6 Factors For Excellence: 5, Unwavering Commitment & Pursuit

Excellence doesn't come easy!   It requires an unwavering commitment and an unwavering pursuit of the excellence.   Why?  Well, the unfortunate reality is, the majority of people are comfortable with the status quo.  They will see being “ordinary” as OK… and become uneasy when someone takes actions that are extraordinary.   So, when you start making changes to achieve excellence, and initiate the actions to move from ordinary to extraordinary, it's not surprising that some people will become uncomfortable with the “change”, and there will be some push-back.   Such a situation required real leaders with the heart, commitment, and energy to drive the relentless pursuit of excellence. 

Let’s take a look at some successful leaders and their journey in pursuit of excellence.   

• NFL quarterback, Tom Brady, is one of only two players (Joe Montana is the other), to win the NFL Most Valuable Player and Super Bowl MVP awards multiple times.  He is also one of only two quarterbacks to ever lead their teams to five Super Bowls.  In 2010, he was ranked as the best player in the NFL.  Tom Brady’s performance and accomplishments are extraordinary.  But he didn’t start that way, and the success didn't come easy.   As a skinny, unheralded college quarterback, he was seventh on the depth charts and was a backup quarterback for his first two years in college.  At one point, Tom hired a sports psychologist to help him cope with frustration and anxiety.  Even though his physical build and style were different from the "norm", he knew he could be a great quarterback and accomplish great things if given the opportunity.  He finally got his chance, and in his first full year as a starter, he set Michigan passing records and led the team to a winning season.  But entering the NFL draft, most NFL analysts didn't think he fit their typical quarterback profile for the NFL, and once again he faced daunting challenges and many skeptics.  He wasn't drafted until the sixth round near the end of the NFL draft.  Once again, Tom’s unwavering commitment helped him overcome the many skeptics, and his pursuit of excellence continued to drive him to be one of the most successful NFL quarterbacks of all time. 
  

• Famous Apple founder and innovator, Steve Jobs, faced a series challenges and many critics before he achieved extraordinary success.  After working tirelessly to build excellent products at Apple, Steve was fired by the Apple Board of Directors.   Yes, he was fired from the company he founded and developed, because many felt his expectations and dreams were too extreme.  Yet, he continued the pursuit of the goal of developing extraordinary technology products.  So when Apple struggled and was near collapse, the Apple leadership turned to Steve to turn around the company.  Fortunately, Steve Jobs's incredible passion for excellence and an unwavering commitment was just the catalyst needed for the amazing turnaround at Apple.   That same unwavering commitment to excellence also led to the innovative, high-quality, market-changing products developed by Apple.   Yes, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad... all developed under Steve Job's leadership, and all the result of his commitment.  
  

So, even for some of the most successful leaders, excellence didn't come easy, but the characteristic they share is their unwavering commitment and pursuit of excellence.    

The critics and naysayers:  For more than 25 years, I have been hired by companies to transform under-performing teams and help them achieve their stated goal of excellence.   While such initiatives typically start off well, once we enter the stage that requires changes and/or challenges, you often start to encounter the “critics” and “naysayers” of the organization.   Suddenly their comments change to “maybe the goal was too lofty”, or “this company is different, maybe it won’t work for this company”, and various other excuses..... This point is a moment of truth… if you want to achieve excellence, you must overcome these excuses and push forward.  Leaders must step up and lead, and they must demonstrate their unwavering commitment to pursuing and achieving excellence.  So before you start such an initiative, make sure you have that unwavering commitment up front, and take the necessary steps to sustain that commitment along the way.   

Excellence doesn’t come easy, which is why so many fail to achieve it.   But when you do achieve excellence, the results are extraordinary.    The unwavering commitment and pursuit of excellence is the foundation of great people, great teams, great companies, great nations, and great accomplishments.  Don’t settle for anything less!

This article is part 5 of a 6 part series titled “6 Factors For Excellence”, and discusses the 6 factors that drive excellence and help you achieve extraordinary results.   To read the other articles in this series click here.   I really appreciate all the positive feedback that I received on this series, and look forward to sharing the final part of this series with you next week. 

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