Don’t compromise your standards and don t settle for mediocrity

Introduction

All organizations and individuals should have standards and these standards should be set high. You see your standards define you and also set you apart from others.  Standards are the boundaries that you set and also are forms of measurements. Make sure your standards line up with the word of God.

Once you establish your standards, don’t compromise your standards and don’t settle for mediocrity. I know there will be occasions in which you will be tempted to compromise but I encourage you to maintain you standards. The minute you compromise, you are lowering your values and you can become wishy washy.

Our country attracts high end tourists and we are competing with so many other Caribbean islands, but the one factor that can have a competitive edge is that our country has high standards. Therefore, Governments must have policies in place that reflect high standards. If the standards are high, then the objectives of the civil servants must reflect high standards too.

Like Governments, organizations must have high standards in place. Customers are paying so much for services from these organizations and if customers are paying so much, shouldn’t the organizations set high standards in delivering services to the customers.

Individuals must set high standards for themselves. You must recognize your worth and your worth will be determined by the standards you set. Sometimes individuals compromise their standards just to get a job or be in a relationship. Do not settle for mediocrity.

Set and Maintain High Standards

I recently wrote an article on the inefficiencies in the Government Departments. I believe one of the factors that have contributed to the inefficiencies is the fact that standards are not set high. If the standards were high, we should not be experiencing these inefficiencies and poor customer service. The Government Departments must set and maintain high standards and the Heads of the Departments and the employees must be held accountable.  A customer service agent should not be talking to other individuals while he or is she is serving you. Furthermore, they should not be eating or drinking in your presence. Their focus should be you and they must ensure that they are able to address your issues.

Organizations must not only set and maintain high standards, but they must be consistent. When I was the CEO for Cable & Wireless, all of the CEOs throughout the Caribbean attended the Ritz Carlton leadership program. Every staff in Ritz Carlton was trained to greet customers the same way. There was consistency and high standards. There were multiple examples of how Ritz Carlton went the extra mile to satisfy their guests including taking an airline to deliver items that a guest left behind. You see they set and maintained high standards. Any organization that implements high standards will do well even if the price is high.

Like the Private and Public Sectors, individuals too must set and maintain high standards. Nobody is better than you and you deserve the best so set and maintain your high standards even if your friends do not do it, you do it.

Do not Compromise Your Standards

Sometimes you will be faced with temptations to lower your standards. Your standards are your boundaries. Don’t lower your boundaries to please people. Don’t compromise to get things faster. There are reasons why you set your standards so why should you change it.  If this is the case, does it mean then that you should change each time to meet the needs of others?  This is one of the reasons why there is mediocrity, corruption and greed and it is simply because we compromise our standards.

Conclusion

Standards reflect what you and your organization stand for. Setting high standards may upset some people but guess what having low standards also upset people. Honestly, I rather be alone with high standards then to be friends too many with low standards. Because of low standards, we end up rewarding individuals who are performing at mediocrity standards. We also end up hiring individuals just because they are the only ones that applied. If the individuals that applied do not meet your standards, don’t hire them. Keep advertising until you find the individuals that meet your standards.