One of my secrets to success is Mark Meyer. I wish he blogged more. Everytime he posts, it's good. Really good. His most recent post is about how to be a finisher.
3 Ways to be a Finisher:
- Look for an opportunity to take an initiative that has been stalling out or hanging incomplete at work. Take it, and in your mind make yourself 100% responsible. Do what it takes to get it done and done well. Want to be normal? Be cynical and roll your eyes at how the project is just another company objective that will never get done...
- In meetings and conversations, be the best note taker- pay attention and get the details of what needs to be done whether it's your responsibility or not. Help remind people of the tasks to do, priorities at hand, and assist people by reminding then what needs to get done. Normal is people on your team missing details leaving projects incomplete, clients unhappy, and money uncollected. Fill in the cracks for your team so your team finishes strong.
- Be willing to make a decision. Everyday there are scores of emails and conversations filled with questions, hurdles, and excuses. Bring clarity and be solution oriented... take those things that are spinning and bring them to a finish line. What's normal? Add to the confusion, be vague, ask questions that seem really smart but just keep things undone, offer more reasons why something can't be done and how you don't have enough information. Hide in the multitudes of 80%.
In the second bullet above, I might add to the quote - "Normal is people on your team missing details, leaving projects incomplete..." - and then later pleading confusion: "I wasn't sure... I thought Dave was going to do that..." etc. Taking good notes, then helpfully distributing them to everyone involved after the meeting increases accountability and responsibility for everyone.
Posted by: Jan | Nov 15, 2008 at 12:36 PM