Many business owners and leaders automatically expect excellence from their team.
But here’s the real question:
Does your team actually know what excellence looks like?
What makes us think people have been taught how to be excellent?
If you’re not spending time with your team — showing them what excellence looks like, modeling it, and teaching it — they will simply operate at the highest level they know.
And that level may not match yours.
Where Did They Learn Excellence?
Think about it:
- Parents
- Teachers
- Former leaders
- Friends
- Previous workplaces
Every team member walks into your organization with their own definition of “excellent.”
If you want more than what they’ve experienced before, then you must teach what you expect.
How to Create Excellence in Your Business
1. Create a Culture of Excellence
Excellence doesn’t happen by accident. It must be built intentionally.
You do that by:
- Modeling it
- Teaching it
- Reinforcing it
- Protecting it
And when excellence slips, address it quickly.
Jump on issues early. That doesn’t mean taking someone’s head off. It means showing them what’s wrong, explaining why it matters, and treating them with dignity while you correct it.
When you handle problems with clarity and respect, your team develops buy-in instead of resentment.
2. Recognize Excellence
People repeat what they are rewarded for.
If you only point out what’s wrong, guess what your culture becomes focused on?
Instead, start this week by pointing out where you’ve seen excellence in your building.
When you highlight someone’s excellent behavior:
- Be specific
- Explain why it matters
- Connect it to the mission
Use a “we take care of each other” mindset instead of a crusade mentality.
If we continue to serve customers well…
If we continue to support one another…
If we continue to raise the bar…
Then excellence becomes normal.
3. Create a Process for Recognition
Put a system in place that allows team members to recognize each other.
Encourage your team to brag on one another.
When peer recognition becomes part of your culture, excellence multiplies.
4. Address Lack of Excellence the Right Way
You must also define what poor performance looks like.
Don’t call out individuals publicly in meetings — handle those conversations one-on-one with care.
But you can absolutely use examples of poor service (from other companies or experiences) to teach your team what not to do and why it matters.
Excellence cannot be demanded.
It must be created.
Make Excellence Part of Your Culture
Your team will be excellent when:
- You create excellence in your culture
- You teach it consistently
- You train people clearly
- You model it daily
Excellence isn’t a speech.
It’s a standard.
And it’s your responsibility to define it.
If this message resonated with you, share it with your team.
Excellence spreads when leaders choose to build it.
Resources:
- How To Become A Leader Worth Following
- Jim Collins On Making Decisions
- How To Surround Yourself With Better People
For some reason I am thinking of the love “Ghost” now….
I learned excellence from mostly people I have never met. I didn’t have parents who strived for greatness. Or any teachers who pushed me. And for most of adulthood, I have been an entrepreneur, so I’ve only worked for two leaders..and one sucked.
So I learned to strive for excellence from books, videos, and yes, even television. Zig Ziglar, Tny Robbins, Eric Thomas, Jim Rohn and other speakers plus athletes such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Mike Tyson.
I know, Matt! I thought of that same scene! I’ll never look at Chris the same.
That was definitely an interesting choice for an image…
I went there for a second, but then Leslie Nielsen’s parody of the scene came to mind…
I love this, Chris.
When coaching others on excellence – Don’t let it go unrecognized.
When coaching others on lack of excellence – Don’t let it go unrecognized.
To tie this in to your last post: Managers demand excellence, and Leaders create teams that can’t do anything but excellent work.
I’m on a mission, to create excellence in my own circle, team, and life, and to point it out where others are doing the same.
Love this!
I have to thank my dad and my mom for having taught me what excellence looks like. They both always pointed out how I did something well, and how to do it even better. My dad was relentless on work ethic and performing at an outstanding level to the point where he built a solid career in a Fortune 100 company with a high-school degree and some training as a computer analyst. My teachers always encouraged me to go from A to A+ and my leaders at work have coached me and helped me grow. Had it not been for all these people, I would be completely lost. As a leader, my current job is to be the “excellence police”, showing people good examples of what we are striving for to wow our client.
Great post!!!
Excellence police! Sounds like a good job for Lily!!!
Needed to read this today. Thanks
I’ve heard for years “You must demand excellence from your team!” Uh, yeah. No. That’s the easy way out for a leader. The harder but more impactful route is to create it. I had a few professors in college who first taught me to be excellent and have many friends since then who have modeled it well.
Modeling is really the key there – sounds like you had some great professors?
My dad taught me to be excellent. He did his work, did it well, and kept on going.
There’s been very few of my official leaders in my business life that have taught me excellence. It’s business as usual until their superiors came.
I’ve learned that’s not excellence. It’s doing a half-baked job.
Joe, interesting how we can learn from examples that are contrary – the absence of excellence can teach quite a bit about it as well!
That’s right Jon. We can take the bad examples we’ve had in life and learn what not to do. It’s the anti-model.
Agreed Jon! I learn just as much from bad examples as anything else!!
My father and some key mentors I have had in my life!
Working for the family business my dad has always set a great example of excellence, not by his demands rather by the way he goes about his work. I find it enjoyable to work in that type of atmosphere.
I’m late to the party here, but I had to comment on this…
I run into this situation more often than I’d like. Being in a technical industry, I see this all the time. Leaders somehow think that by pushing people, constantly showing them where they are wrong, and telling them to do better, that somehow they will get better results. Really??
Running on a flat tire is only going to tear it up!
Teaching excellence in every detail, recognizing excellence that already exists, and most importantly reminding people how excellence ties into the mission is how you do that.
It’s sad how often people try to motivate with negativity.
Great post. Many have taught me what excellence looks like. Because of this my idea of excellence is changing and morphing. Something freeing telling your team grow with me as I grow.
When trying to create excellence, re-enforcing excellent behavior verbally is important, but we also need to make sure that our actions match our words. I’ve seen it happen too many times where a manager (term used on purpose) gives some sort of praise, but then treats the employee (again, term used on purpose) like their input, ideas, and needs are not important. The words of praise become a joke and distrust begins to grow. The employee becomes demoralized – which then spreads through the rest of the team.
I’ve probably done this same thing without realizing it. As I’m getting ready to start a new school year, I’m going to work at being more intentional and consistent. This is one area to work on.
I have so many people that have taught me to be excellent…and several have taught me by their BAD example.
You’re so right, you can’t force people to be. It’s through encouragement, support etc. people have to WANT to be excellent, otherwise they won’t be!
Great post brother! Thanks!!
I loved this post Chris!
It is a choice to choose excellence and I love the thought that excellence is your culture, which is actions and attitudes!!! Profound ways excellence can make an impact.
Excellent post and inspiring remarks, Chris. I would add to your list and the development of a “excellence” habits and reflections in the working place, because I do believe that everyday practice in “higher order”[!!!] thoughts, skills and practices can make a difference in an organization, company, group of people or just to yourself. Thank you for sharing these wonderful thoughts.
I keep coming back to this post. The info is straightforward, but it’s something I need to hear again and again. And again. As a matter of fact, I just set a recurring monthly reminder to read this post again and again. And again. Thanks for YOUR excellence!
My pleasure Dave!!