Important Lessons on Excellence You Cannot Ignore

photo courtesy of diginomica.com

ACCORDING to a popular saying, ‘every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence’. This is the story of Wasiu a cab driver as told by a passenger who engaged Wasiu. The passenger writes and I quote:  

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport, when a cab pulled up. The first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine, it was spotless. Inside was a guy smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie and freshly pressed black slacks. This guy jumped out and rounded the car just to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said, ‘I'm Wasiu, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to please read my mission statement.'

Amused, I read the card which said, ‘Wasiu's Mission Statement - To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest, cheapest and friendliest way possible’. Impressive.

I was blown me away when I entered the cab and noticed that the inside matched the outside. Impeccably clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wasiu said: 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wasiu smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler here with regular and Diet Coke, bottle water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take water.'

Handing me my drink, Wasiu said; 'If you'd like something to read, I have today’s dailies. He handed me the newspapers.

After a moment of silence, Wasiu handed me another laminated card, 'These are the radio stations available, in case you'd like to listen to the radio.'

photo courtesy of gistmania.com

And as if these weren't enough, Wasiu told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me. He then advised on the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wasiu, I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wasiu smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about the power of choice.'

'The Power of Choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.' You can be pedestrian or excellent.

Be an eagle, be excellent. Eagles soar above the crowd.' 'That hit me right,' Wasiu said. 

'It is about me. So I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle, become excellent. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes, one at a time.

'I take it that has paid off for you,' I said.

'It sure has,' Wasiu replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. Waoh!

Be like Wasiu today! Many thanks to Daughter for sharing this story

How do you develop an excellent spirit?

Associate yourself with excellent-minded people. Expose yourself to excellence.

Be creative. Learn to think outside the box. Ask yourself; how else can something be done, and be done excellently?

Learn to take criticism in good faith. Critics are meant to keep you on your toes so don’t keep them in your heart.

Give more than a task or assignment requires.

Be sure of this when, you autograph your work with excellence, the sky will neither be your limit nor your rewards imaginable.

Whether you succeed or not, is really in your hands. Remember that when you set the sails, God sends the wind.

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