The Best Keep Getting Better

“The quality of an individual is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”

Ray Kroc

I’ve Been Thinking. . . about getting better.


In the late 1600’s, three rural families dominated the musical instrument industry. Working in shops located side-by-side in the Italian village of Cremona, these families produced the finest in violins.

The Amatis family hung a sign outside their shop that read: “The best violins in all Italy.” Not wanting their creations to go unnoticed, the Guarnerius family posted a sign that read: “The best violins in all the world!” The famous Anton Stradivari, known to produce the finest, most expensive stringed instrument, boasted his world-wide notoriety by hanging a sign on his front door which simply read: “The best violins on the block!”

Stradivari was a self-taught violin making perfectionist. He refused to develop a relationship with “good enough.” Using primitive tools and working alone until late in life, Stradivari created a standard of violin quality unmatched by his competitors. Each violin had to meet his personal standards. His passionate attention to detail allowed him to make the bold statement; “Other people will make other violins but no one shall make a better one.”

Can you make that same claim? Other people may do what you do but no one will do it better. Henry Ward Beecher suggested, “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” To be the best you can be requires an unquenchable desire to continually make your best better. The exciting result is that your commitment to personal excellence will last a lifetime and beyond.

“Once you’re labeled ‘the best,’” said Larry Bird during his prime in the NBA, “you want to stay up there, and you can’t do it by loafing around.” In his off-season, Larry Bird lifted weights, ran, and worked on new moves and shots. “If I don’t keep changing,” Bird told Esquire magazine, “I’m history.”

Are you the best? What effort are you putting forth to get there, and, if there, how are you refining your skills to make sure you don’t become unfortunate “history?”


The best keep getting better.

Jessica Tandy, Oscar winner for her role in “Driving Miss Daisy,” was asked in Vis a Vis if any of her performances have left her unsatisfied. “All of them,” she instantly replied. “I’ve never come off the stage at the end of a performance and said, ‘Tonight, everything was perfect.’ There’ll always be some little thing that I’ll have to get right tomorrow.” Such is the reason why her performance in the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” once again won her outstanding reviews.

Are you raising the bar on your current idea of excellence? The best keep redefining better.

No one knows for sure who invented the cupcake, but there’s no question who improved it. D.R. “Doc” Rice is credited with injecting the cream filling and putting the squiggly white line atop the cupcake’s chocolate icing at Continental Baking Company’s Detroit Plant. Rice’s changes in the original devil’s food cake hand-covered with vanilla or chocolate icing formula, led to widespread popularity of the snack.

What areas of your life could become better with an ‘injection’ of innovative thought and action?

The best make things better and raise the bar.

Michelangelo received a visit from a friend as he worked diligently on a sculpture. After a brief chat, the friend left but returned later to find Michelangelo working on the same statue. Thinking the statue was nearly completed on his last visit and seeing no visible change, he exclaimed, “You haven’t been working all this time on that same statue, have you?”

“Indeed I have,” the sculptor replied. “I’ve been retouching the facial features, refining the leg muscles, polishing the torso; I’ve softened the presentation of some areas and enhanced the eye’s expression.”

“But all those things are insignificant,” responded the visitor. “They are mere trifles.” “That may be,” replied Michelangelo, “but trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”

“Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle.” I love that concept! Although simply spoken, the consequences have monumental impact. People who pay attention to the “little things,” the seemingly insignificant, produce excellence in larger matters. The best pay attention to the trifling details.

Take inventory. What small details in your life have you overlooked? Are there functions that appear insignificant? Renew your commitment and give attention to these finishing touches.

“I am a big believer in the ‘mirror test.’ All that matters is if you can look in the mirror and honestly tell the person you see there that you’ve done your best.”


John McKay

Become An Enemy of Mediocrity

The signature of mediocrity is not unwillingness to change. The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.

Jim Collins

I’ve been thinking . . . about how annoying mediocrity is.

Aldous Huxley lamented, “The tendency of the masses is towards mediocrity.” In a world of conformity, average, ordinary, sameness and yes, dreaded mediocrity; innovative companies find being the best of mediocre nauseating. Instead, there is a sense of urgency inspiring them to reinvent excellence; to imagine and create what could be.

World class is unreachable if being just a little bit better excites you. Tom Peters said: “If you are spending all your time trying to incrementally improve what you do, you are not spending enough time reinventing it, going for quantum leaps or blowing it up.” Gradual improvement, doing things just a little different then you’ve done them in the past, rarely produces eye catching, foot-stomping, award winning results.

