Committing to Excellence

American writer on business management practices Tom Peters is one of our heroes here at The Daily Coach. His words of wisdom are worth reading every day. One of his declarations on Excellence serves as a profound reminder for all of us:

Excellence is not a long-term aspiration. Excellence is the ultimate short-term strategy. Excellence is the next five minutes, or not.

Excellence is your next conversation. Or not.

Excellence is your next meeting. Or not.

Excellence is shutting up and listening, really listening. Or not.

Excellence is your next customer contact. Or not.

Excellence is saying ‘Thank you’ for something “small.” Or not.

Excellence is the next time you shoulder responsibility and apologize. Or not.

Excellence is pulling out all the stops at warp speed to respond to a screw up. Or not.

Excellence is the flowers you brought to work today. Or not.

Excellence is lending a hand to an outsider who’s fallen behind schedule. Or not.

Excellence is bothering to learn the way the folks in finance (or IS or HR) think. Or not.

Excellence is way over-preparing for a three-minute presentation. Or not.

Excellence is turning insignificant tasks into models of excellence. Or not.

Tom Peters concludes by saying, “Excellence is conventionally — in fact, almost without fail — seen as a long-term aspiration. I disagree. Vehemently disagree. Excellence is not a destination at which you arrive on a glorious sunny day after years of brutally hard work. Excellence is a way of life that sustains us and inspires us, day in and day out, minute in and minute out. There is no long term. There is only the way we act when we step out into the corridor after a meeting — or, yes, the quality of your next four-line e-mail.”

One of the most meaningful journeys is the transition from mediocrity to excellence. If you maintain a high standard of excellence with the little things, you never have to worry about the big things. Each day it is within our control to strive for excellence in everything we do. Thank you, Tom Peters, for this powerful reminder and for being a positive difference maker in so many lives!

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