Re-Modeling Excellence

We are living in times when the concepts of modeling and excellence themselves are being re-defined, upgraded, and re-interpreted.

It is one of the longest-held maxims of the success, wealth attainment  and personal development movements; that in order to succeed, one must, and I do emphasize the word must, seek out those who model for them their vision of  success.  By modeling we mean to emulate, imitate…literally adopting the regimens, mannerisms, figures of speech, philosophies, strategies, mind-sets, and systems of those they hope to emulate, in terms of achieving what their models, or prototypes, have achieved, usually, but not limited to, financial and personal freedom, success with the opposite sex, peak athletic performance, etc.

The philosophy of modeling those (or whose success) you wish to emulate has it’s roots back in antiquity.

The definition of emulate is to match, or surpass, typically by imitation.  A role model is someone whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others, the object being, in one way or another, by imitation/emulation, to achieve, or surpass…in extreme cases to possess, what your role model has.

Tony Robbins has put it clearly and succinctly as anyone  ever has and ever will:

Remember, success leaves clues. There’s a Pathway to Power; a way to achieve what you want in a shorter period of time. And the way to find it is to model someone who’s already achieving what you want. If someone is successful at anything, whether they have a great relationship, are extraordinarily successful in business, or they have the body and energy that you desire, they’re not lucky. They’ve got a set of strategies that they apply and those strategies work. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You don’t need to reinvent a way to succeed. Throughout my life, I’ve always believed it’s been best to learn from others. That’s how you compress decades into days.  Brilliant.  Tony took SSI (Success Scene Investigation) to soaring new heights!

With very few exceptions, today’s successes have modeled yesterday’s successes, and the successes of yesteryear will have most certainly modeled those who came before.  You can go the road most traveled, or travailed, as the case may be, or you can go by the road least traveled.  You can choose the path of least resistance, or follow the fleet.  You can choose to do something at least as good or better than what has come before, or you can do something that’s never been done before, which is the definition of disruptive evolution.  Be the first to set the bar. Just remember, if you’re going to rock the boat, you’d better be wearing a life jacket, or at least have a place on the next lifeboat!  All roads may have led to Rome but only one left, and it was usually littered with the crucified bodies of those who didn’t play ball with the latest version of the Divine God-Man.  But I digress.

Here is an article I found written by Holly Green, a contributor to Forbes Magazine entitled “Redefining Excellence in Today’s World”

Thirty years ago, Tom Peters published an incredibly influential business book, In Search of Excellence.

In it, he defined eight characteristics of excellent companies: a bias for action, staying close to the customer, autonomy and entrepreneurship, productivity through people, clear and compelling organizational values, focusing on what you do best, operating with a lean staff, and finding a balance between having enough structure without getting stuck in it.

These principles remain good guides to this day. However, the business world has changed almost beyond recognition over the last 30 years, and the time has come to redefine what excellence means. In today’s world, excellence is more than a set of principles. It’s a set of beliefs, ways of thinking, a matter of discipline, and ways of focusing.

Excellence starts with getting very clear on the end state you wish to achieve (winning) and relentlessly driving towards it every day. Excellence requires knowing when to push on (even when you don’t have all the information or the perfect solution), but doing it well and constantly refining as you forge ahead. Excellence means accepting only the best, and understanding that when it is not given that you, as the leader, are at least partly responsible.

Excellence reveals itself in the language you use, the questions you ask, the people you surround yourself with, and how you interact with others. For example, do you show up on time for meetings? Are you present in the moment? Do you listen actively to employees and direct reports? Are you aware of the biases and thought bubbles you bring to the table? Do you take steps to minimize their impact on your decision-making, or at least explore others as well?

In today’s hyper-fast world, excellence requires building flexible, nimble organizations that can quickly adapt to rapidly changing markets without losing sight of their vision of winning. Creating this type of organization starts with three critical elements.

Clarity

First and foremost, you have to know where you’re going and why. When faced with adversity (or opportunity), having a crystal-clear definition of winning keeps the company from going off in too many directions. It enables clear and consistent decision-making, not only in terms of what you will do as an organization, but also what you will not do.

When things change very quickly, as they do in today’s chaotic markets, it can be easy to fall into a reactive mode. A new technology enters the market… how do we respond? A competitor introduces a new product that easily tops ours…how do we respond? An innovation from a completely different industry suddenly disrupts our business model….how do we respond? Having a clear definition of winning serves as your north star from which to navigate these critical strategic decisions.

Focus

Getting clear on winning represents the starting point for excellence. Keeping your people focused on winning is the engine that will get you there. As the leader, you live and breathe the vision, mission, and strategy every day (or at least you should!). But for the people in the trenches, it’s all too easy to lose sight of the big picture. Excellence requires making winning a daily objective for your people as well.

How? By constantly communicating your company’s definition of winning in as many ways as possible, and with as much specificity as possible. Start every meeting with a quick reminder of the goals. Post visual cues and “brain prompts” throughout the company. Clarify how individual jobs and teams contribute to everyone winning. Reward individual and team behavior that moves the company closer to winning. The more you keep people relentlessly focused on winning, the better your chances of achieving it.

Connection

People won’t buy into your vision of winning unless they feel connected to the organization. Connection starts with having a powerful vision people can believe in and feel good about. Keeping it going requires a variety of leadership behaviors that often get overlooked in the rush to get the product out the door.

To help people feel connected, give honest, candid feedback on a regular basis. Set clear performance expectations for each job, and hold people accountable for performing at the required level. Solicit ideas and input from people at all levels of the organization, and listen. When adversity rears its head, let people know why and how your company will still win.

Most of all, make sure your actions align with what you are saying. In an environment where employees have rightfully grown to distrust leadership, personal integrity is an essential precursor to excellence.

Clarity, focus, and connection are the hallmarks of corporate excellence in the 21st century. What will you do today to create them in your organization?

To excel simply means to be exceptionally good at or proficient in an activity or subject.  An except-ion to the rule, if you will.  To stand out.  To rise above the rank and file.  Think Your Excellency.  Your Highness.  Yours, excellently.  The quality of excellence is conferred on those who demonstrate mastery in their chosen field.
Don’t set the bar too high and don’t set the bar too low.  Do you want to excel at doing the limbo or the high jump, or perhaps the pole vault?  It’s really up to you, or as Joni Mitchell says, ‘it all comes down to you’.  Maybe the best thing to do is not to set the bar at all.  Does one need a target in order to improve their aim?  How does one decide when to punt, go for a field goal, go for the touchdown?  This is why one needs a coach, or guru…someone, who in the parlance, has ‘been there, done that’, while keeping in mind that what has worked for someone else might not necessarily work for you; that, in the final analysis, you are not them, you are you, and that they made their fortunes perhaps at a different time, or at a different stage of their lives, or when conditions differed from what they are now.This is not to say there aren’t constants.  The successful success systems of everyone from Marcus Aurelius to Napolean Hill to Tony Robbins have, at their foundation, the self-same tenets and core philosophies.  They’ve evolved, adapted, and acclimatized to changing times, tastes, mores, and agreements.
One thing is for sure.  Bill and Ted had it right on the money. “Be excellent” to each other is the post-modern version of the Golden Rule.  What did the authors of the gospels say?  I’ll tell you.  They said “After the Golden Rule, everything else is just filler.”  Do your best.  And, if that’s not (good) enough, strive to do better.
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