Achieve Perfection or Pursue Excellence?

This article was originally posted here on Convene.

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— by Greg Leith

I was just 12 years old and down on my knees pulling weeds in our Florida garden in the hot sun. Whew, I was done! I was pretty sure I did a great job, who cares if I left a few weeds? Answer: my mom. When she came for inspection, she found a bunch of weeds I had missed. She made me do the work over again (and again) 'til I got it right. Flash forward to my older self in a leadership role where one of our four corporate objectives in our $300 million enterprise was “To pursue Excellence”. I like that better than, “Achieve Perfection,” don’t you? It takes the pressure off, but doesn’t let us off the hook.

The truth is, you need to do great work. Half-baked work doesn’t cut it in today’s business world. Excellence should be a hallmark of what we all do. There was a Bible leader named Daniel who became “distinguished above all other Presidents…”. He was good at what he did. It’s important that we get excellence right, under a biblical banner, so we can execute God’s way. 

I’m excited that there are a number of leaders assembling for some deep learning together in Rancho Mirage, California in September. You’re invited to join Dr. Henry Cloud, one of the world’s leading Christian Psychologists, Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, Director for the Army Capabilities Integration Center in Virginia and 12 other experts to talk about excellence. You’ll get to ask questions of these experienced leaders about excellence in how we do business, how we lead people and how we bring God into our work. 

I hope you can join me. We’re collaborating with our friends at Fellowship of Companies for Christ (FCCI). It’s September 16-20 at the amazing Ritz-Carlton, perched high above the desert floor. Join us as we pursue excellence together.

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[Special thanks to Mihail Macri for the cover photo]