The following is an excerpt from the book, The Secret of the Slight Edge by Bob Moawad and TJ Hoisington
Have you ever experienced:
Setting out to achieve a goal, maybe lose weight and keep it off, purchase a new home, or be selected for an over due promotion only to fall short? Possibly, your team agreed on new initiatives and spent countless hours designing a strategy only to execute and fall behind schedule. Have you found yourself making commitments to be the better you that you are capable of becoming only to let yourself down? Maybe you have been asked to perform better in your area of responsibility and wondered where to start, or even wondered “Can I really make a difference?”
We live in a time where bottom-line results are not only desired, but necessary. Never before are the demands for performance so heavily placed on your shoulders. I’m not simply talking about your job performance. I’m talking about every area of your life. It is not enough to just get by and perform in a mediocre fashion. Expectations are higher for everyone; the CEO, the manager, a husband, a wife, the youth, community leader.
Bottom-line, I’ve never been in favor of anyone simply being average, especially when greatness flows through your veins. Instead, I say, “Go for it.” Dare to be different. Your goals and dreams are possible, and it’s like you to become your “best” you.
Do you know people, even competitors, that seem to reach higher levels of success year after year? The industry is lagging, funds are cut short, and yet these people continue to break records. Have you ever wondered what separates extraordinary performers from ordinary performers, great results from good results, or a champion from a contender? Why do you sometimes perform in a “zone” and at other times feel stuck in a “rut”? What is it that peak-performing individuals, team, and organizations have in common?
For the answers, organizations like Starbucks Coffee Company, AT&T, the U.S. Armed Forces, and thousands more consistently call on the company I founded over thirty years ago to get results by starting with each organization’s greatest asset — their people. Since the mid-1960s, I’ve studied the principle I call the “slight edge.” I wanted to know what made these people different. These questions made me curious, which lead me to do what has become my life’s work. Our company, the Edge Learning Institute [Acquired by Legacy Business Cultures in 2013], was named after determining how this narrow margin significantly impacts the performance of people and organizations. After all, extraordinary people are ordinary people doing extra ordinary things. Likewise, extraordinary teams and organizations are simply ordinary people collectively achieving great results.
What is the slight edge? It is a narrow, minute, and almost invisible to the naked eye. The slight edge is virtually indistinguishable, moment-to-moment, but over the long term, it has an exponential and powerful impact.
In his book, The Greatest Secret in the World, Og Mandino shares what the greatest secret is. He tucked the secret in toward the end of the book so that the “casual reader” could not easily find it. Would you like to know what the secret is? Or am I going to spoil your fun of a future read? Well, the greatest secret in the world from his perspective is that
“you only have to be a small, measurable amount better than mediocrity… and you’ve got it made.”
That’s it!
Sound simple? Since the world is full of mediocrity, one sliver above the “status-quo” would easily stand out and, consequently, attract corresponding results. The myth that there is a huge chasm between success and failure just isn’t so. Rather — it’s slight.
— The Secret of the Slight Edge by Bob Moawad and TJ Hoisington
The tools for individuals and organizations to achieve the “slight edge” are taught in Legacy Business Culture’s Increasing Human Effectiveness workshop. IHE training helps people overcome obstacles that lead to positive change within their organizations. The program gives participants tools that help lead them to improve attitudes and habits — the keys to maximizing organizational effectiveness and creating a culture of excellence.
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