Pen's Ponderings

My greatest passion is helping you discover yours. Ponder these thoughts and create a happy day. Ü

[deactivated-blog]

A leader’s most valuable asset is not their time but their energy and ability to energize others.

Bill Hybels (via wellsaidblog)

[rickross10]

[pensponderings]

Leadership is a human experience. It doesn't happen on paper or with rank or publicity. It is earned when other people choose to follow.

~Simon Sinek

[pensponderings]

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

~Lao Tzu

[pensponderings]

Excellence or Success

During the past few months I had the opportunity to speak to the University of Clemson football team, the University of Oklahoma Women’s basketball team and The Atlanta Falcons. In my talks I shared that the best of the best make their life and work a quest for excellence and that there is a difference between success and excellence.

Success is often measured by comparison to others. Excellence, on the other hand, is all about being the best we can be and maximizing our gifts, talents and abilities to perform at our highest potential.

We live in a world that loves to focus on success and loves to compare. We are all guilty of doing this. However, I believe that to be our best we must focus more on excellence and less on success. We must focus on being the best we can be and realize that our greatest competition is not someone else but ourselves.

For example, coaching legend John Wooden often wouldn’t tell his players who they were playing each game. He felt that knowing the competition was irrelevant. He believed that if his team played to the best of their ability they would be happy with the outcome. In fact, John Wooden never focused on winning. He had his team focus on teamwork, mastering the fundamentals, daily improvement and the process that excellence requires. As a result he and his teams won A LOT.

A focus on excellence was also the key for golfing legend Jack Nicklaus. His secret was to play the course not the competition. He simply focused on playing the best he could play against the course he was playing. While others were competing against Jack, he was competing against the course and himself.

The same can be said for Apple’s approach with the iPod, iPhone and iPad. When they created these products they didn’t focus on the competition. Instead they focused on creating the best product they could create. As a result, rather than measuring themselves against others they have become the measuring stick.

We have a choice as individuals, organizations and teams. We can focus on success and spend our life looking around to see how our competition is doing, or we can look straight ahead towards the vision of greatness we have for ourselves and our teams. We can look at competition as the standard or as an indicator of our progress towards our own standards. We can chase success or we can embark on a quest for excellence and focus 100% of our energy to become our best… and let success find us.

Ironically, when our goal is excellence the outcome and byproduct is often success.

-Jon Gordon

[sandmaxprime]

My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better.

Steve Jobs

[sandmaxprime]

My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better.

Steve Jobs

[trimtabworld-blog]

India and Pakistan came together to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the United Nations last October 2, celebrated as the ‘International Day of Non-Violence’.

A simple yet remarkable man, Gandhi is one of the greatest leaders that has truly inspired millions of...

[bluepantsdesign]

[pensponderings]

[girlinawhimsicalland-blog]

[aitakut-e]

♥

[childrenwaitingforthedaythe-blog]

“If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery 

[leadsb-blog]

[pensponderings]

Failure is only postponed success as long as courage coaches ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.

Herbert Kaufman

[pensponderings]

[pensponderings]

[pensponderings]