Derek Jeter crosses home plate. Courtesy of Lawrence Fung.

Finish Well

“To succeed in life in today's world, you must have the will and tenacity to finish the job.” – Chin-Ning Chu

When you consider all the actions you take, do you think about finishing well? Most of the time we are worn out by big projects and we simply want to get them done. No matter what level of detail we are responsible to manage, there are almost always loose ends to handle. We can spend forever working on those unfinished items and never complete a piece of work that is useful or practical. So there is a need for us to strike a balance between being perfect (which never occurs by the way), and completing the assignment in a way that adds the maximum amount of value. Any effort that does not add value in a manner that exceeds the effort (i.e., cost) is probably not worth pursuing.

So if you are working on a major task what can you expect to experience when you have completed a project in a timely and effective manner? It seems that the successful execution of your work will create pride. On the other hand, muddling through your work can create ill will with others and bad habits. Successful completion creates a sense of accomplishment that comes from overcoming obstacles and limitations, working with a team, doing great work, personal growth, and setting the stage for your capability to grow to the next level. Bad endings linger like the scent of stale food in the room.

“The last thing you want to do is finish playing or doing anything and wish you would have worked harder ” – Derek Jeter

No Regrets

As Derek Jeter infers, you want to finish your tasks or activities with no regrets. Working harder is part, but not all you can wish for. Let’s assume you are moving on to something else. Are any of these realities something you want to experience?

  • Feel your work could have been more complete, clear, organized, insightful
  • Realize you have not turned in anything that remotely resembles a bulletproof work product
  • Know you hindered the work of others and created animosity in the work group
  • Think you should have done more, said more or cared more
  • Sense that there are things unsaid or undone you could have handled
  • Recognize that you missed opportunities for personal or professional growth in your chosen field of endeavor
  • Needed something to celebrate that never appeared

When you come to the end of an assignment, a job, a position, or a relationship, what is it that you want to experience? Ideally, thinking about this is best done at the front end rather than the back end. However, most of us are so tied up with the mundane details at the outset that we fail to take time to imagine our future state. Ultimately, this means we will come to the end of our appointed task scrambling to capture the meaning of what we have done and find little because we were not anticipating much from the beginning.

“When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.” – Isak Dinesen

Working in the Real World

Dinesen implies good work habits show steady progress. When we were in high school or college we found ourselves scrambling to complete all assignments to receive sufficient credits to graduate. In today’s business environment, this behavior does not work because it looks like a frenetic foot race, and it affords little time to think about the multifaceted aspects of finishing well. People (customers, shareholders, employees, vendors, etc.) are counting on us to do a good job. We are not individual performers in school. We are active participants in an environment where others are affected by the quality and care we put into our work.

We need to learn processes, activities, tasks and sequencing to be effective in a work setting. We are not an island unto ourselves—we are a cog in the machine of enterprise and this notion may have earned a negative connotation over time, but it is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. While you need to take care of yourself, it is no longer only about you – and to be honest it never was only about you – but you never realized it before.

“In soloing - as in other activities - it is far easier to start something than it is to finish it.” – Amelia Earhart

What’s at Stake?

The best way to finish well is to start well. Joining a new organization or team requires some skill to figure out how to fit in. It’s like starting at a new high school or college. The difference, however, is that the stakes are higher, the work is more demanding and no one is going to coddle you towards the finish line. The adult to adult relationships we experience have more lasting consequences than our connections with grade school mates. One day our post-graduate relationships could be our references when we are applying for a new promotion or a new position.

The people we work with see us under stress. They know how well we work with others, what we get done and don’t do, whether we are reliable and dependable, likeable or not, and whether we are trustworthy. Finishing well addresses all of these considerations and more. And most of the time we finish well when we intend to finish well. Success is rarely an accident. It’s the result of smart and productive work in a team environment – even if you believe you are an individual performer.

“I fear dying in the middle of a book. It would be so annoying to write 80,000 words and not get to the end. I'm phobic about it. So when I'm writing a book I leave messages all over the house for people to know how the story ends, and then someone can finish it for me.” – Anthony Horowitz

Finishing well is a Commencement

When you graduated you went to commencement exercises. This means you were celebrating the fact that you are moving on to bigger and better things. While many of our work assignments are not leading us to a new environment, the basic fact is that you never know if the last assignment you worked on will be your final assignment in your current position or with your current company. Stephen Covey, my favorite principle-oriented business writer, says you should begin with the end in mind. All I can add to this idea is that you should play as if you have nothing to lose. Let it all hang out with positive intent, working with discipline and focus, and bring it in under-budget, sooner than expected, with no loose ends. In fact, live every day that way. You will get a lot more done and you will have greater satisfaction in life.

And, there is more, there always is.

Be genuine.

Copyright 2014 © John J. Trakselis, Chicago CEO Coaching

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