The best way to find out whether you're on the right path? Stop looking at the path.
Marcus BuckinghamRead
Define excellence vividly, quantitatively. Paint a picture for your most talented employees of what excellence looks like. Keep everyone pushing and pushing toward the right-hand edge of the bell curve.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Excellence should be clearly defined and visually represented to inspire employees to strive for it.
Marcus Buckingham emphasizes the importance of defining excellence in a detailed and quantitative manner to motivate talented employees. By clearly illustrating what excellence looks like, leaders can inspire their team to continuously improve and aim for the highest standards, pushing the boundaries of their abilities and potential.
Themes
ExcellenceMotivationLeadershipPerformanceInspiration
In practice
Example use cases
In a team meeting to set goals and expectations for the upcoming project.
More from Marcus Buckingham
All quotes βStrengths are not activities you're good at, they're activities that strengthen you. A strength is an activity that before you're doing it you look forward to doing it; while you're doing it, time goes by quickly and you can concentrate; after you've done it, it seems to fulfill a need of yours.
Marcus BuckinghamRead
There has to be a way to redirect employee's driving ambition and to channel it more productively. There is. Create heroes in every role. Make every role, performed at excellence, a respected profession.
Marcus BuckinghamRead
Most of my work has been in corporations, studying how you build an organization that helps people to identify and work to their strengths.
Marcus BuckinghamRead
The true genius of a great manager is his or her ability to individualize. A great manager is one who understands how to trip each person's trigger.
Marcus BuckinghamRead
Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in.
Marcus BuckinghamRead
Similar quotes
I have been given the authority over you, and I am not the best of you. If I do well, help me; and if I do wrong, set me right. Sincere regard for truth.
Abu BakrRead
A cardinal principle of Total Quality escapes too many managers: you cannot continuously improve interdependent systems and processes until you progressively perfect interdependent, interpersonal relationships.
Stephen CoveyRead
Sometimes leadership is planting trees under whose shade you'll never sit. It may not happen fully till after I'm gone. But I know that the steps we're taking are the right steps.
Jennifer GranholmRead
Being a woman in control of a company - even a small private company, as ours was then - was so singular and surprising in those days that I necessarily stood out. In 1963, and for the first several years of my working life, my situation was certainly unique.
Katharine GrahamRead
Once you have a staff of prepared, intelligent, and energetic people, the next step is to motivate them to be creative.
Akio MoritaRead
Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.
Robert E. LeeRead