Remember Me
forgot your password?

Are you inspiring excellence?

Of all the millions of decisions we make in our lifetimes, one of the most important ones has to be the decision to commit to excellence.

When you commit yourself to striving for excellence, you set yourself on a path to living in a higher state of achievement on both a personal and professional level.

Why?  An attitude of excellence will help us make better decisions, behave more ethically, and spend our time more effectively.  Excellence helps you create your own success.  It helps you set yourself – and your company – apart from the overwhelming majority of mediocrity.

As an excellence advocate, one of your responsibilities is to inspire excellence in other people – especially those who work with you and for you. Excellence in the workplace leads to higher profits, higher job satisfaction ratings, and higher employee morale.

Are you ready to become an excellence mentor?  Well, here are a few tips that will help you on your way.

Walk the talk
Before you can expect others to be excellent, you have to be excellent yourself.  Leading by example in an honorable and ethical manner is one of the best ways to productivity up and employee dishonesty down.  As a general rule, employees will feel more disposed to giving you their best if they see you doing the same.   

Communicate expectations
Never assume everyone knows how to be excellent on their own.  After all, everyone has their own interpretation of excellence.  But since you are their leader and will be judging their performance based on your values, you need to make sure their performance reflects your idea of excellence.

So first you have to decide what “excellence” means to you.  What are your values in relation to your industry?  Next, you need to plan to communicate the expectations to your staff.  Consider making it a regular occurrence, like in a regular company newsletters or company meetings.

Aim high
Don’t be afraid to set high the bar high when it comes to morals and values.  Believe it or not, people want to follow great leaders.  Not only will excellence give people something to strive for, but it will also send a message that you expect everyone’s best.

Have genuine respect for the people you seek to influence
Most people respond better to people they feel respect them.    In return, they will have genuine respect for you as well, and in doing so, will be much more inclined to give 110 percent effort.  

Give recognition
One of the best ways to inspire excellence is to reward and recognize it.  Recognition is a great motivator, so when you “catch” someone doing a great job or going above and beyond the norm, draw attention to it.  He/she will not only be inspired to repeat the behavior that got them recognized, but others will be inspired to do so as well.

Encourage big dreaming
Never, ever, limit your dreams, or the dreams of others.  When you encourage other peoples’ dreams, you are saying “I believe in you.”  In essence, you are letting them know that you think they are fully capable of achieving whatever they set out to do.  Imagine how empowering that is to someone who looks up to you!

Empower out-of-the-box thinking
Along the same lines, when you encourage creativity and initiative in people, something magical begins to happen…they become happier and more productive.  Everyone is capable of creative thinking on some level, and when you encourage people to tap into that part of themselves, it releases achievement.

Inspiring excellence in other people is a noble calling and one that can enrich your life, and those who choose to follow you.  Because after all, the world could certainly use more excellence!


Copyright 2009, BusinessBurrito.com.  All rights reserved.

Donna  Williams

Donna Williams is the founder and creator of BusinessBurrito.com - a website dedicated to helping small businesses grow to their maximum potential. She is also a 25-year advertising / marketing executive, creative director, writer, and producer. Together, Donna and her husband currently own and co-own five small businesses. To read more of her articles, or to sign up for her free weekly e-newsletter, visit her website at www.businessburrito.com

Rate this Article: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s)
Print Email Re-Publish

Add new Comment



Captcha

  • Latest Leadership Articles
  • More from Donna Williams

Appian FORUM09 Conference Recap

By: Market Wire | 09/11/2009
Largest BPM Vendor Event of the Year Highlights New Product, New Services and New Community

Ensuring cohesion between management and employees

By: Christina Pomoni | 09/11/2009
Ensuring cohesion in the organization is a fundamental performance and efficiency issue. On the shoulders of cohesion rests the heavy load of ensuring the strategic direction of an organization is known, understood and, most importantly, acted on.

Management As A System

By: Craig Nathanson | 09/11/2009
A management system also has many processes on multiple levels. They all contribute to the health of the management system.

Personalities I admire: Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam

By: hasan yahya | 07/11/2009
Muhammad,(pbuh), the Prophet, the state person, the most influential in history to make change, the man, the leader and most beloved among Muslims. This article is an attribute to this great person which the author admired.

Leadership at Peace and War in Islam

By: hasan yahya | 07/11/2009
This is a glimpse of Islamic history during the Prophet’s life and after in terms of leadership in peace and war times. Which is critical for human rights included later in the UN codes on war and peace times.

Change, Plan, Execute - This is your paradigm speaking

By: Jonathan Grigg | 07/11/2009
A brief discussion piece highlighting why organisational change programs often produce less than satisfactory results and how to overcome this.

Mlm join Immediately or Become Overdue, it is most Likely the answer to your Plea

By: Dale Dupree | 06/11/2009
These things we discuss in this article are just the basic topics and there are lot there to learn to become satisfied in mlm marketing business in the long run. With this mlm tips, you will definitely have a good start and that leads to a long term mlm success. Mlm advertise is a powerful income earning opportunity that has been around for many decades..

If We Lose One More Top Performer.

By: Dale Furtwengler | 05/11/2009
A truly counter-intuitive approach to retaining top talent with tips for using organizational structure to align talent with organizational needs. Enjoy!

Want to stress less and enjoy life more? These simple stress management strategies will get you started

By: Donna Williams | 03/08/2009 | Stress Management
We all have stress, but how we handle that stress can greatly affect our physical and mental health. In fact, a few simple changes can mean the difference between a long, happy life and a short, miserable one. Here are some stress management strategies to help you on the journey.

Use these simple stress management strategies to bring more balance to your life

By: Donna Williams | 03/08/2009 | Stress Management
Stress can steal our joy and peace of mind, causing life-threatening illness if allowed to go unchecked. But these simple, practical stress management strategies will help you find balance, regaining your life and your health.

Are you inspiring excellence?

By: Donna Williams | 08/07/2009 | Leadership
As an excellence advocate, one of your responsibilities is to inspire excellence in other people – especially those who work with you and for you. Excellence in the workplace leads to higher profits, higher job satisfaction ratings, and higher employee morale. Are you inspiring excellence? If not, then this article will show you how to start spreading the excellence around.

Take the bite out of cold calling with these helpful strategies

By: Donna Williams | 03/06/2009 | Small Business
Few things strike fear into the heart of an entrepreneur than cold calling. But these cold calling strategies will help make the entire process more successful and enjoyable.

The three biggest barriers to small business success, and what you can do to break through

By: Donna Williams | 02/06/2009 | Small Business
Have you ever wondered why some people achieve small business success while others find themselves sitting on the sidewalk watching the parade go by? Well, here are the three biggest barriers to small business success.

Spring Cleaning For Your Business

By: Donna Williams | 06/04/2009 | Small Business
Spring is the traditional time to tackle cleaning projects at home, but it’s a good time to tackle cleaning up your business, too. So with that in mind, here’s your “To-Do” list.

Five Keys To Business Success

By: Donna Williams | 04/03/2009 | Small Business
Many people think business success is all about being in the right place, knowing the right people, and having the right knowledge. All that helps, but truly successful people share these five traits.

Submit Your Articles Free: Signup

Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (0.22, 1, w1)