Reputation Is Built in the Final 10 Percent

A note to young leaders.

In 1973, when Henry Kissinger became U.S. Secretary of State under President Nixon, he asked his new aide, Winston Lord, to draft a key foreign policy report.

Lord submitted his first draft. The next day, it came back with a handwritten note scrawled at the top: “Is this the best you can do?”

He revised it, fact-checked his sources and resubmitted. Again, Kissinger returned it: “Are you sure this is the best you can do?”

This happened several more times. Finally, on the sixth attempt, Lord marched into Kissinger’s office and declared: “Dammit! Yes! This IS the best that I can do.”

“Good – in that case, I’ll read it”, was Kissinger’s reply.

Kissinger sent Lord an important message that day: Don’t hand in work that’s 90% complete and expect me to do the last 10% of thinking, tightening and polishing for you.

Don’t coast. The final 10% is often the most taxing and most time-consuming part of the task.

That’s where reputations are lost and won.