The more shows I attend, the less effectively I manage our overall program. How can I convince my boss that staying home from some shows would actually improve my overall management?

If too much time away from the office is adversely affecting your program, you need to address two closely related problems with your boss.

The first is logistical: He needs to see how attending all the shows hurts the company’s overall trade show objectives. To do that, present him with specific examples of how the program suffers, such as not having enough time in the office to plan pre-show campaigns, or execute post-show follow-up.

Next, offer a solution to this challenge: training a booth captain who could attend in your stead. By tutoring a capable captain in your methods, it would be like sending you to the show. This would keep results consistent, and let you focus on neglected areas.

The second issue is trust. Your boss needs to trust you enough to go along with your proposed changes. The best way to achieve this is with a plan that unfolds incrementally and with objective results he can see. Suggest that you transfer the responsibility for the on-site portion of less-vital shows to the captain (after adequate preparation), with a goal of maintaining or exceeding the usual show objectives. Once you demonstrate that delegating responsibility can work on a small scale, you should be able to expand the concept to multiple shows. Pretty soon you’ll be traveling less, and managing more.