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Intentional Leadership — D2, W3, M3 — Excellence

Today, let’s consider organizations you believe have exceeded your expectations with products or services. What did they do to impress you?

With that in mind, let’s now spend some time on a self-evaluation. Does your performance consistently go beyond what others expect of you?

On a piece of paper, make two columns. Title the left column: Top Five Responsibilities. Title the right column: Rating

Now, list your top five responsibilities in the left column — and you can do this for all the various roles you play…Leader, direct report, peer, mentor, coach, partner, or even roles you play in your personal life. Then, in the right column, rate your performance in each responsibility as Average, Above-Average, or Excellent.

Once you’ve done this exercise, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about why you rated yourself as you did in each area.

What one thing could you do right away to improve any of those rankings?

What can you do to exceed the expectations of your employees?

What can you do to exceed the expectations of your manager/leader?

Remember…your effort, in your leadership role, sets the standard for excellence in your team/organization. I encourage you to be intentional about what it will be.

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W3, M3 — Excellence

To achieve excellence, one must consistently exceed expectations.

We’ve discussed that leaders are continuously working to improve themselves and their team’s/organization’s performance. Those who truly excel are frequently raising the bar on performance, because once you achieve a certain level, that’s the “new normal,” and you know there is something beyond…Settling for average is never an option. When you role model what you expect from others, it’s easier to influence others to perform at their best.

The next step is being ever observant of your team’s performance. When you are familiar with their strengths and abilities, you will be able to quickly recognize when they are not performing at level of their true capability. This is when it’s important for you to connect, provide feedback, discover what’s happening, and inspire your team to perform at higher levels.

Again, people do what people see, so if you aren’t performing at the top of your ability, others will notice and will fall into line with where you are. So, be sure to look within before you comment on what’s happening around you.

Over the course of my career, I have lead a number of projects and project teams — typically comprised of people I had no formal authority over, and yet, the projects we worked on were of high importance to the various organizations we worked for. Before I learned the lesson that I could accomplish more by connecting with and including others, I used to take on a lot of responsibility and completed all the work myself. So, my big lesson was learning to delegate and rely on others to do their part. The benefit from learning project management from this approach was that I have always been a working leader, for lack of a better term; not just the person who doled out a lot of work and waited for others to perform.

As part of the project team, I take on my share of the responsibilities, and hold myself to higher standards, usually, than I do for those around me. So, modeling what I expect from others has come easily for me. I have been told, on occasion, that my expectations for others are extremely high…and I admit it’s true. In part, it’s because I want to be successful; I want those I work with to be successful; I want the project to be successful; and, I see the potential in others, which leads me to believe they can achieve at higher levels.

What are your challenges in this area?

What can you do to set the tone for an organizational culture that exceeds expectations — one in which people are driven to achieve at ever-higher levels?

How are you modeling exceeding expectations? Remember, as John Maxwell says in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,

People do what people see!

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W2, M3 — Excellence

Good morning and Happy Friday!

As my mentor, Paul Martinelli, would say: “Are you marinating in excellence, yet?” As with all things of value, we must immerse ourselves in the concepts we wish to master. Nothing of significance or lasting value happens overnight…so let us steep ourselves in these thoughts, ideas, and concepts this month

As I consider excellence, I am working on following up with people in a more timely manner, demonstrating my desire and commitment to serve others, and delivering exceptional value, every time. What about you? Where can you intentionally inject excellence into your performance?

I am coming to find this Friday ritual of thinking about and planning for my weekend, and the weeks ahead, more and more valuable each week. I am getting busier, meeting and connecting with a lot of new people, and my need to be focused and prepared is more and more critical to my success.

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

Rest? Definitely! We’ve been dealing with a lack of sleep at my house, caused by the annoying cough that is going around. You know the one, it surfaces mainly at night when you lay down to sleep…and so far, we have failed to find a cough suppressant that actually works!

Preparation for a Women in Leadership Luncheon I am helping to plan, and will present the Keynote speech at, in May. Along with my speech, I need to pull together a personal assessment tool that goes along with our theme: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (based on the best seller by Marshall Goldsmith; if you haven’t read it and you are pursuing growth in your career, it’s a must read. In fact, don’t just read it — buy it and keep it handy! This one will serve you over and over and over…if you are open to the lessons and willing to do the work to apply them!). And, I need to do some work to prepare some amazing women for the panel discussion that will happen as part of this day of growth and learning.

I also need to get some exercise. My son and I enjoy our weekend neighborhood walks.

And, I’m still working on the new mentoring program I will launch in May. You can get a preview here.

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?

Have a great weekend, and I’ll “see” you Monday!

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