Follow Through

The Master Key to Leadership

In his 2018 best selling book Atomic Habits, James Clear tells the story of Frenchman Victor Hugo. In 1830, Hugo stripped himself of all necessities in order to place himself in a critical position with only six months to turn in a manuscript to his publisher. Two weeks before the deadline, the famous book Hunchback of Notre Dame was published by Hugo in January, 1831. Hugo rid himself of the distractions that veered him away from his goal to focus on the thing that he needed to do. This determination to remove attention grabbers allowed Hugo to not only turn in a book, but write one of the greatest masterpieces in history.

Leadership is filled with distractions, attention grabbers, and opportunities to veer away from the goal. As was the issue with Hugo, Leadership often gives us opportunities to pursue personal projects, entertain people and things that fulfill self, thus delaying our responsibilities and squandering opportunities that could lead us to the greatest masterpiece in our time. How do leaders remain on task and keep their eyes on the goal? Do they have to succumb to the pressure of demands and threats of dysfunction and failure, or is there a way leaders can be successful without the weight of negative repercussions?

The problem for Hugo wasn’t writing, nor is the issue for many leaders leading. The issue is the Akrasia Effect. According to Clear, Akrasia is what prevents you from following through on what you set out to do. Akrasia is the state of acting against your better judgement. Akrasia is a term developed by ancient Greek philosophers to describe the behavior of continually allowing the distractions of life to overtake you.

Servant Leadership isn’t rocket science. Many leaders fall prey to the Akrasia Effect, procrastinating on their effort with the thing that matters most. What matters are their people and the things that matter most to those people. Instead of following through with people and the things that deeply concern them, leaders end up doing the bare minimum. The minute things that, if followed up on, would make all the difference in the world, are forgotten about, leaving the person feeling like they are as insignificant as that minor detail. For some, they don’t feel good or bad because they have never seen a leader do more than dictate or manage. Regardless of where people are, for leadership to make a significant impact for the better, one ingredient can make all the difference.

When we don’t do what we say we will do, it erodes credibility. Without credibility, there is no trust and without trust...you guessed it, everything will eventually fall apart. 55% of CEO’s say that a lack of trust is a threat to organizational growth, but it’s also a threat to

leadership development, collaboration, productivity, stress, and enjoyment in the workplace. If you want to be the most effective leader, serve your people well. If you want to serve your people well, build credibility and trust. To build credibility and trust, insert the master key.

Here's how to minimize the Akrasia Effect by applying the master key of Follow Through.

Create a plan

Generally where people struggle as it pertains to follow through is that there are so many other things competing for our time and attention that our intentions get lost in the shuffle. Many of our good intentions are like beacons of hope for the people we serve. Some of them need good feedback on a consistent basis. So make provision, kind of like Hugo did, to combat against those competing factors. Whether it’s placing an alarm in your phone, a sticky note on your computer, or setting up a reminder system in your email make a plan to follow through with people.

Create an environment

The issue Victor Hugo had is not different than many of us. We’re over stimulated and heavily distracted. With so many things vying for our attention and affection, we lack the head and heart space to focus on the things that stimulate us in effective ways. Take control of your environment! Now, you don’t have to lock away all your clothes so it would be improper for you to host parties or go outdoors like Hugo did, but there are things you can do to control your environment to optimize effectiveness. Before reviewing these ideas, understand that follow through isn’t about a lack of effort or care, but a lack of focus and attention:

Work in a room with a door and window

Incorporate a rest rhythm

Ensure you are exposed to adequate air and light

Schedule your time wisely

Only bring the essentials items you need to work well

Build momentum

Don’t go alone on this journey of following through with people. Find someone who you desire to help you build a follow through culture with. Perhaps a coach or mentor of yours, but perhaps a better suggestion is someone you are coaching or mentoring. Intensify your relationship by creating a follow through challenge. Make it unique to your context, but try to make follow through a part of your deliverables or action steps and place deliberate emphasis on it’s importance. For a time, you might consider measuring the success of the relationship by the level of authentic follow through between you. Then, take it to the next level by incorporating confirmed follow through with others.