Four simple steps on how to be the best.

So how do I become the best? 

The simple answer is, there is no right or wrong way to become the best, it's simply whatever works best for you. However, when I started looking at some of the people I regard as the best, whether that's in business, sport, or any walk of life, I found there are a great deal of similarities. The key is to spot these and use the ones that work best for you. What I've found is, if you want to be the best or even try to be the best you need to do these four things.

Firstly, have the vision, i.e. Choose what it is you want to be the best at and have a clear and defined reason as to why you want to achieve that. This is your BHAG as it's often called or Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

Secondly, understand what your definition of 'the best' is. Do you mean the best in the world in the case of someone like Mo Farah, the best in your City, Company, or just the best you can be? It doesn't matter what it is but you must have a defined target. 

The third thing you then need is a plan. This, I split into two. The first part is the plan on how I'm going to achieve the goal, the second part is bench marking the plan. For your plan, work backwards from the goal to the start of your challenge and work out realistic but stretch targets for you to achieve on the way. The more detailed these are for me the better. For example, our Annual revenue target is broken down to weekly targets and daily KPI’s to hit these. This way I can see very early on if we are going off track and make small adjustments rather than finding out monthly we missed target when it’s too late to adapt. The second part is to the work out some bench marks along the way to ensure all the hard work and training we are doing is actually working and having a positive effect. If it is, we continue with the plan, if not you can re-evaluate. 

The fourth thing I do and I can't emphasise this strongly enough, is to get the right team in place. My job as the leader of a specific challenge is to be a conductor and make sure I have the best possible musicians in place to produce the best results. Now that doesn't just mean internally. So again, for our revenue target, of course I have to have a great team in house from sales to client services and marketing but also the team publishing our journals, we need the best editors, production staff and designers as well as great support staff. But what I also need is external support to challenge, push and support me. For this I use the team at Fluid Business coaching predominantly Andy Sleet who coaches me weekly and I also spend two days a quarter with him and the rest of our senior management team looking at our results against our benchmarks and evaluating our plans and strategy for the next quarter. I also meet with Steve Clarke and his Platinum mastermind group for a day each month to increase my own personal development and learn from other business leaders often in a similar boat to me. Along with this I have a couple of mentors I see on an ad hoc basis as and when needed, so I am constantly learning, innovating and growing as an individual.

For me to succeed at any challenge I must do all four of these things and generally if I do them I succeed at the challenge.

The reason I decided to write this post is because on the 28th May I'm undertaking one of the biggest challenges I've ever done and so wanted to make sure I'd prepared in the best possible way to succeed with the challenge. Keep an eye out for more information on #Challenge273 soon and good luck becoming the best! 

I'd love to know your secrets for success and how you aim to be the best, please either comment below or message me. Thanks Spencer