How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything
We all have pet peeves. Mine is people who don’t put their shopping carts back in the stall. It seems ridiculous, but how you do anything is how you do everything. Of course there are extenuating circumstances, but if you can get it to your car, you can put it away. How we do the little things is how we’ll do the big things. Don’t cut corners.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit.” — Will Durant
True story. There was once an executive board meeting to meet the new CEO. Just before the meeting, one of the board members passed by the new CEO on his way out of the bathroom. The CEO did not know this was one of the board members. On his way out, the CEO threw away his paper towel, but missed the trash can and it ended up on the floor. The CEO paused, looked at the paper towel on the floor, and made the decision not to pick up and put it in the garbage. He left it on the floor. The board member saw all of this.
When the board member made his way back to the conference room, he told one of the other board members that he didn’t think this new CEO would last very long. Why? Because he didn’t clean up after himself. Within 6 months, the CEO was out for negligence.
Personally, I want the leader who’s willing to do the dirty work. The teammate who doesn’t expect others to clean up after them. Someone who is responsible for their own actions, their own cart, and their own trash. I want the coworker who is willing to weather the storm, and not just when it’s convenient. It starts at the individual level. If you treat yourself well, you’ll treat your family, friends, co-workers and organizations well.
The next time you’re going to pass on something you know you should do, remember this: “the difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.” — Charles Swindell.
Do what is right, not what is easy. Be GREAT!
The ‘shopping cart’ has become an analogy in my life for when I decide not to do what is right, but instead what’s easy. It’s using the HOV lane when I shouldn’t because I’m running late. It’s seeing someone who needs help but deciding I’m too short on time to offer it. It’s saying “no” to my daughter without an explanation why. It’s….
What’s your ‘shopping cart’?
