In search of excellence

In the 1980s, Tom Peters published a book called, “In Search of Excellence.” I am sure he wasn’t the first to propose many of the ideas in the book, but for some reason, the timing of his book struck a nerve in the business world. At the time, many companies in America had begun to lag behind foreign competition in regard to the quality of the products they produced. 

To a certain extent, we had become lazy — resting on the fact that we were the leaders in international industry. The American automobile industry still has not fully recovered from this oversight. Many foreign car makers enjoy — in reputation if not in fact – an advantage in quality and resale value over their American counterparts, all because many Americans lost the drive to be excellent in all they do for a period of time.

What Peters, and the many who followed in his footsteps, did to reignite a passion to be excellent in business, the writer of our Proverb has been doing for centuries if anyone would have paid attention: “Do you see any truly skilled workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people.”

This has the connotation of being very skilled or excellent — not just competent. So, what does it take then to be skilled or excellent at something — to become a master at your chosen activity? 

First, you must have a teachable spirit about you. Then you must be willing to put in the long and hard hours to develop the skill. Finally, you must be unwavering in your commitment to unequaled quality. These aspects of excellence apply to any pursuit, whether you are a farmer, a store clerk, a worker in a factory, a housewife, a CEO or a teacher. Pursuing excellence is something all of us should aspire to in every area of our life. We should be committed to being excellent spouses, and parents, and sons and daughters, and workers, and friends.

So, since my primary calling is that of a pastor, allow me to spend the last few moments talking about being a skilled Christian as an example of achieving excellence – you may draw from this and apply it to any aspect of your life. 

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