I Need High Quality Standards
As a leader, I don’t just want everyone on my team to be an expert in their area, I want
them to want to be an expert in their area. Mastery is a powerful motivator, and it’s good
for them and our organization.
Being an expert – a master at something – opens the door to my employees growing
better at what they do. Daniel Pink in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What
Motivates Us says mastery is a mindset not a destination. “It requires the capacity to
see your abilities not as finite, but as infinitely improvable.”
Mastering high quality work every day isn’t easy. It requires the drive to get better even
when it means redoing the same thing repeatedly until you master it. As NFL Football
Coach Tony Dungy says champions are just doing ordinary things, they have just
mastered the basics, following the habits they have learned and doing it so well and so
fast, the opposing team doesn’t have time to react.
I am working now to get our in-house staff to be experts in mowing. I need them to be
extremely efficient, precise and make the lawn areas pop with manicured precision.
Being the best requires knowing what the best looks like, so I carried a few of our mow
team members across town to look at some commercial lawns being mowed well. Their
eyes were opened as we broke down the exact details needed to duplicate this work on
our property. How to do this day in and day out, not just one time.
As a leader, it is important for me to recognize the potential in my team members –
especially those who can’t see themselves being the best just yet. I try to celebrate
when someone hits the high-quality mark. I work to encourage them to have a critical
eye as they approach excellence. Once they’ve reached mastery, I trust them, but
continue to inspect them. I inspect to validate them hitting the mark. This simple practice
builds respect as I applaud their new level of excellence.
High level performers enjoy the inspections, because it validates their work and gives
them pride of ownership in mastering their skills. They become one of the best of the
best.
Keep leveling up and leading the way,
Jeff
