EXCELLENCE IS EVERYWHERE!

Early in your professional career it’s easy to become discouraged. Learning the law is no easy task.  Paying for school is tougher.  Doing all of that while working 40 hours a week is darned near impossible. Some students who do all of that and raise a family. It seems like an impossible mountain to climb.  And because you haven’t been in practice yet it’s easy to succumb to the feeling that you can’t make it, you can’t excel, and you wont be able to make the strides that have been taken by others in your class or others with more experience. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Excellence is Everywhere. Even in a world full of confusion, violence, war, disease, poverty, confusion, stress and uncertainty there are people in your everyday life who are doing extraordinary things.  I take tremendous inspiration from their work and their accomplishments. I am inspired by their passion, commitment, versatility

The leaders in all professions and businesses face common challenges ❏ the creative - genius side which inspired them ❏ managing people and resources ❏ raising money and earning a profit ❏ finding cultivating and keeping customers and clients ❏ setting a standard of excellence that will be emulated by their colleagues and recognized by their customers.  But they have a passion that extends beyond their product - it extends to customer service and spreading the good news.  The like their competitors, they welcome advice, and they believe that for the best of the best 1+ 1 is always 3 or more.

They have many traits in common ❏ enormous people skills ❏ calmness under pressure ❏ respect and admiration for their competitors ❏ playing for the long term ❏ willing to risk it all to pursue a dream ❏ a desire to share what they know and have learned with others in the business ❏ a sense of humor ❏ a willingness to roll up their sleeves and do the basic and dirty jobs and to give the limelight and recognition to others ❏ an ability to handle disasters - to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

They’re versatile and gifted on everything from management to technology. But, but but they step away from the keyboard and call you, talk to you , listen to you, pay attention and remember.  Sure most of them have websites and facebook profiles and all the rest.  But the core of their business is a  1:1 relationship with their vendors, their partners, their bankers, their customers, and their team.  That’s not made with a keyboard - it’s made with a human. 

What follows are examples of those outside my business who inspire me - a bit about them and their work and where I find inspiration in watching them do what they do.  They’re like pillars on an ancient highway giving light and guidance to others who must take a journey. You can lean on them, follow them, admire them or just look at them from afar.

A Fabulous Farmer -  Beth Eccles - along with her husband Brent, own Green Acres Farm in North Judson Indiana, an organic 160 acre farm that grows some of the most remarkable produce in America.

Hey I’m more of a steakatarian but her stand at the Green City Market in Chicago’s Lincoln Park could make a rib eye weep. As the summer rolls on you’ll see heirloom tomatoes, 10 varieties of potatoes, greens that almost jump into your car.  But what makes Green Acres special  is the people - her good-natured crew who truck thousands of pounds in every Wednesday and Saturday morning well before dawn and wait on a demanding public from dawn until the last tomato is sold.  

Beth Eccles who has enough energy to light most of Indiana who always seems unruffled amidst the chaos and will always take time to tell a customer (like me) why her Japanese sweet potatoes are the best.  She grows, she cultivates, she sells, she markets, and she manages her employees.  Sounds like the chairman of law firm to me.

 Linda and I had the privilege of attending her end of season festival at   her farm this year and it was remarkable to chat with so many of the people who do business with Green Acres.  A very happy crowd indeed.  Did I mention that the party started at 2 pm and lasted until noon the next day?  And that’s all I have to say about that.  Everyone there had more stories to tell than me about Beth and Green Acres and what they mean to their lives.