Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Tip Sheet #21

Revisiting Excellence

This past week I saw the following quote in Larry Kirchenbauer’s leadership blog:

“There is no satisfactory substitute for excellence.”  Dr. Henri Ford, Chief of Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

These words immediately made me think of my personal commitment to excellence and the expectation of excellence that I always held for myself and my staff.  Each year we began thinking about excellence in a different way.  I had as my yearly themes; Expecting Excellence, Habitual Excellence, Excellence through Accountability, Evolving Excellence and Enduring Excellence.

I have written about excellence before and I ask you to refer back to one special blog I entitled “Okay is Not Okay”.  It has always amazed me that some people have set their personal standard as being merely satisfactory.  They are very happy being mediocre.  Some schools and some districts have adopted this same theme. Everyone is happy being just okay.  Leaders in the community and school, parents, teachers and students go about their day being happy when they reach their own minimal level of proficiency.

For me, this is no way to live.  How can you ever be happy when you never push yourself?  How can you be happy never stretching to be the very best you can be?  Yes, it is hard work.  Yes, it is difficult, and yes you may find this pursuit a big stress producer in your life. Challenge yourself!

But I implore you to go for it.  You may never reach the lofty goals that you set for yourself but I assure you that you are better off both personally and professionally because you chose this route.  Not only will you accomplish more you will feel a lot better about yourself because you did not choose to take the easy road.

Please always remember that your “pursuit is the journey and excellence is the destination”.  You really can enjoy both.