Achieving Excellence

Every leader wants to achieve excellence.  The definition of excellence is being the best of what you are within the bounds of doing the right thing for the organization.  The core of excellence is good character and is about doing what is supposed to be done right the first time.  When striving for excellence, a leader needs to have a plan in achieving excellence.  The first consideration in achieving excellence is developing an excellence plan of action.  A plan should begin with a review of yourself, your qualities and the kind of leader you want to be.  Make your assessment straightforward and simple.  Choose which things are most important to you and place them on top of your list.  Consider how these things will affect you as a leader.  Be creative when setting up your plan.

Evaluate yourself according to your criteria in the plan.  Are your standards realistic and achievable?  Be open to making changes and revisions.  Some  things might have been forgotten, or useful ideas might suddenly come up.  Planning is a good approach in order for one to be more responsive to occurrences that could take place in the future.  Planning opens the right doors and presents options and possibilities in the future.

Leadership is about excellence, but a leader does not command excellence.  What a leader does is build excellence.  A leader creates excellence, being all the best that they can be and doing what is right for the organization.  Achieving excellence is not just about accomplishing something or getting the job done.  Excellence in leadership means a leader is engaged with good and strong character throughout the entire leadership process.  A leader always has to welcome change and cope with it.  Leadership has to progress and move forward with change.  Be open to learning.  It opens doors to knowing yourself more and fortifying it.  Knowledge is power.  Leadership is not only leading other people, but also yourself.  If you lead yourself effectively then you can also lead other people effectively.  Achieving excellence is not easy and must be earned.  It starts with planning, strong leadership and having good character.

Robert J Dahl