Striving for excellence – what Aristotle would want us to know
The notion of striving for excellence is not new, but remains an essential one in professional and personal development, as most leaders, managers, coaches and business figures, in one way or another, will tell us.
A couple of weeks ago, I was reading about “purpose”, and came across Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle’s work on excellence. In his work Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (whose name happens to mean “the best purpose”) emphasised that the concept of excellence is synchronous with the concept of fulfilment of function or purpose, the act of living up to one’s full potential.
Excellence is an important ingredient of professionalism and achievement at individual and organisational levels and any strengths-based management system. Excellence, simply defined, is ‘something of high quality’. And quality is about ‘being the best we can be’- a motto my manager advocates and something that resonates deeply with me, professionally and personally.
Excellence is not about doing great things. “Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well”, as American political figure John W. Garner famously put it. Excellence sets apart successful and unsuccessful teams, motivated and unmotivated employees, and high-achieving and under-performing individuals. In Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life (2010), Mike Krzyzewski made the point that “my hunger is not for success, it is for excellence. Because when you attain excellence, success follows.”
Looking back several centuries ago at what Aristotle said about excellence made me realise that he gave us some valuable, practical lessons that we can still apply. The following are the top four of Aristotle’s lessons I think he would want us to know on striving for excellence:
Lesson one: “We acquire a particular quality by acting in a particular way.”
For example, excellence is supported by taking responsibility for our own objectives and setting priorities. Taking initiative, along with practical and realistic action to achieve individual and team targets allows striving for excellence to become a way of working.
Lesson two: “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”
For example, excellence is honed by taking ownership of challenges and taking pre-emptive action to minimise risks to the organisation.
Lesson three: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
If we strive for excellence and not an outcome, we would excel no matter what. For example, we can continue to demonstrate excellence in the face of a setback. We can choose to treat mistakes as failures, or we can see them as valuable feedback and inspiration to do things better and wiser.
Lesson four: “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
We excel when we enjoy what we are doing. Being honest with ourselves about what we do not enjoy doing allows us to address those tasks to find ways to make productive changes. For example, prioritisation, being innovative and being willing to get out of our comfort zone are some of the ways to address tasks we do not particularly enjoy. It may even be an opportunity to identify talent within our team to tackle those tasks, hence inspiring excellence in others.
In his teachings, Aristotle purported that excellence is a requirement for the potential to be happy. Aristotle’s lessons point to the fact that excellence is an attitude. It has to be nurtured like a ‘good habit’.
From a professional point of view, excellence is about looking at the bigger picture and taking initiative, responsibility and making choices that support excellence. Excellence can used as a tool to inspire action and achievement in others. It is not a one-time accomplishment, but it is a journey. As most thought-provoking leaders would agree, striving for excellence underpins every successful organisation’s strategies and objectives.
Reetu Kansal is Head of Partners and Institutions Assurance at the University of London International Programmes. A proponent of modern quality assurance processes, seven years with the University of London has seen her develop strong relationships with educational organisations, quality assurance agencies and regulatory bodies in over 40 countries. Reetu holds a Chartered Manager award from the Chartered Management Institute, UK and is the Women in Management Champion on its London & South East Board.
