An item in today's Financial Times about the challenges faced by Renault and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn caught my attention. Ghosn is something of a celebrity in management circles for his ability to run two separate auto companies at the same time. Indeed, he even tried to take on a third, but his attempts to forge an alliance with GM a couple of years ago never panned out.

But time and the economy are finally catching up to Ghosn, and some are wondering whether he's been wearing one crown too many. He himself has hinted that he's burning out. Has Ghosn stretched himself too thin? Should he have delegated some of his leadership responsibilities to others? Would both of his now sputtering organizations be better served by more focused management?

Questions like these shouldn't be reserved for high profile CEOs. We are all at risk of overstretching and burning out, especially when the profits aren't rolling in quite as smoothly as they were. We all need to take a cold hard look at our spheres of responsibility and make sure we're dedicating the right resources and attention to the right things. Have you taken on too many responsibilities? Could burnout affect your performance and your ability get the most from your part of the organization? It serves no one best interests to let that happen. More so, when your performance suffers, you lose control of your agenda.

Drawing on two columns I wrote for Harvard Management Update, here are some pointers to help you keep your focus in the right places, resist the urge to overreach, and remain firmly in control of defining your priorities.

Begin asking these four questions:

• Which of my responsibilities will have the biggest impact on my team and my organization?

• Which are most important to my boss?

• Which might make a big difference in my personal success?

• Which will have the biggest negative consequences if I don't pay attention to them?

Ideally, you'll want to tackle a mix of projects that, in total, will produce value for your company by helping it to advance toward its strategic goals, and that will benefit your boss, your team, and yourself. Put at the top of your list the projects that serve the broadest cross-section of these constituencies.

Delegate the things that don't require your immediate supervision. But don't simply offload responsibilities. When making assignments, think carefully about the match between employees' skills and the tasks you're giving them. Also be sure you direct them to the right resources. This may seem obvious, but for a harried executive they are easy to overlook.

Finally, display the courage of your convictions. Even after you've delegated some core work, you are still going to have to say no pretty often if you're going to keep your focus sharp, deliver maximum value, and retain your sanity. And the truth is that while some things simply aren't important to you, they probably are to someone else. When you decide it's best not to take on a new project, make absolutely certain you can articulate why to any interested parties. The best answer is often found when you consider the consequences of saying yes -- namely, destroying your ability to get higher-priority jobs done well and on time.

Any advice you'd like to share on setting strong priorities and hedging against burnout?

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