Monday Memo 299: Excellence

It's been a busy week here in Zimbabwe at the Action 2007 Conference sponsored by Celebration Church. I have left the house every day at 8 AM and returned no earlier than 10 PM. Tonight is the last session as I write and everything in me wants to pull an old Monday Memo out of the archive. Yet I can't do that; I won't do that. Why? Because I am committed to excellence and that personal value warrants at least an attempt at writing a fresh Memo. So let's see how it goes.

EXCELLENCE ISN'T PERFECTION

When I was younger, I thought that excellence was perfection. No wonder I was always angry and frustrated. I couldn't seem to get anything done perfectly. Then I had an experience that redefined excellence for me. I was in San Francisco and went into a Nordstrom Department store on a New Year's Eve where I found some dress shirts in my size. That was a big deal, because shirts for me were hard to find. I bought four shirts and my family and I proceeded to shop through the mall where Nordstrom was located. At some point during our shopping, I put my bag down and lost my shirts!

I was upset and immediately began to retrace my steps through the mall, to no avail. Finally I ended up back at the shirt counter in Nordstrom. I asked if anyone had turned in a bag of shirts and the clerk said no one had. When I told her what had happened, she said, "Well, just pick out four more shirts." I explained that I could not afford four more shirts but she insisted and made me identify which four I had originally selected. She promptly put them in a bag, handed them to me and said, "Happy New Year from Nordstrom. There is no charge."

I have told that story and, every time I do, people say, "Wow!" While that doesn't define excellence, it does show that you know excellence when you encounter it.

SO WHAT IS IT?

If excellence isn't perfection, then what is it? It's an attitude, a spirit found among those who go beyond the ordinary, beyond the expectations of others. Excellence isn't doing the minimum requirement, it is going the extra mile, not because you must but because you choose to do so. The sales clerk had an attitude of excellence that turned my imperfection into an memorable moment, one that has lasted me for 20 years. That's the power of excellence.

I have always focused on two passages from the Bible to clarify and frame my value of excellence. The first is in Mark 7:37, which states: "People were overwhelmed with amazement. 'He [Jesus] has done everything well,' they said." The second is from Colossians 3:23-24: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward." While excellence is often reward enough, an extra bonus from God doesn't hurt.

What is your attitude toward excellence? Do you pursue it? Is it a lifestyle of an occasional occurrence? When you function in purpose and pursue goals, excellence is not easily attained yet ultimately unavoidable. People cannot help but say "Wow!" when they experience from you what I experienced with my shirts in Nordstrom.

So there you have it. I hope my effort to write something new is in line with the excellence theme. If it isn't, then feel free to write me with your own example of real-life excellence. You can post it on the site where this entry is posted. In the meantime, I hope you have an excellence-filled week!

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Here is my schedule for the coming weeks:

June 1-4 -- South Africa

June 5-8 -- Harare, Zimbabwe

June 8-10 -- Nairobi, Kenya

June 10-14 -- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

June 19-21 --Lagos, Nigeria

June 30 -- home to the States

July 9-11 -- Christian Booksellers Convention in Atlanta, Georgia

July 14-21 -- Alaska Cruise with Michael W. Smith

You can check out the Monday Memos from the last year at www.stankomondaymemo.com. You can also post your comments to this entry on that site as well.

Comments

[anna-marie]

hey Dr J

just to say thank you, thank God for you, for taking the time to mail and encourage us.thank you, for going ahead to show excellence and commitment when you could have done otherwise.

we had a girls sleep over on staurday, and we spoke about excellence.its amazing how we as christians wait for someone to take the lead in displaying excellence before we get 'challenged' to do the same.i make a commitment to display excellence in all i do, even if everything in me says otherwise.thank you for the challenge Dr J, and thank you for taking time to build me/us.God bless and increase you.

we may have a standard of excellence, but we now live lifestyles of excellence.you never know who is watchin, and learning from you.

God bless

anna-marie

[Glenn Marble]

Hi John,

Enjoyed your memo about the definition of excellence. In my career as an analyst and programmer, I have always made perfection my goal. The perfect program performs the correct actions on the correct data at the correct time. But I have come to accept the fact that, as an imperfect person, I will create imperfect programs - the first time. But my attitude toward my work does not permit me to leave my work in an imperfect state. One advantage programmers have is that they can go back and improve their work again and again until it really does approach perfection.

I like to use the slogan from GMC trucks, "We are professional grade." My work may not always be perfect, but my standards require excellence as the mark of a professional.

[Abigail W. Kofete]

Dr. Stanko...as always, I thank God for you and how our paths have crossed over the past few years. You have been a bigger blessing to me than you'll ever know. I also enjoyed your memo today about excellence. Like many, I've known that I need to start an exercise routine, but today was my day to start. I am so proud of myself and motivated, because - like you, I didn't want to do it, but I've made a committment and I must honor it. I always try to keep in mind one of my favorite quotes from Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"

Continue in the habit of excellence...God Bless!

[Tanya, Cathedral of Life Christian Assembly]

Hello Dr. Stanko, I wanted to take a moment to respond to this Monday Memo as it speaks to me on two levels. First I am utterly exhausted like I have never been in my life. I guess shifting my priorties so that I can walk in my purpose while doing everything else (for now) will do that :). I truly believe in doing everything with excellence! This week my daughter, Symone (9), will reap a harvest in this area as she has caught the "excellence principle" She has been called to come minister in dance in Orlando, FL (we fly out this Friday). She has also been invited to come perform in the Chocolate Nutcracker in Orlando, St. Petersburg and Ohio, Winter 2007 (her first paid professional performance). I believe this door has opened up for her because of the anointing of the Lord that is upon her and because she tries to dance as unto the Lord and not as unto men. Whether she dances in front of a church or others she knows she must glorify God and do her very best. I am so pleased that at this age she is learning that the Word of God is true.

Thank you for sowing seed on fertile ground.

God Bless,

Tanya

[Kudzai Mapingire]

Dr John,it is always pleasurable to hear from.Thank you very much for encouraging us on striving for the best for what wed do.You have always been the "salt" to the world,adding taste and preserving it from decadence.Thank you for being with us during our annual Action Conference, in Harare Zimbabwe.