Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Op-ed #2

Do you have the culture to support high expectations?

Fact:

It is essential that you hold realistic high expectations for everyone regardless of his or her ability to meet them. (This was the opening of the last blog.)  True, but do you have the culture to support them?

Discussion:

I have lived my life talking about high expectations.  My personal mantra, which always appeared on every piece of my stationery, was “Expecting Excellence.”  My EE (Expecting Excellence) logo was everywhere. I wanted people to think about excellence in his or her sleep. You will still see this logo on the cover of this blog.  Yes, I still believe in this concept.

However, and here is the big disclaimer, it was great that I believed in excellence, but I never took the time to cultivate the culture needed to support this vision of excellence. What good is having this lofty vision of high expectations or some pursuit of excellence if at the core of your organization the culture will not support excellence?

We can pursue perfection all we want but at the end of the day, the pursuit will be fruitless if your organization’s culture is toxic or if the people that make up your organization are happy with mediocrity.

So, what can you do about it?

First of all, I would make sure that everyone understands the vision and the standard that I am seeking.  This must be done every day.  You cannot pursue excellence sporadically.  Excellence cannot take a day off.  People have to experience it and believe in it daily.  This will surely test your communication skills.

Next, positive experiences must be reinforced.  People enjoy having success and it is up to you to see that people in fact do have positive experiences.  I would bet that for some of your staff, positive experiences are few and far between.  You must get to the point in your organization where the negative experience becomes a rarity.  This will become easier with time.

I will list several qualities that you must possess and practice:   trustworthiness, the ability to show gratitude, honesty, and the ability to follow through on what you said.  I think it also essential that you encourage people to take some risks.  For it is when we stretch ourselves that we truly may grow.

You also have to be a master communicator and a great salesperson.  People must be able to believe in your vision and how you plan to help them attain that vision.  They also and perhaps most importantly have to believe in you.  You must become the “Pied Piper of Excellence.”  Try it.  It may just work!

**I will be taking a short break next week while I re-charge my battery.  The blog will be back the following week.