World class performance requires a visual & mental transformation . . . seeing your operation, your position or your life as you’ve never seen it before. Think about who you can become. What are all the possibilities for outrageous innovations? Dare yourself to envision the unknown. . . even the presently considered impossible.
World Class is all about creating one-of-a-kind, ‘WOW’, unforgettable experiences. How can you be so good at what you do that people can’t help but applaud your efforts? Quoting Tom Peters once again: “If you are not distinct you will be extinct. If when you do what you do very well and it is still just ordinary, you have work to do.” What separates you from the masses?

The way things have always been creates a powerful magnetic force to keep things the way they are . . . or as close as possible to the current comfort level. The possibility of discomfort can dramatically stymie any effort to take giant steps towards reinvention. Find a way to dump the baggage that forces you to a standstill. Continually recreate the status quo, don’t protect it.

As Cynthia Barton Rabe warns, “what we know limits what we can imagine.” Why? Because, as some wise Texan once declared; “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you’ve ever got.” If you keep doing things the way you’ve always done them or you do them the same way everyone else does, what is going to set you apart from anyone?

What’s your passion? Where would you like to have unmatched performance? How can you become uncommon? Where can you invest your energy to move from ordinary to extraordinary? From average to world class? It’s simply not good enough to be simply good enough.

World class isn’t about winning. . .
World class isn’t about the competition . . .
World Class isn’t about beating someone. . .
World Class is about setting a higher standard. World class is about transforming what you can do to be considered among the world’s best at what you do.

William Taylor was the co-founder and founding editor of Fast Company Magazine. In his newest book Practically Radical, Taylor suggests that in order to stay relevant in a changing world, “You have to be the most of something: The most elegant, the most colorful, the most focused.”

What would you tell people you are “the most at?” According to Taylor, “it is not good enough to be ‘pretty good’ at everything. You have to be the most of something.” If potential customers don’t clearly see what sets you apart, then the competitive advantage is literally non-existent.

If you don’t yearn for excellence, then you will soon settle for acceptable or good enough. The next step is mediocrity, and nobody wants to pay for mediocre! It all begins with becoming an enemy of mediocrity and a friend to tremendous, exceptional, outstanding. . .

“Mediocrity is a region bound on the north by compromise, on the south by indecision, on the east by past thinking, and on the west by lack of vision.”

John Mason

It’s All About Team

“The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.” 

Bill RussellBoston
Celtics Hall of Fame

I’ve been thinking . . . about teamwork.

The concept of teamwork seems to be worn out. Maybe we’ve overused the term without fully understanding the intent, process or outcomes. Regardless, I’m well aware that lip service without practical application or personal commitment has bred indifference to this age old concept.

I’m beginning to lean more toward the idea of “team spirit.” Legendary basketball coach John Wooden defines it as “an eagerness to sacrifice personal interests and glory for the good and greatness of the team.” I love that definition.

What would happen if everyone on your team agreed to give up just one of their personal interests for the good of the team for 30 days? What if each person was willing to sacrifice personal achievement or satisfaction for the team’s success? What if “we” rather than “me” guided all decisions for a month? I’m talking more than a token effort here. Let’s think about a full-fledged selfless pursuit of team spirit.

Sound simple? Maybe. There are substantial egos, agendas, selfish interests, personal hang-ups and a host of other issues you’ll have to contend with. Try it anyway. Challenge your team. The potential results are worth the required effort.

Let me illustrate. I’ m normally glued to the Olympics. There’s something about patriotism combined with watching sports I know very little about, cheering my heart out, celebrating the successes and grieving the losses. Personal and team success is undoubtedly magnified in this venue.

Let’s go back in time to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Michael Phelps was having a wonderfully successful Olympic experience. He was prepared for yet another event. His competition was favored teammate Ian Crocker who had posted the best times in the world for the 100-meter butterfly. It was fabulous race. Spectators were engaged. The television announcers called the event with unguarded enthusiasm. Somehow Phelps managed a last second surge and touched the wall 1/100th of a second ahead of his competitors, in route to another gold medal.

Everyone knew nineteen-year-old Phelps entered the Athens games intent on chasing Mark Spitz’s record of seven medals. The quest was still within reach. But then, Phelps shocked everyone by producing one of the most unexpected and memorable moments of the 2004 Olympics.

