Business tip: How to become and remain the Best

There is something within talented and competitive people that drives them to crave excellence. Put a few or many talented, competitive, and entrepreneurial people together in a team setting, and we can almost assure that they will soon come to the collective position that they want to become the best in their industry and/or area of focus and contribution.

This desire to be the best is articulated in a variety of ways – "we want to define the standards for our industry", "we are committed to being the leader in user interface technology", " we want to be preeminent in our field, our region, our market segment", etc.

After years of seeing this theme emerge over and over again, we find ourselves in a place of inquiry about being the best. How do we know when we are the best? How do we become the best – what do we have to do? Who judges us as being the best? What are the standards against which the best is measured?

Here are 11 thoughts and guidelines for those of you who have interest in becoming or remaining the best:

Step One:

Define your standards
Get clarity around your definition of being the best. How will you measure success? How will you know when you have reached the pinnacle? By the same token, how will you know when you are not the best?

Step Two:

Define your industry and focus
Just what is your market? Who are your competitors? What are the parameters that define your industry and how will you track them to make sure that you are maintaining focus where you should?

Step Three:

Identify the standards for being the best that are common and consistent throughout your industry or community of focus
Discover what being the best means in your industry or area of focus. Do a bit of research. Talk with peers and colleagues throughout the industry. See if you can build a definition of "bestness" that is commonly held throughout your community of focus.

Step Four:

Decide whose assessment matters
Much as we would like to designate ourselves as the best and have the world acknowledge us as such, it is highly unlikely that that will happen. It is much more likely that we will be recognized as the best when there is a consensus in our community of focus that we are, indeed, setting the standards for our industry. This is not to say that we have to let others define success for us. Rather, it is to say that if we want general recognition as being the best, we will have to look to our competitors and customers to thus designate us.

Step Five:

Recognize that you can only be the best within a relatively narrow range of focus– you are and become what you practice
Knowing what you are really good at, what you love to do, and what people will pay you well for is a good place to start. It would be hard for us to quantify the number of times we hear people say that they want to be the best while steadfastly refusing to bring focus to their actions and consistently generating a mismatch between capacity and aspiration. People who are over extended, spread thin, exhausted, in a negative mood, and frequently off center simply cannot be the best.

Tiger Woods is the best in golf. Serena Williams the best in tennis. Notice, we did not say that these two remarkable athletes are the best in a host of other sports as well. They know what they are good at. Those who are the best consistently invest their time and money in practice and coaching to build their mastery in all the aspects of their game. By doing so, they will build and sustain leadership and continue to receive the recognition of their community and peers.

Step Six:

Being the best means having discipline and rigor
To become and sustain "bestness" one must know which conversations to engage in and which to decline. To be the best, one must have "the body" to decline. A common refrain among "wanabees" is, "If I only had time to do what really matters..." If it matters, make it your priority and be rigorous about declining conversations and involvements that do not directly support your goals.

Step Seven:

Embrace change as a gateway to innovation
Yes, we may sound like a broken record here – we’ve said this so many times before. And, those who are and will continue to be the best seek out, embrace, and introduce into their day-to-day activities disruptive innovations that may well render existing products, services, and practices obsolete. Change cannot be managed. We can only manage the way that we choose to engage with change.

Step Eight:

Recognize that, at the end of the day, it is all about relationships Becoming the best does not happen alone. Remaining the best is not a solitary adventure. The character and quality of the conversations you engage in and relationships you build and sustain will largely determine your success.

Step Nine:

Be willing to step outside your history and comfort zones to repeatedly declare yourself a beginner
Build self and social awareness – catch yourself being you. Where do you need to continue building competency? Being the best requires a total commitment to life long learning. If you allow yourself to become a prisoner to history, being the best will be an elusive goal.

Step Ten:

Manage commitments and energy, not time
We cannot manage time. We can only manage the commitments we choose to make and fulfill upon, and the energy we have to invest. When we bring focus and discipline to our commitments and build our ability to manage them relative to capacity and energy, we exponentially increase our chances of becoming the best.

Step Eleven:

If you want to be the best, have a vision, walk your talk, be authentic, and have courage

These are the characteristics that people want in a leader. Embody them and you will be on the right track.