Lesson 8 Good to Great

Coaching for College Students

Lesson 8 - - Good to Great

Today’s lesson overlaps attitude and goals. 

Jim Collins is the author of one of my favorite business books “Good to Great”.  The concept is really seen even in the title.  Good is okay (maybe), but we should strive for GREAT.  There is a world of difference between:  it was a good dinner and it was a GREAT dinner.  Likewise: that was a good paper and that was a GREAT paper.  And again:  I got good service at the restaurant and I got GREAT service at the restaurant. 

Great is ‘nailing it’.  Great is going the extra mile, doing the extra things that really make the activity memorable. 

If you want to get to your BHAG, you need to be GREAT. 

So, how do you get to be great?

1.       Set your attitude to ‘great’

2.       Don’t waste time

3.       Keep the end in mind

4.       Dig deeper, analyze more

5.       Don’t settle for good when you can be great

Let’s look at these concepts:

1.       Set your attitude to ‘great’.

Yes, attitude is the main part of GREAT.  You have to believe you can be great, you have to put that deep in your brain to be great.  In most jobs and activities, there will be barriers to break through.  If you get stopped too easily, you won’t get to great.  Push through and keep your brain focused on GREAT.

2.       Don’t waste time.

I’m not a big TV watcher.  While recreation and fun have to be part of life, to get to great you have to put the time and effort into it.  For me TV is a waste of time.  While it can be fun and even educational to watch some television, in many cases, that hour (or two hours or four hours) in front of the television keeps you from achieving some other tasks towards your goal.  When I taught high school, I only went into the faculty lounge to get coffee and then back to my classroom to work on lessons.  I know farmers who in the off season are fixing fences, doing analyses of crops and new techniques.  Yes, there should be a vacation in that off season, but even then – the off season is a time to gear up for the new season.  My high school teaching was in a rural area.  Some farmers spent their time at the café or the tavern during the off season, while others (and generally the more successful ones) spent their off season time being productive.

3.       Keep the end in mind

If you haven’t done it, read Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  One of Covey’s habits is keep the end in mind.  There is an adage “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there”.  Be focused.  Read your goals daily.  Know what you want and work towards it.

4.       Dig deeper, analyze  more

Sometimes on the surface, we can comprehend things fairly well, but to really understand you have to really dig deeper.  For example, the stock market  has swings, and analysts go deeper to understand trends and the reasons behind them.  Asking “why” is a good tool to find the root cause of events.

5.       Don’t settle for good when you can get to great.

There are times to settle for okay.  For example, you like music and you have played in a band or orchestra.  But, music is not going to be your career.  Being a good trumpet player in the band may put you on the second or third trumpet part.  You can enjoy being part of the ensemble without all the practice of being the first trumpet player.  But, when you are passionate about something, you need to press to great.  Are you happy being an ‘average’ jogger, or are you aiming for track records?  Are you happy with being a good accountant, but you are passionate about accounting and want to be great?  Settling for ‘good’ when you can get to great is like getting a “B” or a “C” grade when you know you could have an “A” – and not just an “A”, but the top grade in the class if you really worked at it.

Assignment:

1. Review your goals from lesson 6 and 7:  Take your primary BHAG and do an in-depth analysis of what you will have to do to reach that goal. What would it take to be GREAT – one of the tops in the field you choose?
2. Reflective – are you committed to being great? 
3. What is your passion towards your goals – just ‘good’ or ‘exceptional’ (that is ‘great’)?

And a quote from Mark Twain: ““Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”