Immediately following the butterfly competition, Phelps and teammate Crocker sat together for a television interview. They both talked about the importance of team and how happy they were for each other. It was unusual display of team spirit especially in light of some egotistical showboating and boasting on the part of other American athletes. Phelps and Crocker genuinely shared the spotlight and unpretentiously shared the glory of the moment. It was heart warming and probably unprecedented.

Shortly thereafter a special announcement shocked the Olympic world. Michael Phelps had decided to step aside allowing Crocker to swim in his place in the upcoming 400-meter relay. Phelps told the media Crocker was better in this event than he was and the team had a better chance to win with Crocker than with him. You’re kidding. Even though he had earned the right to swim this event, he decided to give Crocker an opportunity to earn his own gold medal. When the buzzer sounded and the relay began, Phelps was in the stands, enthusiastically cheering on Crocker as the U.S. team went on to capture the gold.

Phelps’s decision rocked the Olympic world. His concession made headlines around the world. Why? Because this display of selfless team spirit is so rare in the athletic world. Or is it just the athletic world. Could it be rare in your world as well?

Team spirit is all about understanding that we succeed only to the degree we help our team succeed. G.K. Chesterton is credited with saying, “There is the great man who makes every man feel small, but the really great man is the man who makes every man feel great.” It could also be said the really great team player is the one who knows how to make the other person successful.

Team spirit. . . the realization by each team member that they are only as good as their team’s ability to succeed. That’s powerful stuff.

When it comes to your teammates, you want to compete in such a way that instead of competing with them, you are completing them. Those are two different mind-sets.

John Maxwell

The Model Employee

The more strongly you feel about what you do, the more likely you are to push yourself to be good at it and find a way to make a success of it.


Blake MyCoskie Toms

I’ve Been Thinking. . . what if I was the model employee? What does the model employee look like, act like, perform like, and behave like?

Several years ago I traveled to Northern Minnesota to pick up a prisoner at a minimum security prison. Upon checking in at the hotel I asked the clerk what they did for fun and excitement in their community.

“In the evenings,” he responded, “we go down to the lake and watch the moose dance on ice. It’s delightful.”

I decided experiencing this strange activity was better than nothing or staring at the walls in my hotel room. I checked out of the hotel the next morning and let the clerk know I went down to the lake the night before to watch the moose dance on the ice. “It was the worst thing I ever saw,” I told him. “The animals were clumsy and uncoordinated. They were falling all over themselves and the ice.”

“Well of course they were,” sneered the local. “No one goes to the lake on Wednesday. That’s amateur night.”

Today’s team member can’t afford to act like an amateur. Regardless of the day or the situation, organizations need our best effort every minute of every day. Good employees are dependable, reliable, focused on results, and show up every day to do what’s required.

Model employees understand the necessity to take their performance to a heightened level. There are significant distinctions between remarkable employees and the amateur (good employees). Here are a few distinguishing qualities.

Love What They Do. Model employees do what they love and love what they do. As Billy Cox indicated, “If you don’t love what you do, you have two choices. You can either change what you’re doing or you can change what you love.” Loving what you do is fundamental to becoming a team member with exceptional value. I don’t mean ‘like your job.’ I’m talking about an unmatched, irrepressible, intoxicating passion for what you do. Only those who have it, understand it. Others find it just a bit strange. . . almost irritating. It’s okay to be a bit quirky --- passionate about what you do.

Exceed Expectations. Exceptional employees could care less about their job description. They are motivated by doing whatever it takes to generate results to help their organization succeed. In fact, their mantra is do whatever it takes and then just ‘a little bit more.’ Regardless of the job expectations, the model employee understands the job description is a minimal guide for their daily contribution. They have higher aspirations. They transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Make Relationships a Priority. Ben Stein got my attention when he said, “personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows.” Note the use of the word “all.”

Remember the Academy Award winning movie Rocky? I love the scene where boxer Rocky Balboa describes his relationship with his girlfriend, Adrian: “I’ve got gaps. She’s got gaps. But together we’ve got no gaps.” Collaborative relationships minimize, or even eliminate the gaps.

Exceptional team members understand their success is directly related to their ability to help others be successful. The old phrase, “when I help others to be successful, I too will be successful,” is a daily reminder to make relationships with my team mates a priority. Without their success, I’m mediocre. Weird isn’t it?

