Staff Core Values: Execution and Excellence

CORE VALUE #6

Execution/Excellence

We do what we say we will do at the highest level possible.

{So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. -1 Corinthians 10:31}

If you’ve ever been on a treadmill, you know that there’s a way to use it… and a way NOT to use it. We’ve probably all seen someone (or maybe we have personally experienced) attempting to get onto a moving treadmill. Bad idea, right? That’s a trip to the ER waiting to happen! Everyone knows it’s much safer and easier to get onto the treadmill BEFORE you turn it on, and then gradually increase the speed to your desired setting.

Well, the truth is, as a new staff member, at times you may feel a little bit like someone trying to get onto a treadmill that’s already moving – a little wobbly, a little unsure, just trying to catch up to the pace.

As the staff of a fast-moving organization, here is how we define execution and excellence:

1. We function at a high pace.

There is certainly a fast pace to a growing organization like ours. Perhaps you have never been a part of a staff with such a pace.

To help learn the rhythm of our staff and keep up with the pace, we would recommend doing a few things:

• Be extremely intentional about your time management. We must manage the tension between getting things done and doing them with excellence.
• Learn from other staff members who have been here longer. Ask questions. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
• Write things down. Don’t try to just remember everything in your head – even if you’ve done that in the past.
• Learn to delegate tasks to volunteers and oversee those volunteers rather than trying to do everything by yourself.
• If at any point you feel like you’re drowning, tell someone. Talk to your supervisor.

2. The quality of what we do meets or exceeds expectations.

The expectation for us as NLC staff members is excellence. Some people might think that the word “excellence” is synonymous with the word “perfection”, but it is important to specify that these are not the same thing. Excellence means doing the best we can with what we have. That is the expectation.

When it comes to what people experience when they come to Next Level, we want to have a “wow factor”. Our hope is that people are consistently “wow-ed” rather than underwhelmed. We never want to over-promise and under-deliver. We want to exceed expectations.

3. We are accountable for our responsibilities and accept the consequences when they are unfulfilled.

This is big. Realistically, you are going to make mistakes along the way. There will be balls that you drop. In those moments, don’t point fingers or scramble for excuses. Just own it. Own your mistake.

Taking responsibility for a mistake shows maturity and responsibility. You will earn much more respect for owning an issue than for trying to skirt around it.

Beyond owning our mistakes, we need to know that when we mess up or do a poor job, there will be appropriate consequences. That may just look like a conversation with your supervisor, or, at times, it may be some other consequence. A lack of consequences would communicate that the leadership doesn’t care about you or what you’re working on.

Failure is an incredible teacher, but we must be open-minded and trust our leadership.