What it Means to Live a Life of Excellences

We often hear corporate executives advocating “excellence” within their workplace. We hear athletic coaches encouraging their team to “play with excellence.” And even Jim Collins, the author of the great leadership-development book Good to Great wrote, “… those who turn good into great are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake. Those who build and perpetuate mediocrity, in contrast, are motivated more by the fear of being left behind.” (p. 160)

So, if “excellence” is recognized as a key component of successful teams and individuals, then what exactly is “excellence” all about?

I once had a great assignment in the Army as a senior evaluator of a training center at Fort Polk, LA where army brigade units would go through two continuous weeks of combat simulated free-play training in a competitive environment against a highly skilled opposing force. As units rotated through this intense crucible event, I was fortunate to evaluate some of the most talented and skilled commanders – a number of whom went on to serve at the most senior levels of our Army – and equally evaluated commanders who really struggled and lacked both the professional and leadership skills to succeed in this environment.

As I watched these incredibly talented leaders, I couldn’t help but conclude that there are some who are really gifted, and others (like myself) who were given talents but not to the level of these other gifted leaders. And any inflated opinion I had of myself was quickly squashed as soon as I got around these great leaders.

How then should we define “excellence” in leaders who are both gifted and leaders who are at a more mediocre level of talents? In other words, is a standard of “excellence” the same for these gifted leaders as it would be for others who are only average in comparison? Since highly talented and skilled leaders will perform at a higher degree of excellence, what does “excellence” look like when compared to others?

To respond to this question, I define excellence simply as “always performing to the upper level of your potential.” Regardless of your potential, consistently performing to its highest capacity is what excellence is all about.

Let’s look at a leader’s performance across a bell-shaped curve, where the curve is the leader’s performance over any period of time. Sometimes leaders perform with great success, and other times their performance is below par. But like any normative bell-shaped curve, as with this example, performance over time eventually creates a level of performance that is ‘average.’ The center of the curve is the highest part, and this is where performance is consistent, where it occurs most of the time, and where it can now be defined as ‘average.’ And another way of describing ‘average’ is ‘mediocre.’

If this is how we’re going to define “excellence” and ‘mediocrity,’ the rhetorical question that follows is should a leader be satisfied with being ‘average’? I think most leaders would not settle for mediocrity and will seek ways to improve and excel. So how would they do that?

Let’s go back to my suggested definition of “excellence,” where a leader performs to the upper level of his or her potential. Looking at this bell-shaped curve, performing to the upper level of our potential will move us out of ‘average’ and into the lower levels of the curve. Another way to look at the “lower levels” is moving one’s performance into uncomfortable and unfamiliar areas, where we’re more prone to risk and therefore more prone to making mistakes and the consequences associated with that. Many people are hesitant to go into these unfamiliar areas simply because the consequences are too risky and often intolerant.

I would suggest, however, if we are committed to excellence, this is exactly what we want to do. We want to move out of “average” and out of “mediocrity” into areas that we’re unfamiliar and uncomfortable with, knowing we will likely indeed make mistakes. But we have to look at this in a different way. Mistakes are not something to be afraid of, but rather mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow.

This is where leadership plays a critical role. Leaders must encourage subordinates to move out of their “comfort zones” and into areas they’re unfamiliar with knowing they will make mistakes, and they have to see these mistakes not as failure, but rather as opportunities to learn, grow and develop. And if leadership can underwrite risk affiliated with mistakes, subordinates will feel impowered to move out of their “mediocre” comfort zones, and into the tails of the bell-shaped curve, which is where “excellence” occurs.

But here is the secret of moving out of mediocrity. When you perform to the upper level of your potential in everything you do, so that you’re now consistently performing in the far right of that bell-shaped curve, then that eventually becomes your new average, and your skills and talents consistently develop and grow. Over time, what was once the tail of the bell-shaped curve, will soon become the new medium, or the new average. When this happens, the new “excellence” brings performance into new levels. When performance increases, leaders develop as more capable, more skilled, and as more talented leaders.

The famous Hall of Fame Duke basketball coach, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, said it best, “I do not strive to win. I strive for excellence because out of excellence, success naturally happens”.

Here’s the bottom line of “excellence.” “Excellence” is performing to the upper level of your potential in everything you do. Whether it is on the practice field, in competition, in the classroom, in your homework studies at night, or whenever – get out of your comfort zone; get out of mediocrity, and perform up to your potential in everything you do. In so doing, you’ll likely make a mistake but learn from these mistakes, develop your skills, improve your talents and potential, and get better every day. In this model, “excellence” continues to improve in everything you’re doing, and you’ll soon be amazed to see your performance reach new heights every day as well.