When you are expected to deliver the best, everything you do is considered part of the job. No-one expects you to deliver not-the-best. You don’t expect anything lower than required from anyone. Still, you find at times people delivering lower than their best. At the same time, you do come across those who pleasantly surprise you with what they deliver, how they serve. It is not the capability issue. It is not even the experience issue.

Some people have that inherent desire of putting service ahead of everything else. They ensure that satisfying the customer to the fullest extent possible is their job. They believe that there’s no room for writing everything in the job description. It is just a direction, the license to serve and be remarkable. They find time and energy to do more than perceived limits of the job. Go the extra mile, without counting it. Volunteer where it matters and always delivers a little more than you expect out of their job. They sow the seed of happiness in everyone touched by their work.

It is easy to practice this and make it a habit. All you need to do is go beyond what you believe is the limit of your job. Question how best to serve, without questioning what’s in it for you. Put-service-first attitude to work. Find how to make yourself pleasantly surprised if you are being served and adopt the same method. A little more than expected is a good seed. Spray it well, routinely. Your craft will get naturally remarkable.

be a #dreamerdoer

You spend most of your active days at work. You spend most of the time with people. In this busyness, your non-negotiables define the boundary of your character. These are the values you do not compromise with for anything. Most of the time you may not record and review them. Once you do, they start acting as guiding compass at work. Try and list them today. Review and follow them regularly.

While you list and explore, consider a few simple elements like – respect, compassion, inclusion, and so on. Keeping them at this level might not help. Convert them to actions you can routinely take and follow. E.g: If you value respect, greet people authentically and say hello – to everyone you pass by. Whether or not you know their name, don’t walk by as if they don’t exist. If you value compassion, create a sense of safety for yourself and your team so that all can work for the common good and shared success. If you value inclusion, make sure that you listen more than you talk. Let everyone in the room, team and you meet, share their views and participate.

When you take these actions in a non-negotiable way, you will become visible, accessible and a person acknowledging people – a vital characteristic of a participatory leader, an Entrepreneur/ Intrapreneur. This helps you build a remarkable team, business and the craft speaks for itself. Embrace your non-negotiables and let them lead you at all times.

be a #dreamerdoer.

We all know that there is always more than one way of doing anything. In fact, if you have a team working on a problem, there might be at least the number of ways matches the number of people in the team. At the same time, there is no one best way to do anything. Just look at how many ways you can organize things around you to make it truly pleasing. The same goes for studying a subject, cooking your favorite food, fixing a bug, making a presentation and so on. The effective one depends on how it is executed and in what context.

When you start building a business, a product or a solution, explore at least five different ways. Never stop at the first bright-spot. It might so happen that the first one may be the best one unless you are really ignoring it completely while exploring the next one. Don’t let the bias take you over. Find compelling and totally different ways coming from all your team members.

Irrespective of whether these different ways and ideas are sound or practical, record and review them. Many of these ideas might get dropped till someone sees-through the value or you get roadblocks with the one you are pursuing. Compelling design options will help you simulate your business and craft well ahead of spending too much of money, time and energy. They, in turn, help you accelerate product success and make the craft remarkable.

Successful entrepreneurs experiment a variety of ways till they find what clicks. Building a new venture is like running a marathon. Don’t stop at the first roadblock or slip. Find ways to run-well and complete the race.

be a #dreamerdoer