A good friend of mine from many years ago recently retired from coaching young men at the high school I attended as a young man. Peter Arndt was a great coach, and a great leader and his retirement got me to thinking about his impact on all of those children and their families over the years. 

Finish Strong! Peter might not even remember this, but as he was a couple of years older than me, he was one of my idols growing up as he was a gamer, and always performed at his best when the stakes were the highest. He had graduated and gone off to college but returned to cheer our team on during one race while I was a senior in high school. We were about 200 yards from the finish line, and I was running neck and neck with another runner. Pete was there yelling at the top of his lungs for me to “Finish Strong! Run All the Way Through the Finish Line!” If you’ve never run cross country, you might not realize how important encouragement from the spectators can be. The finish line was visible ahead, and with Pete’s encouragement, I did finish strong. I did run hard all the way through the finish line and picked up two places with his cheers of encouragement.

You Need to Run All the Way to The Finish Too! Putting this in a business context, there are just a few weeks left in this calendar year. I hear daily from business leaders, and emerging leaders who mention how challenging this year has been. They are wobbling a bit as the finish line for the year comes into view. I’m going to make my best Peter Arndt impression and yell as you near the finish line. I’m telling you to Finish Strong! You can do this. You have worked hard all year, and you are strong and capable. You are up to the challenge. With a strong focus, you can run hard all the way through the end of the calendar year, and raise the level of your best work. This is the time of year to do it. Show everyone what you’re made of. Win an extra deal. Close another big sale. Get those last couple of new employees hired so that you achieve your KPIs. The finish line is in sight, and you need to ignore the pain and the exhaustion. Dig deep and finish strong!

I wish Peter a great retirement from his Cross-Country coaching career. He and his Baraboo Thunderbirds have been a great program for many years. The tradition of success will be passed along to a new coach, and the winning and success will continue on with new generations. Is your business set up for consistently attainable success for the future like the cross-country team in Baraboo?

Michael is an award-winning business advisor who coaches C-Suite Executives, their leadership teams, and their emerging leaders, from one end of the United States to the other. Michael enjoys coaching these executives to build outstanding culture into their businesses and to help them to perfect their business models, leading to outstanding ambitious results.