Sustained Excellence
I am fascinated by organizations, teams and individuals that that can achieve sustained excellence. By sustained excellence I mean consistent success, maybe not always winning the championship but being in contention year after year. I look at teams like the New York Yankees, North Carolina Women’s Soccer, De la Sale High School Football in
Strong Leadership
Continuity in Leadership
Consistent Discipline (Incredible self discipline for the individual)
Continually Striving to Improve
Tradition – if you don’t have one, then create one
Work Ethic that is well defined and with a purpose
Talent – Ability to identify and acquire talent that will fit the system without stifling the individual
Consistency in all aspects – Never too high or never too low
Research & Innovation – Constantly looking for ways to get better.
Change – Recognize that is it is a constant and it must be part of the plan
Plan – Have a well defined, but flexible plan with built in contingencies
Execution – Execute the plan
Evaluation – Objectively and unemotionally evaluate the plan
The Whole Person – Concern for the whole person “24 Hour Athlete” concept. You can’t just be great two hours a day you must be great 24 hours a day.
Adversity – Thrive on it and accept. Deal with it without panic
Confidence – Quiet and assured, not cocky or boastful
Execution – The level of expectation, determines the level of achievement. They expect to be the best, never surprised.
Contrast this to the losers and also ran’s – They always have an excuse. Usually something like yea but or if only. The loser will constantly reflect on why? The winner focuses on HOW!!!
posted by Vern Gambetta @ 4/12/2006 10:49:00 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Vern,
This is interesting. There is a small town high school here that has won the MA state swim championship 13 years in a row - this year they went up to D1 and did the same thing... based on snippets from the papers, they have a great mentality including many things you outlined in your post. I would like to try to get in touch with the coach and hear his thoughts on what they have built.
Recently, the chamber of commerce here had Peter Senge come for a brief talk. Peter has written some great books looking at buisness organization or more specifically organizations as a whole and affecting change within them. One of the questions asked of Peter was "when you are on top, how do you stay there... it seems so much easier to get there than stay there?". He had a decent answer, but not as direct as the person would like. His answers format didnt really sit with many people there very well.
It left me thinking about sustained excellence, how I help folks achieve it and how I can work to achieve it.
The biggest thing that jumps out at me is pretty simple. The assumption that you are "there" when you have success kills the process. What keeps people/organizations there is an open mind willing to be challenged and constantly grow... that mindset keeps people in line for all the great points you mentioned. I read a great quote years ago by Bjorn Dahle the XC skier. I will not get this just right so it is paraphrased... After recieving his medal for winning the world championships he was asked how it feels to be a world champion:
"I am not a world champion. If we skied the race right now again I may not win."
Folks, or organizations that sustain excellence, I believe do so because of an unbelievable willingness to be open, and take on challenges. A willingness to allways look at how to change and grow and evolve.
As soon as some one or a group determines it is at the peak, it seems the mind shifts and those same traits that got them there no longer lead the way.
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