Finishing Power: One of the Secrets to Real Leadership

I study leadership the way dentists study clinical care — it’s my profession. I’ve led successful businesses myself for over 30 years, and a significant part of my business involves teaching leadership. So I’m very interested in what makes great leaders great. I like to look for common denominators.

Here’s one: Almost all effective leaders have what I call finishing power. And finishing power can be broken down into three essential components:

1. Attention

Attention in the form of time, or attention in the form of money, because nothing happens in life unless it’s in your calendar or in your budget, or both. Real leaders determine what needs to be done and focus their attention on it.

2. Performance

It’s not enough to know what to do; you have to be prepared to do it at a high level. Many people have gym memberships, and some even attend regularly. However, only a few of those people are genuinely committed to utilizing their time there in a focused and self-accountable manner. Authentic leaders are relentless about getting the most out of every moment.

3. Mission

You can’t get the most from the moment if you haven’t defined your terms — and that’s about setting standards of performance. What is good? What is better? What is best? What are the indicators? Real leaders establish a mission that has measurable criteria.

I think you should use these components as a significant part of your leadership blueprint. Create a definable mission that focuses your attention, drives your performance, and gives purpose to your daily energies. This is what takes you from being an inspiring visionary to being a real leader. This is what it means to have finishing power.