This past week I had the opportunity to speak at a business leaders event in Deventer, The Netherlands.
This wasn’t just any type of leadership event.
I had the immense honour to be the only male, and only Caucasian speaker at the event.
We all got to hear from one female African powerhouse after another. One beautiful story of vision and perseverance after another.
I love being at these types of events. Not just to inspire others, but just as much to be inspired myself as well.
These types of places are incubators for vision, laboratories for experience, and launching pads for ambition.
At the end of the event I had the privilege to speak with Patience from Nigeria. I didn’t ask her for her age, but let’s just say she is a young professional, making waves in the Nigerian furniture industry, and now in The Netherlands as well.
When I asked her if she would share one leadership lesson that she took from the African continent into the European context, she switched it around into something that I would like to challenge you with today as well.
Coming to The Netherlands she was surprised to find out that clients can ask for refunds if they don’t like your product or service. This was a completely new concept to her, but she allowed it to challenge her thinking and inspire her towards excellence.
She said about her business back home, “I tell my guys, if it’s not worth delivering, don’t deliver it.”
We ended up having a very inspirational conversation about the importance of quality and excellence in everything we do.
This reminded me of something I learned from Donald Miller. He is a big fan of the ‘money back’ principle.
“If you are not 100% satisfied with the product or service, I will refund 100% of your investment.”
–Donald Miller
He challenges leaders to raise their level of excellence to the point that they would be able to make such statements confidently.
If we’re not comfortable making these types of statements, we may need to question our commitment to excellence.
Where are you at?
Can you confidently say that you lead at your highest standard?
We’re not talking about perfection.
There is room for failure. There is room for growth.
However – with the knowledge and capacity you possess today – are you giving it the best you can?