Leadership is hardly a topic to be dealt with in a column for a blog or a magazine, because it has so many aspects, but it is too important to success in business to ignore it. It is also a near inexhaustible theme for writing, because the world offers so many examples of leadership that are worth studying, because they are inspirational and worth following.
In all of my attentiveness to samples of leadership that I have seen, heard or read about, one stands out as a model that is near impossible to replicate. Like a world record that may never be broken or Cal Ripken’s string of 2,632 consecutive baseball games played. Part of the improbability of surpassing my top pick of leadership lies in the fact that it happened almost a century ago and at the other end of the world. The principles of leadership, though, are unaffected by time and location and the model could be replicated given the same degree of determination, discipline and persistence exhibited by Ernest Shackleton in his ill-fated Antarctic expedition in 1914-1916.
The story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition on board the Endurance is too long and nuanced to be repeated here, but is worth reading. The authoritative book on the expedition, with exceptional pictures taken by Frank Hurley – one of the crew members – is written by Caroline Alexander under the title “The Endurance” and was published in 1999 by Knopf.
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Frans Jager is a retired CEO who has made a career in a number of large multi-national corporations in the field of rnanufacturing, distribution and trade of fertilizers and other supplies to the Turf, Horticulture and Landscape Industry.
I ran across this scene at my local grocery store the other day: a shopping cart hooked over the curb of one of the parking lot flower beds literally TEN STEPS from the nearest cart corral.
This drives me NUTS. Like to the point that if I’m lucky enough to see it happening, I’ll walk up to the person and say in an overly nice way “Let me take that the last few steps to the cart corral for you.”
Sometimes I bet I don’t sound nice at all, especially when I over-emphasize the “last few steps” part.
But this is why most people never truly excel at work. They just won’t take those last few steps that change everything from sloppy to super. From incompetent to incredible. From wimpy to wow. Look at that shopping cart. Is that not the wimpiest act of mediocrity you’ve ever seen?
Oh, I know, it’s easy to cut corners, especially when it’s raining, or busy, or difficult, or (insert your own wimpy excuse here). Excellence begins with simply doing the work and taking ALL the steps. And developing the habit of ALWAYS doing so.
Lest I pretend to be perfect, I have my fair share of mediocre moments. In fact, here are some ways I let my excellence slip on occasion:
- I leave work for tomorrow that I should have/could have finished today.
- I don’t communicate information that might make someone else’s job easier.
- I let my desk get messy.
- I let my inbox get messy.
- I pile instead of file.
- I focus on things I want to do instead of what needs to be done.
- I do things myself that I should delegate.
Oh, believe me, this list could be a mile long. I’m stopping here to preserve my dignity.
The saddest part of my list is that every single thing I mentioned is like hooking the shopping cart on the curb. Every one of these things is just a few short steps (or minutes) away from excellence. Yet, sometimes I stop at “OK“, or “good enough”, or “I’ll finish that tomorrow.”
Did any of my lapses of excellence sound familiar to you? Any chance I can convince you to join me in taking a few extra steps today?
This article is cross-posted on sparknewthinking.com.
Mark is the creator and chief imagination officer of sparkspace, an inspirational business retreat center in Columbus, OH. Mark is also a keynote speaker, retreat leader, and author of Spark New Thinking.
1. Relentlessly match all your competitor’s moves so you don’t fall behind.
2. Adopt “high quality” as your competitive advantage.
3. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket—spread your risk (and your resources) across several strategic initiatives.
4. Be satisfied with margins that are average for your industry.
5. Make “doubling sales” a key strategic priority.
6. Make one of the following phrases your core message on your website and sales material:
- We partner with our clients.
- We are dedicated to delivering excellent customer service.
- We are the leading provider of (fill in the blank).
- We deliver on our promises.
- We are focused on helping you succeed.
7. And finally, be stumped by the question – “What can you promise to do for my business that your competitor cannot (who I happen to be talking to right now . . )?”
I created this tongue-in-cheek list to prove a point: As business owners, we often make a series of unforced errors that cause “price” to be at the top of most sales discussions. But high-performing businesses—those that earn margins above their industry’s average—don’t make these errors because they deeply understand what they do better than their rivals. The strategic choices they make—what new products or services to offer, what new markets to pursue, what people to hire, and so on—all reinforce and strengthen this core “best at” strategy. If it doesn’t fit their strategy, they stop doing it.
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Over the last 25 years, Tony has started, turned-around or helped grow over five different small to medium sized businesses in a variety of industries.
A great example of how not to treat your customers.
I had a doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago and arrived exactly five minutes early… just like the person on the phone told me to do. I walked up and checked in at the window. I stood there for about a minute while the receptionist (who did not even acknowledge that I was there) finished what she was working on. Finally, she looked up, I gave her my name and she asked me to take a seat.
As I sat there waiting, I kept watch of the others around me – many of whom had been there longer than I had – and no one was going in to see the doctor. After thirty minutes of this I decided that I was done. I went up to the window to tell the receptionist that I was leaving. She was in total shock. She said something about running a little bit behind and that they should be with me shortly.
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Steve Staub is the president of Staub Manufacturing Solutions, a metal fabrication and manufacturing company based in Dayton, Ohio.
I recently walked into a local cafe/coffee shop to perform my morning ritual of consuming unhealthy amounts of caffeine while creating my action list for the day.
I surveyed the menu board as I approached the counter. Hmmm, no breakfast items. I did spy some bagels in a case off to my right, so I knew I wouldn’t starve to death. But I really wanted more than a bagel and I could have sworn I saw a guy eating a breakfast sandwich at a table near the door. I glanced back to verify, but he was gone. A hunger-induced mirage, no doubt.
The girl behind the counter said nothing. She just sat and watched me desperately look for something I clearly couldn’t find. I finally asked her “Do you have anything for breakfast besides bagels?” She silently reached under the counter and produced a plastic-coated breakfast menu.
Oh, I could go on and on about her lack of communication skills or customer service attitude, but I have a different point to make today.
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Mark is the creator and chief imagination officer of sparkspace, an inspirational business retreat center in Columbus, OH. Mark is also a keynote speaker, retreat leader, and author of Spark New Thinking.
