Are You A Follow Through Scout?
As I mentioned in my Secret Sauce to Business Development blog, if there was anything that closely resembles Secret Sauce, it would take the form of Follow Through.
I sometimes ponder about how many lost opportunities exist in the business world simply because someone didn’t do what they committed to do.
Remember, clients are always watching.
If you aren’t responsive on the small things, then how will they be able to trust you with the larger ones?
It seems so simple, but why don’t people follow through?
In his article, The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on What We Set Out to Do and What to Do About It, James Clear indicates that:
Human beings have been procrastinating for centuries.
The problem is so timeless, in fact, that ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle developed a word to describe this type of behavior: Akrasia.
Akrasia is the state of acting against your better judgment. It is when you do one thing even though you know you should do something else. Loosely translated, you could say that akrasia is procrastination or a lack of self-control.
Clear goes on to provide “The Framework You Need to Beat Procrastination”:
Strategy 1
Design your future actions. Be the architect of your future actions, not the victim of them.
Strategy 2
Reduce the friction of starting. The guilt and frustration of procrastinating is usually worse than the pain of doing the work.
Strategy 3
Utilize implementation intentions. Studies have proven that implementation intentions can make you 2x to 3x more likely to perform an action in the future.
Personally, I have my own tips and tricks that I have developed through the years that work for me. Among them, I know what time of day works best for me to execute certain tasks that I love, as well as those that I don’t naturally gravitate to.
Additionally, I’m a Follow Through Scout.
That means, I’m on the lookout to have an opportunity to do something for someone. I try never to leave a meeting, especially one with a new prospect, in which I don’t have a task to perform. From the smallest (such as sending the contact information of my wonderful CPA) to the largest (including connecting my contact with a potential candidate to fulfill that long vacant position,) it’s how I’m wired. I’ve never gotten paid for those referrals. I just enjoy being a resource. As a byproduct, I’ve witnessed it evolve my relationships exponentially.
What do you do to hone your Follow Through Scout skills? I’d love to share and compare strategies. Contact me at dlandry@authentizity.com.
