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Intentional Leadership — D5, W4, M3 — Excellence

Good morning and Happy Friday! Time, again, for our Friday ritual: Planning for the weekend and thinking about the month ahead.

I can say, with full confidence, this week I was not just busy but truly productive in many respects. That’s not to say I completed everything I set out to this week, but certainly made a dent in my list and found myself in a place of deep introspection around my the work I’m doing with the Deeper Path Coaching Cohort.

And, after the emphasis on excellence these past four weeks, I am certainly much more aware of and intentional about how I plan for and execute my work and interactions with others. How about you? Where are you on this part of our journey?

Let’s look and think ahead into our weekend.

What really needs your attention this weekend? Is it projects, people, rest, relaxation…?

Rest is, again, on my list.

Some house projects and cleaning are calling for my attention.

Developing a team-building activity for an upcoming meeting; need to gather some supplies for that. Finishing up some projects. Have some writing to do. People to connect with. Letters to write.

The next month will be busy and filled with new opportunities. Exciting things coming my way!

What’s in store for you this weekend, next week, and in the coming weeks? Are you taking the steps to set yourself up for success and fulfillment? Are you feeling more confident about the level of excellence you/your team/your organization provide to your clients?

Have an intentional weekend!

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M3 — Excellence

Living not too far from Pittsburgh, it’s hard to not hear a lot about the Steelers (Note — I’m not a big sports fan, but the business is full of leadership lessons — both on the side of how to do it, as well as on the side of how not to do it; so I will, from time to time, use sports stories as examples in my blog).

I have heard a quote from Steelers Coach Chuck Noll, who said:

Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else.

Have you found this to be true in your life?

I believe it. You don’t need to do anything extraordinary or complicated. You simply need to do whatever it is you do, extremely well, with a focus on doing it at levels higher than average…with excellence.

So, what small things so you do that lead to excellence in your personal and/or professional life?

What small things does your team/organization do that lead to excellence?

Can’t wait to hear what you come up with. Hint — use the “comments” box below!

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M3 — Excellence

Please forgive me, faithful readers, for being so late with today’s post. I allowed myself to “unplug” over a long weekend, and didn’t think to take my material with me for today. I apologize! That said, let’s get started with Week Four of Excellence.

Excellence is doing small things in a big way!

If you had the chance to interview successful leaders, any number of them, I’m confident they will tell you they have developed and follow habits, systems, and processes daily, regardless of what they are working on, and excellence is no different.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.   ~Booker T Washington

I am reminded of stories of moms and dads who take the time to write personalized notes and slip them into their children’s lunches every day. Very thoughtful! It takes time, energy, and discipline to maintain this kind of schedule five days a week; but any child who has been on the receiving end of this practice will tell you what an enormous difference it makes in their life!

I am reminded of the time I participated in a FranklinCovey workshop called Focus — all about setting priorities and making our time intentionally productive. The facilitator shared that he flew a lot, facilitating classes all around the country. He said that on one particular flight, the Pilot took the time to write a note (on the back of her business cards) to each passenger flying first class, thanking them for choosing that particular airline and trusting her and her crew to get them to their destination safely. He spoke with her about it, because he was very impressed she had taken the time to do it. She explained that she felt blessed to have her job and wanted her passengers to know this. Because during flight we are often on aut0-pilot, she had a lot of time during a flight that she could choose how to spend, and she chose to spend her time connecting with others.

I am reminded of my mother. She was a server in coffee shops for decades. On occasion, she would leave one restaurant and take a job in another. Consistently, her customers followed her from one place to another. Turns out their loyalty was to her, not the restaurant! I was too young at the time to ask any of these people why they followed her, but clearly they valued something she offered…attitude, service…I can only guess, but clearly she was doing something with excellence!

Each of these people put their “signature” on what they did, focusing on excellence. Today, think of ways you can put your personal signature on what you do, by modeling excellence.

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