Administration: Notes by an Old Hand

Extract

Any difficulty which may be experienced by an Honorary President of this Society in selecting materials for his opening address does not arise from there being a dearth of subjects likely to interest you. It has occurred to me, however, that for one who has retired from active business and who is almost certainly addressing you for the last time, an appropriate object might be to try whether his own professional experience could suggest any ideas or hints that might possibly be even a little helpful to his younger brethren. The chief occupation of my life has been to administer the affairs of a Joint Stock Company, and I propose now to speak of the work of administration generally, and more particularly of the management of such associations as Insurance Offices. In doing so, I need scarcely say that if a man near the close of life can think of any lessons he has learnt or any he can possibly impart, they must be chiefly drawn from his own mistakes and failures. Experience and reflection which have often come too late for his own use may be not altogether unserviceable to others.