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Finishing Strong

In business school, people make long checklists. They have things they need to accomplish. Errands they have to run. And projects they have to finish. As a result, most people get in the habit of learning how to get things done.  But sometimes it’s not enough just to get things done and hurry up to cross other things off. Instead I propose the idea that it is important to finish strong.

Finishing strong is one of the most important things you can do. Think about it. In golf, it doesn’t matter how well you drive the ball but only if you make the shot in the end. They saying goes, You drive for show and put for dough.  In basketball, you can’t just blow by your man at the three point line, but you also have to score the ball to get credit.

The theory also holds in school. In law school, it doesn’t matter how well you knew the material during class for the first 15 weeks of the semester but it matters how well you execute on the final exam. Likewise in business school what matters isn’t the grade you got in class or how many people you met at the networking event, but to get a job you have to hit a homerun in the job interview.

I propose that the same thing holds true in business. That  it doesn’t matter how many manufacturers, contractors and distributors you had work on your product. And sometimes, it doesn’t even matter how many top partners you had. But if your website doesn’t work or you put your product on the wrong shelf, you may just never make the sale.

So, are you sure you’re finished already?