Do you come up with lots of new projects and new ideas and things you want to do, but after the initial excitement wears off, you struggle to finish what you have started?
If you’re creative and ambitious, I’ll bet the answer is likely “yes.”
Personally, I love reading and learning, so I get new ideas all the time (sometimes to my team’s despair!), I’ll read on something then it’ll snowball into a business idea. Then I kick into high gear, build everything, run with the idea for a few weeks or months, then I lose the drive, the motivation.
Can you relate?
Often, ambitious entrepreneurs are what we call ‘starters’ – creators, builders, innovators, and visionary. The world needs starters to evolve, to progress. Yet, at the same time, if the world only had starters, nothing would be complete, nothing would last, and we’d be in constant change – which is not always a great thing.
The best sidekick to a starter is a ‘finisher’; someone whom you can give the ball to and they will run with it, making it happen and following through.
Let me just clarify here, a ‘finisher’ is different from an ‘executor’. The executor executes – their strength is executing a specific task in a specific way. The finisher, on the other hand, keeps in mind the ultimate outcome and makes sure it’s aligned with the business mission, vision and goals. They don’t treat a task as a hot potato – ‘need to get this off my desk!’ – They challenge ideas and business goals, they think of the next steps – how can this be done efficiently and effectively, how can it be leveraged, etc.
Finding this key person might be one of the biggest challenges you’ll face as an entrepreneur, as this person becomes the second half of your brain and your office wife/husband!
We all want a finisher on our team, but we, as starters need to do some initial background homework to better guide the finisher and create the ultimate team synergy.
What do you need to do? Here are your three steps.
No.1: Clarify what you want to create
Most of us are working on way too many things at once. We allow ourselves to be pulled in too many directions instead of making significant progress on few things that can really move the needle for us and our business.
So first off, get crystal clear on what you want to create as a business and the impact you want to have in the life of your clients.
No. 2: Decide on the how
We often get stuck on how we’ll do things or achieve goals without having a complete clarity on what we want to achieve. The ‘how’ is the second step towards success. If you want to go to Paris as opposed to Australia, the steps to get there will be completely different.
Once you clarify what you want, start making a list of how you can get there, what tasks or project will get you there. Then prioritize what step will give you the greatest return on your energy investment.
No. 3: Communicate and execute
Armed with your list of projects that will help achieve your goals, sit down with your team, with the person who complements you as the ‘finisher’ and communicate the vision and the action steps to get there.
With a clear vision and actions, the finisher will step into their role and make things happen.
This is the part you step away, don’t be a distraction nor the bottleneck in your own business. Let the finishers do what they do best – making things happen and implementing a process to ensure the consistency and efficiency of an idea.
The combination of a ‘starter’ and a ‘finisher’ is by far the best team combination for success.
Join in the conversation
Now I’d love to hear from you, let me know! So here’s my question to you: if you are a ‘starter’, who on your team is your ‘finisher’ and your ‘executor’? How will you communicate to follow through to success?
Share your comments with me by clicking here.
Until next time! Stay strong, you never know who you’re inspiring!
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