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What do we mean by Excellence?

Is it a grand aspiration or a destination at which we arrive one glorious day? No. Excellence is not a finish line. It's a way of being.

I believe we are what we repeatedly do, and therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit. It isn't complicated. Just hard.

Few of us can watch a video or get something explained and then know how to do it. We have to do it several times to absorb it. If it doesn't become a part of us we lose it the second we experience difficulty.

Don't focus on getting into shape. Focus on becoming the kind of person who never misses a workout.

For example, "Prioritization is so hard.", many say. To become great at it we should do it more than once a year then.

Unfortunately, the harder a thing is, the less often we do it.

Find the painful things you want to become extremely good at, and start practicing them. Deliberate repetitions with feedback. Outside your comfort zone.

Working with a master firsthand is one of the best educations. Learn from people who've done it before at a higher level than you. Apprenticeships have existed for centuries, helping people develop skills and transfer knowledge across generations.

You unconsciously adopt the thoughts, attitudes, behaviors and standards of the people around you. The master's excellence demands your excellence. Their standards become what you measure yourself against.

Is excellence the pursuit of perfection then? No. To be excellent in some areas, you must let others go. Know when to push for the very best and when to settle for good enough.

Over time, the habits you build become your culture, and your culture becomes your excellence.

What is excellence for you?

You have been there. You are introduced to someone. You shake hands, your eyes meet, and then ...

What do I say after I say Hello?

I've been pondering about career advice lately. What would an older and wiser me say to this young student 19 years ago?

Work with the right people

Yes, the company, their vision, values and your tasks are important, but don't forget your future colleagues.

Work with people you can learn and grow from. You adopt the thoughts, attitudes and standards of the people around you.

Working with the right people is one of the best educations you can get.

The team you choose to join, and your boss, are huge factors in the value of a professional experience early in your career.

Simply do the basics well

Take initiative. Take ownership. Do what you say you will do. Be the one that people can count on to show up and figure things out. Ask questions. Get along with people. Do more than you are asked.

Care about your colleagues. Be humble. Listen to understand. Be on time. Be proactive in seeking new information, knowledge, and skills. Being willing to change things.

These basic things stand out. It's character. It's the result of your little choices and little actions, and they are completely under your control.

And I believe they will help unlock your potential.

Add communication and non-sales selling into your mixture

In addition to whatever your professional skill is, add communication, either written or verbal, into your mixture.

Learn how to formulate and tell clear, concise narratives. Good stories beat good spreadsheets.

Also learn yourself non-sales selling. You sell ideas, a vision, a strategy, a solution, even yourself.

These are skills for life that will be valuable in any role.

Find something to hold on to

You will face uncertainty, changes, and chaos. For me, having a set of personal values to hold onto has been a savior. A compass.

What's most important to you?

When you face situations where you have no idea what to do, hold on to your values and use them to guide your next steps.

Don't stress. It took me years to figure this out.

Take care of yourself

Breathe. Take care of yourself today, mentally and physically. Take rest seriously. It plants the seeds for a healthier, happier life decades later.

Follow your energy. When you have energy for something, go for it.

Find a balance between things that give you energy and things that drain you of energy.

Reflect and write down the things that stress you out and the things that make you happy.

Use your colleagues, they are here for you.

What's your career advice?

Are you good at asking the right questions in the right context?

Here are some questions I will ask more of.

When you hear things are impossible, problematic or difficult, try to lift the cognitive load of reality and let the person play with the imagination, and solutions may become more accessible.

• What would it look like if it were possible? What would it look like if it were easy?
• Imagine a miracle happened and your problem was solved. How would you know?

Instead of examining something problematic, difficult or bad in isolation, try to get clarity from contrast.

• "This is so hard / bad / problematic ...", ... compared to what?

Have you met people who are very confident and firmly believe they are right and that they know the answer or solution? Be curious, and ask some questions.

• How do you know that? How do you know that this is the right thing to do?
• What leads you to that conclusion or to that assumption?
• What might happen if it's wrong?
• What are the uncertainties in your reasoning?

When you are presented with new strategies, directions or processes, don't you sometimes wonder ...

• Do we have to change in an obvious way in order to execute this strategy?
• What do we need to do in order to deliver on this? What do we need to stop?
• How do we know if this new strategy, process or whatever is successful? How do we recognize a successful execution?

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and stressed over all the problems and opportunities that should be addressed and solved.

• But what happens if we do nothing? Maybe that's a question we should ask more often.

Have you ended up in a deep rabbit hole where the discussion leads nowhere?

• What are we trying to accomplish here?
• What are we up against here?
• How would you like me to proceed? How can we solve this problem?

Learning is important for me. These fun questions are difficult to answer, but they at least trigger some reflections.

• What have surprised you the most?
• What's the most difficult thing you did the last X weeks/months, and what did you learn from it?

I am not good at small talk with new people, so here's at least one opening I use.

• What are you currently working on that you are most excited about?

What questions do you tend to ask and why?

You are not you in an organization, but you are what the stories tell about you. In many different organizational contexts, you are your narrative.

That's one of many things from Christian Vandsø Andersen (rest in peace) that made me think.

The narrative shapes us, and it shapes those around us. We try to live up to it.

How many people know the real you? Are they hiring you or the illusion of you - the story told about you?

And who created your narrative? Someone was characterizing you. Somehow, down the road, your story was shaped into what it is today.

People are cognitively lazy when it comes to others. When someone asks "Hey, do you know Steffan?" the easiest thing to do is just to repeat the description that you just heard instead of making up your own.

Changing an established, dominating story in an organization is quite tricky, but not impossible. You can influence what is being said and how the story is told. You can become the author of your own story.

But you have to make sure it's not just a "story told", but also a "story lived". It has to be based on behaviors experienced by several people.

To take control of your narrative is to take control of what you do and select the important "stars in the star signs".

Didn't get the job you applied for because they wanted someone more strategic?

When you introduce yourself in meetings next time, drop a potential piece of your narrative.

"Well, I am first and foremost known as a strategist. I enjoy helping other teams and I'm often invited to help build strategies in various parts of the company. I'm not saying I'm an expert strategist - I think it's mainly because I don't mind lending a helping hand that people call me a strategist".

The words will spread, and invitations will start to drop in, requesting strategic help. The expectations to you will rise and you will start living up to it.

This will lead to some successful strategies which people begin to talk about at the water cooler.

The next time you apply for the same strategic position, it's not unlikely that "I hear you are quite a strategist" will be the opening mark from the recruiting manager.