Work Smart. Model employees zealously refrain from committing random acts of stupidness. They don’t do dumb things. They use their experience, knowledge, insight and common sense to work smart, make smart decisions and seek smart solutions to lingering possibilities. Notably, they don’t shoot themselves in the foot by taking action that causes others to say, “What was that all about?”

Here is a sure fire ‘work smart’ formula. Find a way to do what you do best every day by investing your strengths in a culture that is a fit for you.

Be a Problem Solver. As John Maxwell said, “Many people would rather deal with old problems than find new solutions.” Not true of the truly outstanding employee. Peter Drucker once commented that; “People do not want to hear about your labor pains. They want to see the baby.”

It’s all about producing results regardless of the circumstances. The mediocre, normal, run of the mill team member tends to talk about their problems, dwell on them and sometimes even exaggerate their problems. The model employee produces results despite their challenges and sometimes because of their problems. In other words, they deliver the baby despite the labor pains.

Devoted to Excellence. Mediocre or good enough is never in the vocabulary of an outstanding employee. They are always tinkering, massaging, fooling around, or experimenting to create excellence. Other people love policies and procedures while the model employee loves to find a better way.

Unfortunately, too many people exemplify Yogi Berra’s comment. “I’m in favor of leaving the status quo the way it is,” he said. Nothing of significance is accomplished from that mentality.

If you want to be average, do what average people are doing. Excellence happens when you think about it, talk about it, and model it all day long, every day. Such is the modus operandi of the model employee.

There it is. That’s what I see in model employees and what I aspire to be. I understand this isn’t an exhaustive list of a remarkable employee’s lifestyle but it’s a great start. Once I get these qualities mastered, I’m sure I’ll discover another set of admirable qualities to pursue.

Gotta get going. . . I’ve got some work to do.

You should feel as excited about going to work in the morning as you are about getting home at night.


Lee Cockerel

Hero or Horrible Boss?

“You (boss) volunteered to be a leader (accepted promotion) hence you volunteered to be a full-time “people developer.” Don’t like it? Fire yourself.”

Tom Peters

I’ve Been Thinking . . . about the incredible responsibility of being a leader.

In their book The Manager’s Communication Handbook, the authors share these disturbing findings: First, only 14% of employees said they had a positive role model at work. Also, 86% couldn’t identify even one person at work they wanted to emulate. How sad! Especially considering these attitudes are a direct hit on leaders.

The film comedy Horrible Bosses features three dreadful managers who make their employee’s lives miserable. The targeted victims can’t quit. They need the money. In their desperation, they devise elaborate, absurd plans to eliminate their tyrannical bosses.

The movie is an exaggerated (I hope) display of calloused, uncaring, self-indulging, and controlling scenarios that exemplify the potential destruction caused by horrible bosses. People caught in the harrowing grip of such leaders must be the ones who can’t find a role model at work or identify someone they want to emulate.

In the movie, the three friends bond together and the despicable bosses ultimately cause their own destruction. In real life, the plot is rarely as dramatic or entertaining… or ‘happy ever after.’

Here’s how not to be a horrible boss:

Develop People One At A Time. John Maxwell reminds us, “Never forget that leadership is the art of helping people change from who they’re thought to be to who they ought to be.” People-focused leaders invest their time, energy, and resources into developing people into all they are capable of becoming.

I know you’re busy and have a lot on your plate but unless you invest in your people the rest of your activity loses result power. Develop the skills, knowledge, and talents of your people and impressive results will follow. Figure out what you can do through training, coaching, and mentoring to help your people achieve what they are capable of achieving.

Who should you be investing in today?

Maximize Individual Strengths. Author Stephen Covey suggested, “The job of a leader is to build a complementary team, where every strength is made effective and each weakness is made irrelevant.”

Unlike horrible bosses who are renowned for accentuating everything that’s wrong, great bosses understand people’s greatest potential is achieved by maximizing what they’re already good at doing. Find out what comes naturally to your team members and discover opportunities for them to excel.

Take the talents people possess and design opportunities around them. Don’t try to push a strategy on a person that doesn’t effectively use their strengths. Strategically discovering avenues for people to apply what they do best is a fast track for developing high performers.

Nurture a People-Focused Culture. Great leaders create a great people-focused culture that produces great people results. Gary Kelly, Chairman, President and CEO of Southwest Airlines said in the company’s September 2011 issue of Spirit that “The biggest difference between Southwest and the rest was the attention to Culture. Your business plan is what you are, but Culture is who you are.”

