Achieving Excellence
Achieving Excellence
By Henry Neils
Every now and then you encounter someone who demonstrates excellence on
the job. It might be an exceptional waitress who anticipates your every
need. Or a manager who generates both high performance and loyalty on
his teams. It could be a teacher with a knack for unlocking the desire
to learn in each student. Excellence, true excellence, is something we
prize but seldom see. It’s a joy to encounter someone who is truly
excellent at what they do. Why is that so rare? More importantly, how
can you become known as a man or woman who consistently demonstrates
excellence?
One comment that is heard time and again about those who demonstrate
excellence is, "He/she is a natural at it." They don’t seem to struggle
to be excellent; it just flows. That is always a sign of motivation,
and therein lies the first key: Motivation is required for excellence.
Motivation is what we like doing well naturally. It’s like being right
or left-handed. We don’t even think about it. We just write. The same
is true for people known for excellence. They have a group of
motivations that work in concert to help them perform at a higher
level. Like all motivations, these were inborn and are as much a part
of them as being blue-eyed or tall.
But there is a second key: Motivation can be developed. People who
demonstrate excellence have identified their motivations and worked
hard to develop them. They have added knowledge, skill, experience and
practice to consistently produce at the highest levels.
By the way, there is a flip side to these two keys, and it is this: The
best we can be with low motivation is adequate. No matter how hard we
work and desire it, in the long run we will never be excellent at
something without high levels of motivation in that area. In other
words, if we toil in areas where we have low motivation, we resign
ourselves to mediocrity.
Who wants to be mediocre? Who wants to be known as "adequate?" Wouldn’t
you rather have a shot at excellence? The first step to unlocking your
excellence is to know what you do well naturally. What are your
motivations?
Henry Neils
President
www.Assessment.com
Henry Neils is President and Founder of Assessment.com, the leading
online career assessment company focused on helping employees and
employers work together for their mutual benefit. Millions of people
have gained personal insight into their careers by using the tools,
such as MAPP™ (Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential), provided
at Assessment.com.