I had an outstanding conversation with Barbara, my Operations Manager, late Wednesday afternoon. I reflected to her that I have been a little frustrated with some details we missed. Things in the business that either did not go well or have stalled our progress. I said that my immediate reaction was to blame myself for not being on top of them, which would mean being on top of nearly every detail in every area of the business. This is not practical nor is it good for the business. So I shared with her that I checked this emotion to reflect on my personal objective being to empower others to build the business we want.

Her immediate response was that I am already pretty good at empowering, I am just crummy at the follow up and accountability. I am too trusting that stuff will get done once I mention it. This leads to my being disappointed on the backside with the result. Its the expectation of completion and effort to close these loops that I am lacking, not necessarily the empowerment to start.  I think she may be right.  I am disappointed by the stalls or the lack of others closing the loop, because this is where these opportunities for growth are falling short.  The business is simply mirroring my behavior.  

Starts are immensely valuable as you can never accomplish something you do not start, but at the same time you never fully realize the value of that start if you don’t finish it.  The Warriors set an NBA record by winning 73 regular season games.  Had they lost to the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, which probably should’ve been the case after OKC got up 3-1, the discussion would have been all about their failure in the end.  It would have been dominated by “what was it all for?” type questioning.  Now, if they beat the Cavaliers in the NBA finals, the conversation will be about “Best team ever?”  The completion of the process matters so much.

Since I am weak on follow up and completion expectations, I am leading us in a way that leaves so much value uncaptured.  It isn’t that we aren’t identifying it.  It isn’t that we aren’t working on the right things or that we are in fact working on the right things.  We just aren’t finishing well.

Time to start closing more loops and capturing the value!