Excellence to Eminence

Living Our Values

Excellence

Excellence can be a vague term. At Ohio State, we define excellence as striving for the best “in the standards we set, the results we produce, the relationships we are in, and the dedicated service we provide.”

At the individual level, excellence is producing strong results because you connect your work with your college/unit’s goals and the university’s goals, and focus on your blue chips. You continually look for ways to improve your results, and learn new skills. You focus on the “customer,” our students, patients, guests, and the community.

Everyone wants to produce excellent results, and comes to work with good intentions. But there are times we’re not producing strong results, whether it’s because we’re having an off day, we don’t have all the information we need, or we’re working on something that’s not a priority. Focusing attention on excellence helps achieve strong results by clarifying priorities, identifying times we’re not at our best, uncovering unknown information, and expanding our skills.

These tips can help you focus on Excellence:

• Understand you r role in the larger university. Every person at Ohio State contributes to the success of the university – there are no small parts. Understand what role you play in achieving the goals of your team, your college or unit, and the university. Also, think about how you contribute to a positive experience for the university’s “customers.”
• Identify opportunities for growth. Continuously gaining knowledge and building your skills enables you to produce strong results, identify new approaches in your current role, and prepare for future opportunities. Identify development opportunities such as industry resources and publications, professional organizations, continuing education, volunteer opportunities and special projects.
• Strengthen your coaching skills. Offering and receiving coaching and feedback is an important part of practicing excellence because it uncovers  blind spots and offers concrete ways people can increase their results. Use these tips to strengthen your coaching skills.
• Focus on your well being. We produce optimal results when we’re at our best, physically and emotionally. Make it a priority to take care of your health, including eating healthy, getting regular physical activity, keeping up with preventive health screenings, and managing your stress level. Consider leveraging the many health and wellness resources offered by Your Plan for Health.