Jim Collins opened his book Good to Great with the statement,
"Good is the enemy of great." He explained that when we have
good schools, good businesses and good government, we are prone
to accept that level of quality as sufficient. Collins observed:
"Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is so
easy to settle for a good life."
What about you and your business? Have you become comfortable -
possibly complacent - with what you have accomplished? Sales have
been good, your employees seem to be happy and customers rarely
complain. Next year, you project, will match or even surpass
(slightly) this year.
Yet deep down, you may have a silent yearning to move from being
merely good to becoming recognized as great in your profession.
What might prompt you to make that leap forward and upward?
Recently, several highly accomplished professional people
recalled what had motivated them to shift from "doing OK" to
launching a quest for their personal best.
Bill Bell, a retired advertising sales person, said his grand
awakening came when he reached his fiftieth birthday. The
occasion prompted him to review his financial picture: "I woke
up to the realization that I had accumulated very little money
though I had been a better-than-average advertising space
salesman for my employer, a publisher of trade magazines.
Further, this company’s retirement program was iffy at best."
So he "set up my own firm as a publisher’s representative. One of
my first clients was my former employer. Others came along fairly
soon, and it was not long before I was able to start saving money
for the future. The intense purpose of earning retirement money
was the 24-7 motivating force that lead to attracting more
clients, and hiring office staff and sales staff."
Today, Bill Bell enjoys his retreat-style mountain home in Otto,
North Carolina—part of the reward for establishing his
entrepreneurial firm.
Carol Moore, Executive Director of the Georgia Mountains Center
in Gainesville, Georgia, credits her mentor who "provided me with
honest, on target advice. While he would never give me the
decision to the dilemma, he would discuss the pros and cons to
both sides of the issue and allow me to make the decision. At
times when I perceived my career as ‘stalled’ I would call Don
and bemoan my fate. Don never allowed me to have a pity party.
He would tell me ‘If you're looking for a helping hand, you'll
find one at the end of your sleeve,’ or ‘You get what you expect
-- raise your expectations.’"
Lab Products Inc. President Betty Fatzie echoed the value of a
mentor: "My boss felt I had the initiative to move up the
corporate ladder and gave me opportunities to do so. I always
gave it that extra effort to prove I could do better than a
mediocre job."
Does your company’s environment provide the incentive to generate
your personal best? That was the case with Steven Freund, a
veteran Ritz-Carlton Hotel executive. Freund commented: "The
culture of an organization has a powerful impact on a person’s
behavior. Companies that are highly competitive, where high
levels of performance are held in high esteem, generally promote
highly motivated behavior."
Hospitality industry expert Dianne Henry of Baltimore wanted to
excel because "My passion became my profession." Pursuing her
love of cruising, she plunged into the travel industry at top
speed. Recently she ranked "number four for September and number
ten for the year 2005 in sales volume out of over four hundred
agents."
Do any of these stimulating factors fit your case? If so, make
the most of them. If not, consider these other incentives that
propel you toward your personal best:
An excellent role model. This could be a parent, a friend or a
nationally known individual.
Your reputation and legacy. Yes, you want to establish a record
that your contemporaries and your successors will admire and
emulate.
Internal rewards. You experience well-merited pride and serenity
when you are sure you reached your highest potential in
performing a task.
Family responsibilities. Your drive for success is not selfish,
but is geared toward the well-being of those dearest to you.
A closing suggestion: List the people, circumstances and ideas
that encourage you to set new goals, adopt more productive habits
and steadily move from "good to great." Keep the list handy for
daily review, as a reminder of why you work—and why you are
determined to expand your expertise and emerge from the pack of
the also-rans to become a winner.
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