First Lesson in Leadership
Note: Originally published on my old blog on July 20th, 2013.
For the first two weeks of July, I took part in extensive leadership training while at Area 4 Leadership Academy/Sail Training 2013. The first day we were there, we were told that we have to earn our cords (symbol worn on our uniforms to indicate graduation from LA/ST) every day. I intend to earn my cord each day by sharing what I have learned and by being a better leader in the organizations I am involved in.
Today’s post is about the very first thing I learned while at Leadership Academy:
What this means:
When I first heard this statement I felt that I did not need to worry–by comparison to others I am not mediocre. Then I realized where I was. I was among the top 2% of cadets from Delaware to Maine and I knew it was going to be much harder to stand out and be better than average.
But I was missing the point.
The quote, “Being mediocre is not an option,” is not about comparing yourself to others. It’s about comparing your performance with your highest potential. Whenever you are not striving to be your very best then you are being mediocre. Leaders do not accept mediocrity in themselves nor in their team. Once you remove the option of being mediocre, you are on the path to achieving your optimal state.
How to apply it:
Always strive for the trophy and in doing so you will have won–even if you don’t bring home the prize.
While I was at LA/ST the platoon I was a part of, Gold Platoon, won five out of seven streamers and we were designated the honor platoon. One of the reasons we were so successful as a platoon was because we did not accept mediocrity in ourselves as individuals nor in our performance as a team. We began to understand that success was the journey toward the goal and the prize or streamer in our case was just the cherry on top.
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