Are you in pursuit of excellence?

The CEOs and Business Owners who come to me for coaching and advice are striving to grow both personally and professionally. They want to grow their businesses, empower teams, and in general, achieve a better quality of life. They have high standards in their quest for excellence with a goal to make better and quicker decisions. Effective leaders don’t demand perfection from high-performing teams, but rather they expect continuous pursuit of excellence.

What is the purpose? Let’s clarify the meaning of excellence. Merriam-Webster defines the root word “excel” as a verb (something we actively do) that means to “surpass in accomplishment or achievement.” Other synonyms include outstanding, extremely good, exceptional, and first-class.

 A leader who demonstrates excellence is a person of distinction, performing at a higher level than others. A person of excellence puts in the extra time and energy, even if no one is watching, because they care deeply about the result.  What’s even more impressive is that there are no limits to excellence – it isn’t a finite destination. There are always higher levels to attain and more qualities to develop so that you and the finished product become sharper and more refined.

An example of excellence in design and engineering is BMW which calls itself “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” It is designed for buyers who want the very best performance in the most elegant automobile and who also have the means to afford it. 

Elements of Excellence

To understand what characterizes excellence, consider Aristotle’s take on it: “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives. Choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” Now we are getting somewhere! Where in your life are you going to pursue excellence?

Vistage, the world’s leading executive coaching organization, is based on a similar principle. It is an exclusive peer advisory group which is designed to help high-integrity executives make better decisions and achieve better results. One might even say it is geared toward helping people achieve excellence.  

The Secret to Success

We know that one component of achieving excellence stems from building the habit of making wise choices. Author and public speaker Deepak Chopra goes a step further, saying that “success is a by-product of excellence.” Ah, so now we know the secret! 

One company that agrees with this idea is Enterprise Rent-A-Car. If you have ever rented a car from them, most likely you were impressed with the service you received. A press release from the company explains how the management training program works:

“Enterprise branch offices hire thousands of college-educated, career-oriented men and women into the Enterprise Management Training program each year. This program teaches employees how to run a business, empower teams and provide excellent face-to-face customer service. Other hallmarks of the program include extensive training in a wide range of business skills, including profit and loss management, business-to-business marketing and sales, and operational logistics.”

In fact, the training program works so well that three of the company’s highest executives began their career that way: Enterprise Holdings’ President and Chief Executive Officer Pam Nicholson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Christine Taylor, and Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation Carolyn Kindle Betz. Comprehensive training on how to achieve excellence helped them advance their careers and ultimately to be successful leaders. 

You don’t have to run a huge corporation to attain this degree of excellence. In an article by Michael Malone about what makes small businesses great (instead of big), Malone discusses a book titled Small Giants by Bo Burlingham. It says that successful small business owners have these things in common:

• They make wise choices about their company
• They are passionate about what they do
• They have good relationships with their customers
• They care about their employees

To sum it up, owners of great small businesses pursue excellence in a way that fits their circumstances while holding tight to their values. As Coach Vince Lombardi said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”