This is a guest post from Josh Cole, the Founder/President of I.S.I. Leadership Consulting, LLC and is the author of The Heart of a Shepherd. Josh is a friend of mine and a great leader. Enjoy!
Excellence is a term that often describes the best of the
best; it is a term that describes those who are more than average and those who
accomplish great things. Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a
habit”; and Vince Lombardi said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase
perfection we can catch excellence”.
Both men tell us that excellence is an ongoing pursuit; something that
we are constantly striving for. It is
not a “one and done” deal.
While these quotes are inspirational, encouraging, and
motivational, it can be a challenge to figure out how to apply them. That said, I would like to share with you
some characteristics that you can demonstrate that will help you in your
pursuit for excellence, along with some verses that talk about them.
1.
Be
distinguished (Daniel 6:3)-Daniel set himself apart from the people that
surrounded him. The result of that was,
“the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” That thing to note, however, is that Daniel
did not distinguish himself in order to gain favor with the king; Daniel did it
because that is who he was. The same
needs to be true for us so that in everything we do we would strive to
distinguish ourselves with our exceptional qualities.
2.
Have
knowledge and discernment (Philippians 1:9-10)- Our knowledge will allow us
to discern between what is true and what is not, and to “approve the things
that are excellent”. Whether we are
washing dishes, mopping floors, assisting customers, counting inventory, making
product, or leading an organization, we need to know everything there is to know. We all need to view ourselves as students,
understanding that there is always something to learn. The minute we stop believing we have more to
learn is when we eliminate any possibility of growth.
3.
Give it
your all (Colossians 3:23)- Our efforts do not go unnoticed. Likewise, our lack of effort does not go
unnoticed either. I get it, we all have
bad days and our motivation seems to be completely absent. It is difficult to find purpose sometimes; we
think that our tasks are unimportant.
God honors everything that we do as long as we are doing it for
Him. So, “whatever you do work at it
with all your heart...”
4.
Be a
model of good works (Titus 2:7)- Whether we realize it or not, someone is
looking up to us. Our influence reaches
further than we think, and we are called to be good stewards of that
influence. Our attitude, performance,
and words have a big impact on the people around us. Unfortunately, we often choose not to think
about that, and we become a model of mediocrity or even worse.
5.
Be
committed (Proverbs 16:3)- We make a lot of commitments: employee-employer
relationships, lunch plans, marriages, and the list goes on. Let me ask you, what percentage of your
commitments last? The Lord takes His
commitments very seriously and so should we; and whatever commitments we make,
we should commit those to Him. If I make
a commitment based on my own ability, it is likely to fail. But if I make a commitment to the Lord, He
will establish my plans. I like that
option better.
6.
Be
confident (2 Corinthians 3:5, Isaiah 41:10)- Confidence covered in
humility. That is a tough balance to
maintain. Normally, we slide from one
side of the spectrum to the other.
First, we must understand that without the Lord, we are nothing. Once we acknowledge that, we must remember
that He made us for a purpose and equipped us with the skills, talents, and
strengths to accomplish great things.
7.
Build up
others (Romans 15:1-3)- We were not given our abilities for our own selfish
purposes; rather, we are called to use them for the good and encouragement of others. Often we think of ways to use our abilities
for the betterment of ourselves, and not for the betterment of others. We need to change that mindset.
8.
Time
management (Colossians 4:5, Psalm 90:12)- Most of us, if we were honest,
would like to be better at managing our time.
Often it is the contrary that happens, our time manages us. We need to “make the most of every
opportunity”, yet, are incapable of doing so if we are living under the burden
and stress of poor time management. The
psalmist says that when we learn to number our days, we can then gain a heart
of wisdom. The problem is we view our
time as a limitless resource, which causes us to devalue it. Tasks and to-do lists pile up and we begin to
run around but accomplish nothing. Value
each minute and learn how to say no.
These are not all the things that we must consider as we
strive to be excellent, but can be a great foundation to build upon. Before you can ever expect to lead others,
you first must lead yourself and that personal leadership starts here, with the
pursuit of excellence. So today I
encourage you to do everything you do with excellence.
For more of Joshua Cole check out I.S.I. Leadership Consulting,
LLC and his book, The
Heart of a Shepherd.
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