Underneath the Excellence

I am often inspired by excellent results. When teams win championships, organizations attain major accolades, and individuals reach the mountaintop, I can’t help but be motivated to push myself to aspire for greater personal results. While I am often inspired by excellent achievements, there’s one thing that piques my curiosity even more.

The Story behind the Excellence

We never see the unnoticed hours of painstaking work. We never hear about the setbacks that transformed into comebacks. We never felt the failure and rejection that fueled the hard work and perseverance. All we ever see and therefore know is the product, not the process.

Everyone wants excellence but not everyone wants invest time in writing the story that reaches it. Mediocrity and comfort often creep into those stories as the antagonists, while sacrifice and resolve are unable to save the day as protagonists. The fact is this. 

We glorify the product but demonize the process. 

As leaders what stories are we telling to inspire excellence?  Are we illuminating the all-stars while ignoring the stories in the making?  Are we setting lofty goals while failing to show examples of how the work is the excellence? The answer to these questions will tell you if you’re superficially scratching the surface of excellence or digging deep to discover what it takes to achieve it.