In The Final Analysis, It All Comes Down to One Thing

Welcome back to the Art of Leadership Mastery?. If you enjoy reading today's article, I invite you to comment, like, and share, and if you are a new reader, please consider subscribing for complete access to all editions. Now for this week...

I'm always searching for new, real-life examples of great leadership. Look hard enough, and you will find examples of leadership in everyday life. It could be a friend speaking up, a compassionate smile from one stranger to another, someone making an extra effort to listen and help a customer have a wonderful experience, a colleague demonstrating ethical behavior in a difficult situation, etc.

What is great leadership, and why does it matter?

Greatness is the struggle against mediocrity. - Peter Koestenbaum, LEADERSHIP - The Inner Side of Greatness

My definition of greatness is a product of many of my life experiences. Similarly, I have formed my own definition of mediocrity.

I have seen leaders take charge, stand up for their beliefs, have a clear vision for the future, and demonstrate courage. However, I have also witnessed leaders interested in just getting by, not making waves, or focusing only on their own self-interest, and it is disheartening to see this.

Mediocrity diminishes the soul. How do I know this? Because I lived it. There was a time in my life when I was apathetic, where nothing I did or had to say could make any difference. It was a time when my own self-view was less than. I was content to accept others' views of me as though they were cast in stone and irreparable.

Mediocrity, then, is not living to your fullest potential. It can be described as living and working inside your comfort zone. In the context of your firm, it's no different.

Pursuing greatness is a choice, and that beats the alternative every time.

In Pursuit of Greatness

In my freshman year in high school, I was made to attend a private school some 20 miles from home, and I decided to try out for the football team. My first love was basketball, but football fell on the calendar first, and I wanted to participate in my new school. The problem was that there was no clear path to creating even a modicum of greatness in football in that environment. It was dreadful.

I begged my parents to let me attend the brand-new public high school much closer to home. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Striving for greatness and being the best was never a question. I thrived on this pursuit to overcome mediocrity for myself and my team. It filled my soul and enabled me to continue that pursuit through college. (An added bonus was meeting my future wife there).

From my experience, there is only one pursuit: greatness. It's the pursuit of being the best or winning the championship. It's continuous improvement and challenging yourself to grow and expand each day. It's not easy, and you may fail at achieving it, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Would you?

The Secret to High Performance

In Drive, The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel Pink writes, "Science shows that the secret to high performance isn't our biological drive or our reward-and-punishment drive, but our third drive... to live a life of purpose."

Your employees are increasingly motivated by contributing to something greater than their own self-interests. This shift in mindset is from a more compliance-oriented mindset to one of deeper engagement. They seek to contribute more and to be problem-solvers. They are motivated more by intrinsic values (like freedom, challenge, and purpose) rather than merely extrinsic ones (like money or recognition).

One cannot lead life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself. - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow

In Pursuit of Excellence

Think of greatness as achieving excellence. This pursuit motivates and gives meaning to our work. It's what all successful teams do well.

In Gridiron Genius, author Michael Lombardi shares his experiences with some of the greatest N.F.L. coaches of the modern era, including Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick. The great ones focus on culture.

Culture eats strategy for breakfast. - Peter Drucker

Great coaches are great leaders. They command certain qualities that make them great, such as a clear vision for pursuing excellence, clear communication of the vision and what's expected, a consistent set of core beliefs, building trust and accountability (including personal accountability), and leading by example.

From my experience, if you want to lead or be part of a winning team, you must first embrace a winning mindset and establish a clear vision for the future. This is culture, and actions define culture.

Strategy and systems are important, but without a clear idea of the path to pursue, how do you know you have the right strategies or systems in place? So don't put the cart before the horse. Culture and vision are your foundations for the pursuit of excellence and greatness.

Your job is to consider yourself the Head Coach. To put it another way, be the CCO - Chief Culture Officer.

The One Thing?

We've covered a lot today. However, I keep returning to one thing while searching for great leadership. What is that?

For each thought expressed here today, one thing runs through all of it. When I started writing this morning, I thought the one thing would be culture, but there is something that comes before culture. It's your mindset and your choices that follow.

You are a leader. Leaders make choices every day. Some are good choices, and some are not. From my experience, it's better to choose something than nothing. If you choose poorly, learn from it and course correct if possible.

Nothing good comes from inaction. Actually, doing nothing is a choice. So long as you realize it is a delay designed to keep you and your company safe, so be it. Just don't delay too often or too long.

Deciding to overcome mediocrity is a choice. The pursuit of greatness and excellence are choices. Setting a course for a new horizon is a choice.

So I ask you, what do you choose right now? Go ahead. Share your choice in the comment section below.

Until next time!

Want to learn more? Book a call with me here. I'd be happy to hop on a quick call to share some more of my best ideas and tips.

Leading in uncertain and complex times is challenging. What separates good leaders from great ones is the 'inner game' or mindset of leadership. CEO Sensei, former BDO managing partner, and martial arts blackbelt John Fenton is one of the few who address this critical aspect of leading well. John's unique methodology brings clarity, pragmatism, and encouragement to managing partners, board executives, and CEOs today. He is an award-winning speaker, a heart attack survivor, and the author of the bestselling book, "5 Minute Mastery?, The Surprising Secrets for Transforming Your Stress to Success and Mastering What’s Important."