Commitment of Excellence
The comment, “He/she is born a leader” is commonplace. Certain natural traits inherent in some people tend to make them occupy a niche where other people look up to them for leadership. Whether this argument is true or, a fallacy remains a debatable issue. Nonetheless, there are various l traits that are common in effective leaders.
Some are innate while others are learnt through training and experience. Of these traits, commitment to excellence takes a leading role in today’s leader. Any person worth of being regarded as an exemplary leader must commit him/her self to the pursuit of excellence. To this leader, second best is hardly an ingredient for success. Commitment to excellence drives one to setting and maintaining higher performance standards, both for the benefit of his organizational objectives as well as personal growth and development.
Leaders who commit themselves to excellence are also proactive in upgrading the bar with an aim of recording excellence in multiple areas. Such leaders rarely compromise standards or values (Cox & Hoover, 2002). They demand excellence, both from their juniors and themselves. Excellent leaders have an obsession for getting every little detail exactly right. The excellent leader heavily draws from the advice that, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right.
A leader who wholly throws himself into the effort of pursuit of excellence establishes “a championship culture” (Carter, Ulrich & Goldsmith, 2005)). Upon the achievement of excellence, employees feel valued, the leader rides on the feeling that his organization is the best, and customers regard the services as extraordinary. Everybody involved adopts the feeling of being a champion. The leader will influence others to integrate the value of commitment to excellence in the organization’s vision, mission, core values as well as strategic plan-the path to creating a championship culture. According to Williams and Denney (2010), one had better toil for absolute quality and excellence- or they cannot compete.
