Finishing Strong
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Jeremy C. Wilson is a Northwestern JD-MBA in the class of 2012. Through his blog, he shares information on business school, law school, admissions, careers, and leadership. |
In business school, people make long checklists. They have things they need to accomplish. Errands they have to run. And business they have to take care of. As a result, most people get in the habit of learning how to get things finished. But sometimes it’s not enough just to finish the checklist and to hurry up to cross things off. Instead I propose the idea that it is important to finish strong.
Finishing strong is one of the most important things you can do. Think about it. In golf, it doesn’t matter how well you drive the ball but only if you make the shot in the end. They saying goes, “You drive for show and put for dough.” In basketball, you can’t just blow by your man but you also have to hit the shot to get credit.
The theory also holds in school. On your law school final exam, it doesn’t matter how well you knew the material during class and if you were the best student all semester but it matters how well you execute on the final exam. Likewise in business school what matters isn’t the grade you got in class or how many people you met at the networking event, but to get a job you have to do well on the case interview.
I propose that the same thing holds true in business. That it doesn’t matter how many manufacturers, contractors and partners you had work on your product. But if the packaging is torn or you put the product on the wrong shelf, you may never make the sale.
In short, finish strong.