At Southwest, culture is a way of life. It is lovingly referred to as “Living the Southwest Way.” Southwest is intent on hiring people who have a Warrior Spirit, a Servant’s Heart, and a Fun-LUVing Attitude.

“Living the Southwest Way” or any other culture begins with the leader’s unmovable passion to set the standard. A people-focused culture evolves out of a leader’s inherent respect for people and a desire for people to truly be the priority.

Be a Hero. Every leader has someone who is yearning to find a leader who believes in them more than they believe in themselves. Find that person. Be that leader.

Before giving up on a challenged team member, pour your full effort into them. Inject some confidence. Reassure them that you believe they can excel and you’re there to help them get to where they want to go.

Sometimes you’re successful. Sometimes not. Give it your best shot. Sometimes, the victory is just knowing you tried.

When you’re successful . . . you’ll be a hero and you will have gained a team member prepared to perform at new heights.

Serve. Serve. Serve. The higher you rise, the greater your opportunity to serve and the greater your responsibility to find ways to encourage, elevate and energize those around you.

Finding ways to let people know how important you are and the importance of your position minimizes your influence. When you consistently allow others to enjoy the spotlight or you actually create the spotlight for them, your impact is multiplied.
Assume a servant role in all matters, treating others as the most important people in your life.

In their book The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner write, “Any leadership practice that increases another’s sense of self-confidence, self-determination, and personal effectiveness makes that person more powerful and greatly enhances the possibility of success.”

That’s the power of Servant Leadership!

The strategies to become a hero rather than a horrible boss are rather simplistic – but profound!

One day a little boy approached Walt Disney and asked, “Do you draw Mickey Mouse?”

Walt humbly admitted, “I don’t draw anymore.”

The little boy continued, “Then you think up all the jokes and ideas?”

“No,” Disney responded, “I don’t do that.”

Quizzically the boy looked at Disney and said, “Mr. Disney, just what do you do?

“Well,” Disney graciously responded, “sometimes I think of myself as a little bee, I go from one area of the studio to another and gather pollen and sort of stimulate everybody. I guess that’s the job I do.”

Hero bosses nurture everyone around them by stimulating and extracting the best that is available.

People go to work to succeed not to fail. It’s the leader’s duty and responsibility to lead people to success.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Will’s Wisdom

"It’s great to be great, but it’s greater to be human.”

Will Rogers

I’ve Been Thinking. . .I wish I could have known Will Rogers.

Steve Gragert, director of the Will Rogers Memorial Museums in Claremore and Oologah, Oklahoma documents the history of Will Roger’s influence. “At the time of his death in 1935, Rogers was reaching 40 million people readers at a time.” That’s incredible! The population was only 120 million.

I admire the fact that Rogers traveled the lecture circuit, wrote magazine articles, authored books and produced his “Daily Telegrams” newspaper column. On top of it all, Rogers starred in 21 motion pictures that achieved considerable acclamation and made Will the highest paid Hollywood actor of his time. In fact, his market share was bigger than any entertainer’s past or present.

Why?

He could appeal to the common folk, challenge the political establishment, poke fun at the prominent and elite and he embraced a self-deprecating humor that appealed to the masses. His onstage showmanship drew in the masses who also followed his Sunday newspaper columns that eventually ran in 500 newspapers.

Ironically, the Oklahoma cowboy had atrocious spelling and even worse grammar which added to his humoristic appeal. His 10th grade education might have surfaced in his writing but despite that limitation, he had an inherent sense of what appealed to the American people and he spoke at their level.

Rogers performed and communicated at a difficult time in American history. Yet, he brought optimism, hope as well as a flash of humanity during the dark years of the depression. People sought out his wisdom, honesty and down-home clarity about issues that were impacting their lives. He wasn’t afraid to criticize what he believed was wrong and remain true to the issues he believed in. Many believe his candor influenced public opinion as well as national policy.

I love Roger’s often stated quotation: “I’m not a member of any organized party – I’m a Democrat.” There was more to Roger’s conviction than party lines. He was, without hesitation, always on the side of the working person – even after he became wealthy. Political officials welcomed him with open arms – yet I’ve got to believe they wondered how their conversations would reappear for the world to see.

It was almost like Rogers was looking into the future when he said: “The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other.” Regardless, Rogers was a true Patriot who believed in the American Dream.

“Be thankful, he said, “that we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.” Roger’s honest, get to the point, no strings attached approach to Patriotism would be a welcome relief today. One of Roger’s classic observations was, “A senator got up today in Congress and called his fellow senators sons of wild jackasses. Now, if you think the senators were hot, imagine how the jackasses must feel.”

