By Dave Kelly
A couple of days before Christmas, I was in my garage about to get in my car to go to a meeting. A large overnight delivery service truck pulled up to my neighbor’s house and the driver hopped out with a package. He looked up and waved at me, walked past my neighbor’s car in the driveway, and set the package down next to the garage. He punched in some buttons on his delivery scanner, hopped back in his truck, and drove off.
Did you see what was wrong in this scenario?
Need to read it again?
He “walked past my neighbor’s car in the driveway”. My neighbor was home! Yet, he only did the minimum of what was required. If he was willing to go the extra mile, he would have gone to the door, rang the bell, and attempted to hand the package (most likely a present) to my neighbor.
With all of the news about identity theft and people prowling around during the holidays, why didn’t the driver try to do his best, rather than the bare minimum? An extra 20 feet to the front door and he would have provided excellent customer service. Those few extra feet would have been the difference between excellence and mediocrity.
Do you go the extra mile in your work, school, family, life? Or do you settle for the bare minimum.
Oh, by the way, what kind of neighbor am I? Mediocre. I got in my car and drove to my meeting, instead of doing what I should have done—let them know about their package. Guilty as charged!
I commit to being an excellent neighbor from now on. What do you commit to?
Dave Kelly is a professional speaker and host of the website Gonzospeaks.com, and a contributing writer here on OutOfYourRut.com. His career story is also a feature here at Professional Speaking—Turning a Hobby Into a Career. Dave is available for speaking engagements either through his website or by emailing Kevin at OutOfYourRut
