I was watching an interview of Bill Belichick and either he or the reporter made the comment that he “dominates the details.” By dominating the details, Coach Belichick and the New England Patriots have been able to dominate the NFL as well. Under Belichick’s leadership, the Patriots have won a record 31 playoff games, appeared in nine Super Bowls, of which they won a record number six over the last nineteen years.
Regardless of how you feel about Coach Belichick or the Patriots, it is difficult to argue with such immense success. Clearly, they are doing something correctly. In life we all have areas in our job, ministry or home where the details matter. Details may not be visible to every onlooker but you know that you’ve crossed every ‘t’ and dotted every ‘i’ and that enables you to proceed with confidence. Missing key details could cost us time, money, or opportunity.
At a conference I was hosting I created the website, including the registration information. Although I thought I was clear about the times of the event, when people went to register there was confusion about the length of the conference. This caused some people not to come at all. What I thought was clear caused a ripple effect that hampered event attendance. That day I learned an important lesson, which is that every detail matters.
Here are 4 areas where you must dominate the details in order to fulfill your purpose.
CONSISTENCY
Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Technology has given us the ability to be more consistent than ever. For example, I set reminders on my phone so that I follow up with people at regular intervals or specified times. I set reminders to release content on a consistent basis.
Consistency allows people to know where and when to expect you. If you’re managing people are you accessible to those you lead on set days or at set times? If you’re an influencer do you produce and release content on a consistent basis? Everybody wants to be effective. They want to be the best that they can be. But many of us don’t dominate in the area of consistency.
COMMUNICATION
Sometimes we think we’ve communicated simply because we’ve said all we wanted to say. But communication has not taken place until the other person can reiterate what was said with understanding. If you have kids you’ve probably spent hours trying to decipher what your 2 year old was trying to communicate. They thought they were making sense but if you couldn’t understand it, their communication was ineffective.
In order to dominate in communication, we have to confirm what we’ve communicated and correct miscommunication…every single time. Bad communication can lead to mishandled projects, mismanaged organizations, and ultimately a misuse of purpose. What can you do to make sure you communicate more effectively?
CONNECTION
Truthfully, we were never designed to be alone in our pursuit of greatness. Even tennis players who compete in matches without the aid of teammates or active coaching always thank their fans, family, and support staff after their victories. In order to be fully ready to fulfill your purpose ask yourself, ‘who knows what I don’t know?’ ‘Who can see what I can’t see?’ For example, nothing I write gets released without another pair of eyes reviewing it. Who do you trust to watch your blind spots?
COMPLETION
The goal is to complete or fulfill your purpose. This requires you to have a mentality of domination. You have to wake up everyday prepared to grind. Be prepared to do whatever is necessary in order to see your vision come to pass. How many minutes will you spend eating, with family, at the gym, studying, training and even cleaning? How can you maximize your time by combining some activities? For example, I often listen to podcasts while I drive or vacuum.
What’s one thing you can tweak or adjust? What didn’t work last time that if fixed could increase productivity? What hindered your completion last time that, once addressed, could facilitate your completion this time? When you examine the process of fulfilling your purpose it is always the sum of minor moments, smaller successes and details that have been dominated.
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Really good…especially going into 2020!
Thanks!
Great content. This adds a great perspective – dominating the details. We have become such a ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’ society, that we tend to overlook details that can be vital to our success, development or achieving excellence in some facet of our lives.
Thanks for your feedback! I agree with you that we tend to overlook details that if addressed could propel us towards success.