People have a lot to say about mediocrity and I have not heard anyone say anything positive about it. But let me take a shot at it.
When I was leading a school I discovered something very powerful about encouraging staff in their pursuit of greatness. It is not what everyone would think and, to be honest, neither would I have thought this myself. However, in prepping a brand new teacher for the year I knew that he had no idea of how to construct an effective lesson plan. In our training we had gone over this but, if you have ever taught, those trainings can be a blur! This teacher approached me with his first lesson plan for the first week of school. In a word, it was a mess!
Shockingly, what I did next would change something very essential in my leadership. I told him that the lesson plan was good. I was both honest and, at the same time, dishonest. I was dishonest when I told him "you did a good job. It was not good at all and, as such I was not honest. However, I was honest with him when I told him "you did a good job." Note the emphasis on the words: good and you. The lesson plan was not good but he, as a new teacher with no experience in planning, did a good job. Was it mediocre? Yes and no.
Mediocrity is a matter of perspective. From my perspective the lesson plan was mediocre, but from his novice perspective I saw potential. The odd thing about mediocrity is that it is work and, if we look hard enough, from a different perspective, we may well see potential. This is a vital lesson in leading others and in leading ourselves. The reason this teacher was able to grow in developing lesson plans, and he did in a phenomenal way, was because I did not reject as mediocre what was initially, the best he could have done. Over the next few weeks I would guide him to crafting a lesson plan that was better and his own. Not mine, but his.
Here is the point, nothing stands in our way of greatness more than not executing our plan. We tinker and endlessly seek to craft it to perfection but never put it out there; we never execute. With all the negativity about mediocrity, and much is warranted, here is another side to consider: mediocrity is at least a step beyond nothing! It is something and when you do something you have made the required step to do another thing. Doing nothing only primes the pump for more of the same. Mediocrity will leave much to be desired but it leaves us desiring.
As I write this we are over half way through January 2024. I guarantee you there are journals and notebooks full of executable ideas for January 1st and none of them have happened. Nothing will haunt and expose you more than a plan that looks you in the face, everyday, as reminder that you continually lie to and fail yourself. This is not due to lacking information, but being unwilling to execute what you claim to desire. Â I know this because I was that guy. What is in front of you, however, are days that can shape your greatness is spectacular ways but only when you execute.
When I first learned to play golf, it was clear that what I was mediocre at best. For a long time I looked like Tiger in the Woods until I made a critical decision. For several months I went to the range, almost daily, and practice hitting each club, chipping and putting. Do not get me wrong, I am not great but I am no longer Tiger in the Woods! I am actually very good but not because I simply read about how to play or watched endless videos. I did both of those things but I also executed every piece of information I learned to my ability at that time. Here is the key: in the early days of my golf mediocrity no one chided me, told me to go home or to give up the game and neither did I. In a word, I executed.
Let's become better "golfers" this year, starting .... TODAY!