Guest Feature: Be the Best

By Gerald Elson

I have often had to answer difficult questions from the employees with whom I work.

“Why did I not get a bigger raise?”

“Why didn't I get promoted?”

“How do I get a career versus a job?”

With up to 40,000 workers in my past organizations, I have determined consistent elements of being the best. This led to me compiling a short document outlining these characteristics.

If you desire to be the best, then achieve the individual elements, and your career will take you to your highest capability.

Be an Exceptional Performer

1. Performance must be out of the ordinary.

2. Utilize better thinking. We don’t need more resources; we need better thinking.

3. Excel at the key aspects of your assignment and do all elements.

4. Focus on one major contribution every year.

5. Show unique creativity. Bring multiple events together in a unique way. Turn problems into advantages. The Chinese symbol for “crisis” is a combination of the symbols for “risk” and “opportunity.”

Practice Solid Work Habits

1. Work smarter: Use your intelligence and work tools.

2. Work longer: 8:00 to 4:30 will not get the job done or advance your career, but working much beyond 50 hours per week should not be sustained.

3. Work harder: As Chuck Daly, former coach of the Pistons says, “To win, you have to play harder!”

4. Work consistently: Win by being consistently better. If you put in the work, the results will come.

Maintain Balance

1. Have teamwork and individual achievement: “The strength of the wolf is in the pack; the strength of the pack is in the wolf.” - Jack London

2. Have technical and managerial excellence: You need both; it’s not an either/or situation.

3. Exhibit leadership and followership. Leadership is about coping with change, having imagination, stretching, setting a direction, aligning, motivating, and inspiring people. Followership is keeping the leader informed and out of trouble, being committed to the organization’s objectives and strategies, and accepting and completing delegations.

4. Keep the right balance between work and family: Only you know what this is for your circumstances.

Project a Positive Personal Image

1. Be likeable to the vast majority. People will go to the wall for someone they like.

2. Continue your education so that you continue to grow.

3. Always project a positive image. Don’t become discouraged. Rewards follow performance, but there may be a time lag.

4. Never compromise your integrity or your values. ”You don’t have to compromise to be recognized.” - Whitley Phillips

Gerald Elson is the chief executive officer of Android Industries, a provider of complex assembly modules to the automotive industry, and previously served as vice president of General Motors Vehicle Operations. He sent one son (Lance ’88) to Olivet and has served on the Olivet Foundation board for the last four years. He frequently speaks at pastors and wives retreats, where he has often shared these tips on “Being the Best.”