Who is the Will Rogers of today? Someone once suggested it would take the combined attributes of some our greatest comedians, commentaries, musicians and we would still be left short of the impact Mr. Rogers had on the thinking of his day. Who else could get away with saying, “The income tax has made more liars out of Americans than golf,” and still be loved?

His unfortunate death at 55, in the crash of small plane piloted by a well-known pilot preparing for the world’s first transpolar flight, was indicative of his adventurous spirit.

In the midst of current political struggle, corporate controversy, financial ambiguity, and questionable practices; where is the voice that represents the everyday American?

“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”

Will Rogers

Become an Initiator

“There are two types of people in the business community; those who produce results and those who give you reasons why they didn’t.”

Peter Drucker

I’ve Been Thinking. . . about those who ‘get it done’ and those who ‘think about’ doing something.

In his book Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen M.R. Covey tells how Columbus was once invited to a banquet, where he was seated at the most honorable place at the table. A superficial self-seeker who was insanely jealous of Columbus asked him pointedly: “Had you not discovered the Indies, are there not other men in Spain who would have been capable of the enterprise?”

Rather than reply, Columbus took an egg and invited those around him to make it stand on end. They all attempted, but in vain; whereupon he tapped it on the table denting one end, and left it standing.

“We all could have done it that way!” the courtier accused.

“Yes, if you had only known how,” replied Columbus. “And once I showed you the way to the New World, nothing was easier than to follow it.”

It’s much easier to follow the path to achievement than to blaze the path yourself. True explorers venture into unchartered territory knowing full well it would be much easier if they waited for someone else to show the way.

Dreamer or Achiever. Achiever want-to-bes are experts at replicating someone else’s effort rather than risk failure, embarrassment or loss. Achievers are initiators. They are pioneers, discoverers, innovators; blazing the path to attaining their aspirations. They stare risk head on and then muster the guts, determination and heart to deliver.

There is a distinct gap between a notion and accomplishment, revelation and achievement, inspiration and productivity. Lots of people have great ideas in the shower but rare are those who dry off and do something about them. In order to reap the benefits of any brilliant idea, you must find a way to bridge the gaps. Bridging the gap between concept and practical application excites initiators.

Wayne Huizenga is an initiator. While managing a garbage collection service he made a bold decision to start his own trash collection business. Not only did he specialize in garbage collection, he built a multibillion-dollar worldwide company that became a Fortune 500 leader in environmental services. Waste Management, Inc. became a fabulously successful enterprise providing outstanding services for customers and creating a great place to work for employees.

Huizenga didn’t stop there. Initiators never stop. . . They seem to be in perpetual motion!

Huizenga decided to rent movies through free-standing outlets, malls; wherever movies could be rented. Strange idea. Of course, Huizenga built Blockbuster, Inc. into another multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 company that created thousands and thousands of new jobs and produced massive profits. He now had two Fortune 500 companies notched on his belt.

He wasn’t done. AutoNation became a multi-billion dollar used car outlet company. It was his third Fortune 500 Company.

How does someone like Wayne Huizenga do it? He is truly an initiator. You don’t have to create Fortune 500 companies to be an initiator. But, nothing of significance was ever created by people who sit on their hands. As Zig Ziglar so eloquently said: “You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

Disturb the Present. When was the last time you did something for the first time? Refuse to get comfortable with being comfortable. Be restless. Start something. . . anything. Push on. Discover something other than the tried and true. The comfort zone, habits, traditions, procrastination, aversion to risk and holding tight to the customary are the antonyms to initiation and innovation.

Drive Intentional Improvement. Immerse yourself in curiosity. Initiators are rarely satisfied with the way things are. Give yourself permission to discover and experiment. Mediocre, good enough, ordinary is so run-of-the-mill. Find a crack, a slight opening in the ‘ordinary’ and create the extraordinary. Move from blind satisfaction to a chronic, obsessive, compulsive passion for making things better.

Determine Your Path. Do you want to make a difference with your life? Do you want the world, your family, your work, relationships to be better because of you? Stop waiting for someone to create a risk proof plan to make it happen. Being an initiator isn’t about blindly following some road map to success. Create it!

Put your energies, ideas – your heart into the world and people around you. Uncover undiscovered possibilities because, like Columbus you were willing to go first into unchartered territory. Be an initiator.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain