Module Seven: Quality
It was a busy restaurant at dinner time. I anticipated a delay in service and a crowded, noisy experience. Then I met Kenton. He came to our table, and I knew something was different. He smiled and seemed eager to truly take care of us while we were dining at his restaurant. Don’t get me wrong, he was not the owner of the establishment, but he owned our service. He knew the menu and expertly explained how the dishes were prepared. When I asked about his favorite dish, he responded by saying that he favored a variety of dishes for different reasons. He explained not just what he liked but why he would choose that particular dish. His attention to detail was amazing and made me feel like he had a vested interest in making our dinner excellent.
The restaurant manager came to our table to check on us and tell us a bit more about our server. He said that Kenton started in the kitchen and has grown into this role. He said what sets Kenton apart from others is his love for people and his desire to provide quality care for each of his customers. The manager was his biggest cheerleader.
A regular dinner had turned into a lesson on leading with excellence. Kenton's ownership attitude was nothing short of inspirational. His manager's validation was evidence of a healthy and supportive culture.
Choose to own your job with excellence, and you will make a difference!
Larry Little
Eagle Center for Leadership
Quality and Excellence are often used interchangeably, but they describe two different things. Quality is shaped by what customers expect, what regulators require, and what stakeholders depend on an organization to deliver. Meeting a quality standard means consistently and reliably satisfying those expectations. Excellence begins internally, reflecting the commitment a leader brings to the work itself and the standard they choose to uphold, regardless of whether anyone else is measuring it.
A classic parable offers perspective on this distinction. A visitor to a temple under construction noticed a sculptor remaking an idol. A completed version sat nearby, and the visitor could find no visible flaw in it. When the guest asked what was wrong, the sculptor pointed to a scratch on the nose. The visitor noted that the idol would be placed on a 20-foot-high pillar and asked who would ever notice. The sculptor looked up and said simply, “I will know it.” Quality asks whether the requirement has been met, while excellence reflects the care and commitment a person brings to the work, independent of recognition. For leaders, this distinction matters because the standard a team holds internally ultimately determines whether quality is something they truly believe in or merely comply with.
“The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”
This module approaches excellence through three sessions focused on quality: Defining Quality, which examines how leaders translate external expectations into standards teams can apply; Continuous Improvement, which looks at how small, deliberate adjustments sustain quality over time; and Using Data to Drive Better Decisions, which explores how information and sound judgment work together to produce more reliable outcomes. Let’s get started!
