Download The Power of a Practiced Follow Through

The Power of a Practiced Follow Through
Repetition is the Mother of Skill
By: Bob Nicoll
Remember the Ice, LLC
If you have ever seen Tiger Woods uncoil his back-swing and prepare to drive
through the hitting zone, you know what a powerful sight it is. The torsion that is
about to propel his Nike golf ball is almost too fast for the human eye to register.
When his Titanium driver makes contact with its target, the ball almost flattens
out.
Fortunately for us we can watch replays of the power he generates with his fluid
golf swing, slowed down enough for us to fully appreciate this poetry in motion.
Click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHcP6X7dEUo to see my favorite
example.
Watch carefully. The takeaway and backswing show the initial preparation
necessary to begin the downswing and transfer energy to the impact.
If Tiger Woods reigned in his swing at impact he would also interrupt the flow of
energy, and the chance of directing the ball toward the desired goal would be
greatly diminished. The uncoiling power would be halted and confused and the
clubface would have a somewhat erratic contact with the ball. The chances of
him having professional control over the flight of the ball would be minimal. The
overall performance of the shot would be happenstance at best.
And yet, every time he swings, Tiger Woods delivers full power to the ball and
consistently produces extraordinary distance and accuracy. The key to his
success is in the power of his follow through.
As with every professional – athlete or executive – Woods pays attention to every
detail of his task, practicing and polishing, putting in the time and effort required
to make it work. He understands that without a strong follow through his shot will
fail, so he makes sure his follow through is one of his strengths.
After all the build-up and preparation that goes into making a shot, a weak follow
through, or the absence of one, makes no sense.
Tiger Woods’ amazing golf swing is an excellent analogy for business. The
fundamentals of conducting business closely mirror the fundamentals of a
successful golf swing. Every successful business person understands the power
of the follow through. But how often do we consider the damage we do
ourselves when we fail to follow through in business?
Recently I referred a friend to a marketing professional whose knowledge and
expertise would greatly benefit him. They met, he expressed interest in
procuring her services, and after providing her with his ideas for his book he
looked forward to a timely review and discussion of the concepts. Two weeks
later, he had yet to hear from her and his frustration was increasing.
The key is to follow through with your intent, and this marketing professional
dropped her swing before getting anywhere near the ball.
Here we are in an era of amazing technology, which has made the world seem
smaller, enabling us to connect with others in an instant. Yet the marketer, who
could profit from working with my friend, neglected to take a moment to follow
through and make contact with him.
Technology has made a lot of things convenient; it has even made ignoring a
potential client convenient. Even though technology makes communication
faster, it is critical to stay true to the fundamentals of building a relationship.
I am certain she had fully intended to respond to him in a timely manner. She
usually follows through with existing and prospective clients. Or does she?
Are any of us aware of how many opportunities we let slide away because we
failed to follow through properly? How powerful would it have been for her to
contact this prospective client within a couple of days rather than a couple of
weeks? What did the delay in her follow through cost her this time?
The result of her lack of follow through is that my friend is unlikely to work with
her when she does get around to contacting him, and even more unlikely to refer
new business her way.
A simple e-mail or phone call within 24-48 hours would have been better than
nothing—for two weeks. Timeliness is the most important muscle to tone in the
follow through of your business swing; acting sooner is much better than later.
We have an abundance of methods at our fingertips with which to communicate
with existing and potential clients, and yet we often simply let the swing fail
halfway through. What makes neglect worse is the fact that all those people
know how easy and convenient it is, too.
Why, after summoning your courage to discuss your product or service with a
potential client, would you interrupt the energy and power of your swing by
neglecting to follow through with a simple phone call?
Is it your intention to mismanage your opportunities out of coming to fruition? Or
is it your intention to create a successful and productive relationship that benefits
both parties?
The failure to follow through with just one potential client has the effect of
creating an interruption in your flow of business.
It’s time for some honest reflection. How many times have you had the chance
to make the significant contact, the prestigious presentation, or the critical sale,
only to miss out because you neglected to initiate the timely and appropriate
follow through?
Happily, the cure for a poor follow through is available to everyone: Practice.
Tiger Woods practices. He practices in order to make that follow through a
natural, easy, integral part of a fluid and powerful swing. He practices because
he knows it is the most powerful way to maintain his most powerful asset.
Follow through is your most powerful asset. As your coach, I want you to
remember what I tell myself when I want to stay true to the fundamentals of
completing my task: Repetition is the Mother of Skill.
Let’s refer back to the video of Tiger Woods’ impeccable golf swing. The end
result of his accomplishment is directly related to his complete and thorough
follow through. If we stop at some mid-point and fail to complete the task, the
assignment, or the request, we will be left with a disenchanted potential client.
Or an unhappy boss. Or a disappointed spouse.
But most of all, we let ourselves down.
Now that you understand that to meet your goals you must commit to giving
100% to every stage of the game, go out there and practice your follow
through—on a timely basis.
You will find that Repetition is indeed the Mother of Skill.
Bob Nicoll is the creator of Remember the Ice…and Other Paradigm Shifts, an
innovative empowering word choice program that helps the user understand
“There is Power in the Clarity of your Articulation. TM” You can learn more about
this program by going to www.remembertheice.com