Tag Perfection

Waiting…Forever

Steve Keating 2 Comments

One common shortcoming of ineffective leaders is that they have an over abundance of patience. They are such good planners that the planning never stops. It’s not procrastination either. They truly plan and plan and plan. 

They want the perfect plan. Literally EVERYTHING must be perfect. There can be absolutely no unknowns. They are paralyzed until they are 100% confident in their plan. 

Waiting forever is one of the five great weaknesses of ineffective leaders.

For these kind of leaders the reality is that their plan will never be perfect. There will always be at least some unknowns. Still, these ineffective leaders hesitate to act.

Authentic Leaders know there may never be a perfect time. They move forward anyway knowing full well things may go wrong. They stand ready to solve whatever problems they and their organization may face along the way. Their plans frequently include “fallback” positions that buy them time to make adjustments to the plan. Their plan always includes a date when the plan will be implemented. It’s often, ready or not here we go, but they absolutely go. They know that they are as ready as they can be and if they wait until they are 100% ready they may be waiting forever. Literally forever. 

Authentic Leaders know that every attempt at progress has some level of risk associated with it. They also know that the biggest risk they can take is to do nothing. They measure the pluses and minuses of each risk they take. They consider the consequences of the consequences of their possible courses of actions. And then they act! Even if the action they take is to do nothing it’s a conscious decision. They never actually wait, they merely pause. And yes, there is a big difference between the two. 

Authentic Leaders are aware of how fast a window of opportunity can close. Unlike ineffective leaders they won’t wait, or pause, past the time that window closes. They are comfortable dealing with and meeting deadlines. Any leader can see an opportunity, Authentic Leaders seize them. 

Authentic Leaders know that progress, growth and success require action. They, and their teams pass ineffective, over waiting, leaders and their teams every day. Don’t wait one second longer than you must. If you do it’s likely the only way your competition will even know you exist is by looking in their rear view mirror.

Just Today

Steve Keating 1 Comment

Everybody “knows” that nothing is perfect. Stuff happens, things go wrong, even the best plans don’t always work the way they were intended to. If you ever do start to think that everything is perfect then BOOM something goes wrong. You’re suddenly reminded why everyone “knows” that nothing is perfect. At least not for very long. 

 

And therein lies a tremendous opportunity. 

 

To have perfection in your life everyday you don’t need everyday to be perfect. You need only to be great today. If you decide to put in the effort required to make today perfect then you can have perfection everyday. 

 

Let’s make no mistake about this, the effort required is substantial. But having perfection everyday only requires that you make that effort today. The thought of maintaining a positive attitude every single day is daunting. The idea of giving your 100% best effort every minute of each and every day is overwhelming. The concept of pushing past whatever limits you think you have day after day after day gets tiring just thinking about it. 

 

So don’t worry about day after day. Don’t stress about every minute of each and every day. Don’t focus on every single day.

 

Maintain control of your attitude today. Give a 100% best effort only for today. Push past every limit you’ve ever imagined today. 

 

Don’t concern yourself with how you did yesterday or how you might tomorrow. Today is THE day! 

 

Every date on the calendar is a today. Each of those “todays” is different and unique. You must have plans to succeed but even a 10 year plan is made up of those individual days. Execute one day at a time. Make every day a best day. Control one day according to your plan without regard for the days gone by or the days to come. You cannot change the outcome of yesterday and tomorrow isn’t here yet.


You only have today to focus on your plans. Don’t worry about being great all the time, be great today. You’re the only one who knows you’re only great today, other people may very well think you’re great all the time. 

Don’t Confuse Excellence With Perfection

Steve Keating 5 Comments

I’m a perfectionist who consistently does things in an imperfect manner. I’m a person who hates settling for good enough yet I frequently accept something that is as good as I can get. 

 

I make those compromises in the interest of getting things done. 

 

There are many people who would criticize me for making those compromises. But I believe a job, project or assignment completed, even if a little less than perfect, is better than one never completed. 

 

One of the five great weaknesses of ineffective leaders is hesitancy. They may be brilliant, they may have great ideas and they may have passion. They are also in need of the perfect circumstance or the perfect timing in which to pursue their passion or idea. Sometimes if they are not certain of a perfect outcome they hesitate to the point of never actually getting started at all. 

 

For these leaders the hunt for perfection is a slippery slope that most often turns into the bondage of procrastination. 

 

I would never encourage anyone to halt their pursuit of perfection. That’s not what I’m recommending here. What I’m recommending is to continue moving towards your goal or objective while you’re in pursuit of perfection. You are unlikely to find perfection but the pursuit itself will likely lead you to excellence. 

 

Some people believe that excellence and perfection are identical twins. They are not. Perfection does not guarantee excellence and excellence does not require perfection. There are few things that waste more time than doing something perfectly that doesn’t need to be done at all. 

 

Excellence does require patience. You will also need an understanding that patience is the acceptance that things can happen in a different order than you had in mind. Knowing how perfection will be achieved is not a prerequisite to starting. Even knowing what perfect looks like is not required to begin. 

 

Get moving and whatever knowledge gaps you have will be filled in along the way. 

 

You’ll rarely find a perfect time to begin anything. If you’re not sure where to start then start with what you’re sure is one right thing to do. Your first step does not need to be a giant leap. Baby steps are okay and though they may be small they are considerably better than no step at all.

 

No matter how long your journey, how lofty your goal or how big your dream, your success will begin with a single step. Never forget that simple fact.


The pursuit of perfection is an honorable pursuit. It is the attainment of excellence however which will lead to your ultimate and undeniable success. Chase perfection today and you’ll be very likely to discover that excellence tomorrow.