Dare to Be Great Series (Part 1)

Last week, I wrote a post entitled “Dare to be Great.” It was a little diddy about what can separate the “good” from the “great.” The post was primarily referencing good v. great marketers, but this is a question relevant to anything in a business, or anything in life really. I wasn’t satisfied with stopping with what I came up with, so I bribed a few people into telling me what they thought separates the “good” from the “great.” I will go ahead and say that the people who you will be reading excerpts from are some brilliant minds and you should most definitely check out their blogs (after you finish reading here…of course So sit back and enjoy Part 1 (of 2) of the “Dare to be Great” series…

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Good VS. Great: Defining the Small Margin (Grace Boyle)

At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. With boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive, one extra degree…makes all the difference. And the one extra degree of effort in life, separates the good from the great.

I found this video 212 Degrees-The Extra Degree which emphasizes the small margin between good and great which highlights in history those that are good and those that are great.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpJQqzJj534&hl=en&fs=1&]
I have found that whether it’s in sales or in life the difference between good and great is outlined in these four personal characteristics:

• Take the extra step and initiative, no questions asked: Your boss asks you to do something, no matter how busy you are, you promise it will be done. You turn it in before he/she asked for it and it’s your finest work and above what he/she expected. Always.
• Intuition: Reading people, ideas and situations lets you stay a step above those who are “good.” Listening to intuition and gut breeds the greatest entrepreneurs, athletes and philosophers. A trusted and heightened intuition oozes greatness.
• Vision: There is no “I can’t,” or “There’s no solution,” great vision equates someone who is progressive, a catalyst and never stagnant.
• The element of surprise: People expect the baseline norm. Surprise pushes over the edge and leaves you with a gaping mouth, impressed and wanting more.

When you consider the good from great, who comes to mind? What have they done in their life that put them a step above those that are simply, good?

Bio: Grace Boyle is a 23 year-old adventurista. She lives in Boulder, CO and works at a startup called Lijit. She blogs at Small Hands, Big Ideas and is constantly on the lookout for the “greats” that separate themselves from the “good.”

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Ryan Stephens

“Jim Collins wrote an entire book on this subject, and I’m supposed to boil it down a to a few words? I think you have to hire the right people and then back off and trust them to do their jobs. I think you have to cultivate genuine relationships with consumers. I think you have to consistently innovate and stay ahead of the curve.

But I don’t think any of these are necessarily the most important. What truly separates the good from the great (and this includes companies, employees, etc.) is having people who can shift their lens from the way THEY think and have the ability to transplant themselves in a world in which they view the world from their CUSTOMERS’ vantage point. The ability/discipline/focus to do this is not easy, but if a company can do (or has people that do) this, it makes closing the schism between good and great effortless.”

Ryan would be the single greatest blogger ever, but is easily distracted by the reflection of himself in his monitor. He can also ride a unicycle backwards.

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Jason Peck

What separates good from great? For businesses, it all comes down to doing one thing better than anyone else and actually executing it so that you thrill your customers when they experience you. It’s about taking complex processes and ideas, executing them and making them look simple to the world. Being great means that you have the products/services to back up what you say you’d like to be known for.

One indicator of greatness is that when people think of you, one of the first things that pops into their minds is that one thing that you’ve decided you want to be great at. What comes to mind when someone mentions:

• Zappos or American Express – great customer service
• Woot – great daily deals
• Walmart – great prices
• ESPN – great sports news/coverage/highlights
• Tir Na Nog – great Irish bar in Raleigh

Hopefully you see my point. Being great means that you’re not satisfied in just being good enough to make people happy or make lots of money. It means you want to do that one thing better than anyone else in order to enrich people’s lives. One by-product of greatness is that you’ll be remembered for it, but that’s not why you do it.

Jason Peck manages eWayDirect’s social media product (a platform for branded communities), writes at http://www.jasonfpeck.com and enjoys helping companies use social media and the Internet to achieve their goals.

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Be sure to check back tomorrow for the completion of the Dare to Be Great Series! In the meantime, ponder these questions in the comments section:

• Do you agree/disagree with any of the above thoughts?
• What separates good from great in your mind?
• What are some examples of companies that made the leap from good to great?

Spread the Word on Twitter! (Copy and Paste)

Pt. 1 of the “Dare to be Great Series” at @jackieadkins blog featuring @ryanstephens @gracekboyle and @jasonpeck – http://bit.ly/1WlO3P

Picture from nonworkers