Finish and Follow Up
I’ve been on hiatus for, well… too long. Lot’s of change in my life over the last couple of months. I’ve been doing some more growing up. But I haven’t forgotten about you, about Dreaming Big and definitely not about the importance of XEQTEing.
In fact, all it took was a simple question from a colleague to get me to slow my hectic pace long enough to put pen to paper and fingers to keyboard.
The question was: “How do I become a good businessperson?”
What a loaded question! About a thousand things flew through my mind when she asked that question. But, I paused, held my tongue, and shared only three pieces of advice with her. (1) Do your job well. (2) Finish what you start, and (3) Follow up!
I’m sure that this sounded like the most trite and uninspired insight that she could have heard. It’s old school and basic. It’s straight forward and even kind of boring… But it’s also dead on.
My friend is a few months out of college and new to the workforce. She’s ready to set the world on fire! And THIS is the best I can come up with?!
Particularly for a younger person, just focusing on doing your job well is something that can be tough to do. (I know from personal experience.) Full of energy and ideas, and ready to make an impact, the temptation can be to bite off a little too much. So, my first bit of counsel is just to do your job well. Show up a little early, stay a little late. Get clear on what the core elements of your position are and then do them thoroughly, completely and with all the excellence that you can produce.
Once you are sure that you are taking it out of the park in those areas, then – and only then – you should look for opportunities to impact the organization in other ways.
When I was in eighth grade I got a D on a social studies assignment that I’d spent all weekend on. I’d gone above and beyond the assignment that I was given and thought that I’d surely earned an A. The problem was that I couldn’t find some of the information that the teacher required. The note on my paper said “Don’t bother doing extra work if you haven’t completed the primary assignment!”
The same is true with your job. Focus on doing your job well before you attempt to change the world.
And there are two keys to doing any job well. Finish and Follow Up.
Finish what you start, and don’t start unless you intend to finish.
When given an assignment, go after it. Figure out how to do it – ask questions, get help and do research if you need to – and proceed to get the work done in a timely and high-quality manner. If you are interrupted and have to put it down, get back to it as quickly as possible – and finish. Set deadlines for yourself that are ahead of when your boss expects the tasks to be completed and meet them.
In fact, I’m so dedicated to finishing things that I try to be careful and thoughtful about the things that I start; and even if I’m half-way through something and I’m not sure that it is a good idea I’ll finish the project anyway (or look for an orderly way to bring it to a close). This is important to me because it reinforces the habit of finishing what I start.
Be diligent. Develop a sense of urgency about your work. And don’t leave loose ends loose. Make it a habit to FINISH!
Often a part of finishing is following up.
This one is so simple that you’d think that everyone would do it. But they don’t!
Some say that 90% of success is showing up. Well, following up is a part of showing up – it’s actually showing up again and again and again… If you say you’ll get back to someone, then get back to them. If you say you’ll call next week – call. If you say that you’ll send a proposal – send it. If you decide that there is no opportunity to work together right now, follow up anyway and tell them that.
By following up people begin to learn that they can count on you to do what you say you will do. There’s absolutely nothing more important than that.
In addition, because so few people actually do follow up, if you do then you are more likely to get what you came for than others. More importantly, if you don’t follow up, you definitely won’t!
Being successful in business requires excellence at your craft, dependability and achieving your objectives. Doing your job well by Finishing and Following Up can give you a great head start.
