted defeat and asked for assistance. The associate was much more adept at searching through piles of Webcam boxes, so it only took him about 6 minutes to determine they didn’t have one. When I mentioned their Web site said they should have one left, he responded something along the lines of how much he loved on-line real-time inventory (HA HA … NOT!).