The only way any organization becomes amazing is because all of the people working there, at every level, are amazing. And, the way people become amazing is to identify who their customers are (internal or external) and then exceed their expectations.

Character Move: take a moment and ask yourself, “Am I amazing?” What would it take to be described that way? Go ask and find out? Take one or two small steps towards amazing… keep going until you hear the “amazing” description pop up. Then get even more amazing (being amazing is not being perfect). Become relentlessly crazy about being amazing! It is a mind set. Assume the position.

Being amazing in the Triangle,

Lorne

The following is a checklist for our own personal excellence, combining Syed’s work, Schwartz’s leadership environment (which we need to develop for ourselves) and a few of my thoughts. It provides a framework for excellence. I challenge you to write out an outline for yourself before you mentally click off the blog!

1. Set our minds for achieving Personal Excellence.

You and I have to believe we can become masterful at what we’re doing. This is more important than being overtaken by words like “gifted” or ” talented.” 

2. Define our driving purpose.

We need to tie our personal excellence objective to a larger goal or mission. What is our purpose in life?  (Read a recent blog of mine on life purpose.)

3. Outline a very specific plan with milestones along the way.

Be specific. Be realistic but recognize that processes lead to results and everything is a process.

4. Practice with purpose; purposefully practice.

Have concentrated times of purposeful practice interrupted with appropriate periods of refresh.

5. Celebrate milestones.

Don’t wait for others to celebrate success. If others recognize us, it’s a bonus. We need to celebrate ourselves!  I’m not talking about just feel-good mush. This is acknowledging meaningful, measurable, achievements along the way. 

6. Get purposeful, objective, regular feedback. Apply the learning.

Get objective data. Develop a learning process. Practice improvements. Improve practice. Use coaches; we need outside viewpoints from people that care about our personal success.

7. Get masterful and don’t stop.

Keep raising the bar. Do 1 through 6 again. Get into our self-identified hall of fame. Enjoy the ride.

Being accountable involves a plan of action. We are respectful to ourselves by believing that we personally can become excellent. Be abundant. Focus on what we already have to be great, not what we don’t!

A framework and blog is easy to publish. Executing to excellence is darn hard. That’s what makes it worth it!

Live the Triangle,

Lorne

As a CEO I have the opportunity to see all kinds of people at work at all levels. As I see employees progress or stagnate in their roles, there seems to be a point of excellence difference based on the degree one takes the lead as a problem solver regardless of position. Here is the process I see people who are effective at problem solving and pro-active in leadership, generally follow:

They have a self accountable mind set where they believe they can make a situation better.

They gather facts and data on the situation by actively engaging others who are impacted. This usually involves a formal or informal “campaign” of providing information on the impact of the problem and asking for suggestions in solution development.

They are decisive in choosing a solution supported by insight stemming from #2 above and then applying a solution.

But this next step is where some of the people who are exceptional at proactive leadership show their stuff… they have a campaign advertising the effectiveness of the problem-solving applied solution. People want to know that their input was put to work.

Success energizes the group and they are ready for more. If not, fatigue often takes over.

If we want data to support this process, review the work of Harvard professors as reported in Working Knowledge, August 30 2010. This research shows that information campaigns led to a 74% increase in suggestions to improve and even more when people learned about the effectiveness of working solutions.

Try the above process on a small or large problem in your area. See what happens. Otherwise we’re all talk and no action. Or as the saying goes, “All hat, no cattle.”

Living the Triangle,

Lorne

A metaphorical example might be provided by Shizuku Arakawa, the Japanese 2006 Olympic figure skating champion. It is reported that she fell over 20,000 times in her journey from 5 year old novice to gold medal winner. She fell because she, as all great champions do, was always practicing at the edge of her skill level; pushing herself to greatness. She not only practiced all the time, but she worked on practicing the right things and then pushed herself to break through. Hence 20, 000 spills. Of course she got up each time, brushed herself off and went back to purposeful practice. The end result: an Olympic Gold Medal, and the first Japanese gold medal in figure skating.

Purposeful practice involves:

1.  Outlining in deep detail the processes that make up the desired expertise and end result.

2.  Practicing over and over again every process; especially the ones we’re not good at.

3.  Getting very specific process feedback and coaching on every practice so we improve rather than repeat.

4.  Apply breakthrough creativity on how we might get better results faster.

5.  Do it over and over again.

6.  Have the right mind set (the CT!).

Whether we’re salespeople, grocery clerks, butchers, or golfers the same rules apply. If we want to be excellent we have to purposefully practice, and practice with purpose.

Self accountability and purposeful practice go together. The good news for all of us is that talent is over rated. Working at excellence with serious intent is not.

Living in the Triangle,

Lorne

In the chapter he goes on to refer to a quote from Plato, “Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle.” The point is that you and I need to look at things from the perspective of the other person. This means we have to care. That’s hard work.

Kindness opportunities present themselves daily with teammates and others, including customers and suppliers. Being kind and thoughtful applies to almost every internal and external activity we’re involved in.  What a powerful currency kindness is and it’s totally free!

Try to be extra conscious about kindness this week. Please post me back and let me know the outcome.

with Character,

Lorne