Good enough no longer is

One day inside the HR director’s office an interview was taking place.

Interviewer: "So why did you leave your previous job?"

Applicant: "The company relocated and they did not tell me where!!!"

There was a time when horror stories used to begin with: "It was a dark and stormy night..." Now it begins with your boss saying, "I never wanted you to leave but..." And so you enter the house of horrors.

So many people are clueless as to what’s going on in the business world today. And worst, a lot more people are totally clueless as to what’s going on in their work lives today.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Nobody wants average these days.

There was a time when plain old goods and services were enough. Only a handful of people produced them and provided them. You do not question them but you consume what they have to offer. You had very little choice,

Today, there is a glut of productions and services as more and more products and services are added to the market place daily.

Nobody wants average, everyone wants what is excellent. The word "Average" today has become a dirty word as far as business and career is concerned.

This is why we need to start the year...in fact we need to start each day of our lives with this mindset....Today will be better than yesterday and the world will see me as a better person in all aspects of my life. Think of this year as the year that will launch you to the next level of competence. W. Somerset Maugham says it correctly: "It’s a funny thing about life; "If you refuse to accept anything but the very best, you will often get it."

So here are a couple of suggestions that would help you along the way.

1. Expect the unexpected.

The only certainty in this world is that the world will continue to be more uncertain. Not everything that happens is your doing. Certain situations may be caused by external factors, and are mostly beyond your control. What is in your hands is the way you will respond to the situation. Thinking that you are a victim of circumstance will not help you one bit. Be a victor and not a victim. Spend time and energy looking for solutions, not excuses.

2. Deal with the unexpected.

Even the Bible says: "Faith without works is dead!"

Having a positive mindset accomplishes nothing if all you do is stay there and think about. You have to make a decision to do something and you do it. Winners see themselves achieve their goals, because not only do they just sit down and make plans; but they actually go about their plans.

Do not make grand promises and deliver things half-baked. Remove the word "failure" from your vocabulary and do not be too hard on yourself. For even if you fall short; you will use these as stepping stones to make yourself a better person that makes better choices. This is why you need to make a commitment choice. You will stay the course. You will surround yourself with like-minded people who are equally passionately committed. And you will be relentless in pursuing your goals.

3. Apply right values in the way you deal with the unexpected.

When the unexpected happens, there is a tendency to take the path of least resistance. Don’t!!! Winners do not choose expediency over that which is truthful and right.

And when you do what is truthful and right there will be resistance. Resistance from people and resistance from widely accepted systems and so in other words, you will have enemies.

Everyone has enemies. And the more successful a person becomes, the more enemies he or she will have. The most logical and productive thing to do is to welcome them, because they are actually offshoots of success.

To be effective, surround yourself with people of similar values. You do not have to please people all the time but you do have to stick to doing right all the time.

In doing so, you will begin to earn people’s trust and respect. And pretty soon you will have the support base you need in order to get the job done.

4. Don’t just stand there and do something, stand for something.

Every single business decision we make defines what we are made of. The thoughts we think, the words we say and the actions we take are either building us to become better people or they are breaking us and making us less of a person that we are meant to be.

People of integrity gain people’s trust.

Choosing to be a person of integrity has got to be one of the most difficult choices a person will ever have to make. More than just doing the right thing, doing the right thing when no one else is watching is much more challenging.

There is no such thing as practicing integrity moderately. And neither is there such a thing as practicing integrity only with a select group of people. You either have it or you don’t.

The integrity choice is one of the most important choices you will ever have to make in your lifetime, as this will determine each and every action, including the roads to your long-term successes.

There is no "time outs" as far as integrity is concerned.

And so for this year and for the years to come, you need to guard your integrity as though it is the most important possession you have. In fact I sincerely believe it is. As long as you stand for what is right and what is true, you’ll never lose that which you have gained – the right to be the kind of person God wants you to be.

(You can listen to Francis Kong through his radio program "Business Matters" aired 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. daily over 98.7 DZFE-FM.)