Follow Through

In leadership positions, one has to remember that decisions that are made affect a team or group of people. It strengthens relationships within and shows, whether if the decision is right or wrong, you stood up for the convictions of the group. Relationships are key in being a successful leader. It is not only about what is said, but also what is done. Relationships are strengthened with follow through.


Follow through is what aids in solving problems. A leader will lose trust and confidence within their team the moment the he or she does not follow through. If the team cannot count on its leader to do what they speak, they will stop coming to them thus weakening the relationship. To be a leader you must have a group that believes in your vision, passion and concepts. A group must have trust, faith and loyalty in their leader. These areas are difficult to cultivate, but easy to diminish. The moment a leader decides to avoid a situation, is the moment that leader, through action, tells their team “I do not care” because they will not follow through


Colin Powell once stated, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. “ How do we as leaders prevent for this type of failure to occur? Follow through by using communication.


True leaders communicate through words and actions. When we are actively finding remedies to situations that may arise, our team builds more confidence in our style. Even when we may not make the most popular decision, the team is assured that the leader is still looking out for the best interest of the group and its vision. More importantly, it shows that you are willing to be pro-active and will not avoid potential cancers. The follow through re-enforces the communication within the team, strengthening their commitment and understanding to the vision. This growing confidence allows you to continue to lead the group to their goal.


Has their been a time in your career you have not followed through? How did that make you feel? How did it affect the relationship you had with the other person? Your team? Where you able to overcome it and move on? How so?


We have all failed in this area before, even the greatest of leaders. What separates a successful leader and a failed leader? A successful leader gets up, learns from the mistake, communicates the lesson learned and continues to share the vision.


Do not impede your team to victory by not following through. At the end of the day you will end up standing alone in the battle because your soldiers saw that you did not care and decided not to believe in you anymore. Epic failure.