Opportunities pop up all the time both in your personal life and your professional one. They may be small or they may be big, but they are critical to your overall success just the same. With business opportunities in particular, the details often get overlooked and the outcome isn’t what you might want or need it to be. The key to making the most out of opportunities that come your way is to always assign ownership.

When Things Don’t Get Done

It may simple. but in fact, this is a very important lesson that although most leaders say they understand, they aren’t putting ownership into practice. Here’s why not assigning ownership is a big problem for business:

You have two team members you believe are working on a task. Each one thinks the other is responsible for completing the task. In this general scenario, nothing is getting done and the same will happen to an even larger degree when the group in questions is a longer one. This is how stellar opportunities become missed opportunities—and your business will suffer as a result.

Assigning Task Ownership

You as the leader are responsible for ensuring that opportunities don’t get missed. This doesn’t mean that you need to lead every project and work on everything yourself, it’s just the opposite in fact. It’s your job to identify the opportunities and assign ownership to each one. From there, your staff should be properly trained so the individual who is now in charge can build teams and lead others along the way to seeking the fulfillment of this opportunity.

The person who owns the opportunity doesn’t have to have the team work for them, but rather with them in a shared experience aimed at achieving a common goal. The success rate will be much higher in this kind of environment and with ownership assigned and expectations clear, the chances of the ball getting dropped are much less likely.

Setting Up For Success

What it really comes down to is setting up your business for success and having processes in place to keep everyone accountable. Without this kind of strategy being implemented on the regular, it’s all too easy for opportunities to pass you by. Don’t let that happen.

Work with other executive team members to identify team members who you can trust with owning opportunities that present themselves for your business. Talk to those team members and let them know the role they are taking on and what you expect of them while they hold that role. Give them tactics for guiding their fellow team members instead of dictating to them. Lastly, set up stage gates so the executive leadership team will continue to be aware of the actions being taken and progress for each opportunity.

Carpe diem my friends! It’s time to seize the day. When you commit to giving every opportunity an owner, you commit to reaching goals and building business through accountability and skill. Giving your team members the chance to step up and own different opportunities gives them the opportunity to shine as well.

Nothing comes easy; diligence is required for success. Strong leaders possess a myriad of positive qualities from good listener to fast learner to logical—but diligence is key. There are plenty of things a leader can do to get noticed, but diligence is typically what sets her apart from the pack. Diligence will mean something different for every project and every person, but it always requires doing things carefully and completely, meeting deadlines, and following through.

Carefully & Completely

No one appreciates sloppy work. No one. It’s as simple as that. Whether you work for a client or you work for yourself, you can’t get anywhere with subpar work. Somewhere along the line, someone will take notice and it will reflect poorly on you. Doing things carefully is not quite enough, however.

Everything you do must also be done completely. Not 90%. Not 98%. If you won’t commit to completing a project 110% then you shouldn’t bother at all. How do you complete something 110% you ask? Go back and check your work. Then check it again. Then have a colleague check it. Then brainstorm five ways you can make it better. Implement those changes.

Everything you do from running over a supply list to putting the finishing touches on a marketing campaign require nothing short of your best from start to finish and beyond.

Meeting Deadlines

Deadlines are a common theme in the business sector. Everyone has them and no one has yet figured out how to overcome them. (Not without negative consequences that is.) The truth is that deadlines are there for a reason. They help us stay accountable, show that we value our work, and give us the freedom to say “that’s enough” and move on to the next thing. If we are constantly focused on one project and one project alone, we don’t get the opportunity to move forward.

Deadlines are important for the people we serve for the same exact reasons. They want to move their business further and feel like you value the work you provide.

Always Follow Through

Follow through isn’t just for the people you work for; it’s just as valuable to you as it is to them—maybe more. It’s easy for anyone to get so caught up in setting goals that they never actually accomplish any. Following through makes you reliable for both your client and yourself. After all, if you can’t rely on yourself, who can you rely on?

Follow through is the last key piece that makes diligence complete, and when you follow through and see your goal come to fruition on this project, you’ll be much more likely to do the same on the next. It’s a circle that you just never want to end.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that If you want to rule, if you really want to dominate the market that you’re in, diligence is essential. If you are diligent, you will be noticed and rewarded. If you are diligent habitually, you will be in charge. The people who are in charge not only make more money, they have more options than those who don’t. The your success reaches will be largely in part to how diligent you are.