Life

If you aspire to excellence in your performance, you need to surround yourself with an environment of excellence.

Success comes with a price. But so does mediocrity.

Thomas Watson, the legendary CEO of IBM, gave this formula for achieving excellence: “As of this second, quit doing less than excellent work.”

People will grow in experience, knowledge, and ability. But you can’t expect anyone to grow into a commitment to excellence.

“I kept telling myself that hundreds of boys must have died in that sea, but something was feeling eerie.”

I think the message I want my story to get across boils down to two words: “Excellence matters.”

There are people in business, just as in any field, who have an uncanny skill set that seems gifted to them by birth. Like Mozart, who played violin and piano like a virtuoso at the age of six and as an adult composed multiple pieces in his head simultaneously, these business virtuosos possess incredible innate […]

Every seasoned and successful businessperson has had plenty of experience with deploying rapid, decisive action.

Whether you’re flying a plane, assaulting an enemy compound, or launching a business, you want to plan for as many contingencies as possible.

As Vince Lombardi said, “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”

Average means mediocre, and mediocre is the opposite of what we’re talking about here. What we’re looking for is outstanding.

Staying focused doesn’t mean that focus won’t or shouldn’t change. It has to change. This is the real world, not a business school class.