Can You Deliver “World-Class” Service?

Recently I had a couple of opportunities to become exposed to what I refer to as “World-Class” individuals. Given that one of them is the President of the United States I think you’ll agree on the description of “World-Class”.

The other person was Jason Day, currently the Number One ranked professional golfer in the world. Quite different from being the leader of the most powerful nation on earth but there are some interesting similarities. It was actually these commonalities that made me think in terms of the “world” rather than just descriptions like “best-in-class”.

Both of these men operate within a level of expertise and public scrutiny that is truly hard to comprehend.

Imagine if you will, virtually everything you do and everything you say being watched, or filmed, or quoted. How would you function?

I watched Jason Day walk off the 17th green at the Players Championship, which he won on the next hole, as television cameras followed within mere inches with thousands of fans watching from the stands surrounding the hole. If he were to have stopped suddenly the camera man would have walked right into him – that’s how close he was.

How can someone function at the highest level of their profession with that kind of invasive pressure surrounding them? That’s the part I find so fascinating.

I happen to have been in Ottawa during the President’s recent visit. For him, the world stands still while he passes through on the way to a meeting. They have to for security sake. He functions in a very different world.Now we all likely feel that we do some part of our job pretty well. In fact, some of us feel like we’re the “best” at what we do within our own little world. How good are we really? Are we at the top of our game? Could we survive intense scrutiny for the world to see and still be hailed as even “one” of the best around? Imagine a camera focused on you as you go about your daily routine recording every word spoken – every action taken. You reach for the phone to make that call to a prospective client, only to reach voicemail…a camera just inches from your face records first your look of disappointment and then the voice mail message you leave them. Was that the best thing you could have said? Did you handle yourself professionally?

What would the world see if the cameras were tuned onto the intense negotiation you were embroiled in – could you perform at a level that could be considered “world-class”?

No matter what you do for a living and no matter where your market is, who of us can truly say we operate at a “world-class” level. What would it take to achieve that level of expertise and success?

Ken Jones
Office Tenant Representative