Power of Finishing Strong

As I have stated in my “About Me” page I am a senior graduating in May of this year.  As that date is quickly approaching it gave me a reason to stop and reflect on my past four years and what I have learned from all of it.   If there is one thing I have learned in the past four years, it is the power of finishing strong.  I have found that it can be easy or even relieving to coast to the finish line, but the problem with this is you can fall short without even knowing it.  In a track race, the runner does not stop and simply touch the tape; they finish as fast as possible and break the tape.  We should be doing the same thing in our lives, no matter what the goal is or how close we are to the finish line. 

With finals the only thing standing between me and a degree, I have found it necessary to still study to finish the semester out with the best grades that I can.  The reason for this is one finish line in life is simply the start of the next race or project.  Finishing strong helps propel you into the next stage and getting a jump on whatever comes next for you.  Finals are little more than a formality for me now, but I want to break the tape not just coast to the finish. 

Another important note about this is the fact that many times in life the last few days of a project are the most important.  When working to put on an event the last few hours before the event are the most hectic.  That is why you must finish strong, mailing it in right at the finish line does not bode well for the success of the project you are working on.  In a business setting, the last few days usually is when the little details are being finalized and ironed out and as we stated in the power of paying attention, the little details usually make all of the difference in a project.

So the next time you are about to finish a semester or a project, remember to break the tape by remembering the power of finishing strong.

Throwback Friday

Today will be a throwback Friday, because with young people that is a popular thing to do.  Since this blog is not very old we will simply be throwing it back a month, but that is when the blog was born.  

If you are new to the blog please take a moment to read my About Me post, which you can find here.  You will learn a little about my background and why I am so passionate about helping young people like myself become more than managers.  More about my reason for this site can be found on the Purpose page, which is linked here. 

Power was a key topic early on and is something that I will revisit shortly, so it seems appropriate to dredge up these posts from the early days of my site.  The first post titled the Power of Encouragement is a good read about an experience I had with my boss who overall has mastered the power of encouragement, and can be found here.  Take a minute and read this short post, because of all the leadership advice I can give, this piece may be the easiest to implement and pay the biggest return on your investment. 

The second post on power and one that I promised to revisit and expand on is the “Power” of Hard Work and can be found here.  Again, this post is a simple to read post with a personal story and powerful message.  This centers on the five powers that are present in a workplace especially from a manager’s standpoint.  In the very near future, I will be putting up a lengthy post about expanding upon this background, thus making this post prerequisite reading for some of my next posts.  

About Me

Hi everyone, my name is Kevin Foley and I will be writing this page under the screen name Coach/Manager.  I am a senior, graduating in the spring of 2016, at a state university majoring in business administration.  Preparing for a job in the business world has taught me how important being more than a manager is to the success of an organization.  Growing up my teachers and classmates always called me a leader, but what exactly does that mean.  I was not usually first in line for things, why were they calling me a leader, but as I grew older, it made more sense what they were talking about.  Being a leader is partly innate, but also takes practice and learning just like any other skill, talent, or ability.  Harnessing the leadership potential and learning from my experiences have led me to be a manager of a team of employees at a young age.  I spent time learning leadership techniques and ideas to differentiate myself from other job seekers.  This, along with the curriculum for my degree, encompasses my educational background.

          Leadership is just part of the title of my page, another part is coaching.  My father is a high school coach and has been for over 20 years so I grew up around the profession.  I started coaching when I was a junior in high school working with 5^th and 6^th graders as a basketball coach.  Over the last six years, I have coached athletes from 5^th to 12^th grade in football, basketball, and baseball, coaching at least one season of each sport for the last 3 years.  The more I studied leadership and the more I involved myself with coaching the more evident it became that the two were very closely related.  In most environments, a good coach is a good leader and a good leader is a good coach.  My quest became to get better at both as it seemed the two would be synergistic and not just summative. 

          I became a manager at a grocery store recently mostly based on hard work, which is how most people get promoted.  I wanted to be more than just a manager though; I wanted to be a coach and a leader for my team.  This dynamic is an interesting one, as half of my coworkers are older than me while the other half is obviously younger.  Managing people across different age groups can be hard enough, but I wanted to be their leader. 

          This is my background in education and experience, a little more to this discussion can be found on the About Page.  If you wish to get in touch with me you can visit the Contact Page