Let exceptionalism be your guide.
"To become exceptional, you have to do better than your best." Anonymous
“Are we exceptional?” I asked (or challenged) this of my people in one of my businesses. I stress this quite a bit in my businesses. The way I see it, we have a choice. We can be like any other business, not special in any way – just a business where people show up, complete tasks, offer products and services, clock out and repeat. Our customers will respond to that. Or we can be exceptional – going the extra mile for each other and our customers. We can be exceptional in our performance being the very best we can be, operating in the ‘band of excellence’ in everything we do.
In the U.S. Army, we had standards for everything we did. For instance, 70 points on an event such as the push-up in the Army Physical Fitness test was passing. The Army had standards, based on age groups for how many push-ups were required to meet a standard, passing score of 70 points. I was always taught however, “don’t meet the standard, exceed the standard.” I would strive to do this each time meeting and even exceeding the maximum score.
I believe most people want to be exceptional. They want to serve on exceptional teams – those which win championships; however, championships are defined for them and their organizations. I don’t have much time for those who are ok with the status quo – those who just elect to meet the standard and go no further.
“Are we exceptional?”
I made my team answer that honestly. Of course, I invest (and continue to) in creating a safe environment for my team where they can speak up, be vulnerable, admit fault, and learn. I confessed areas where I was not acting and performing exceptionally, and I vowed self-improvement. I teased out where we were not being exceptional as a company, communicating and empathizing with our customers and offering the very best service we could. I listened to what my people shared and challenged them where appropriate. Where I could give specific guidance on how we could perform better, I did. I ended the conversation with, “let exceptionalism be your guide.”
This guidance was meant to challenge my people to ‘level up’ their game in everything they did – to ask themselves if they were being exceptional or if they and indeed, we as a company were performing exceptionally. That guidance was simple and generic but profound in its application. If my teammates go forward with it speaking to them and guiding them, we will be great.
Let exceptionalism be your guide and that of your people every day.
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell