How we might be spending too much of our time tinkering with the mediocre instead of making a decisive shift towards excellence … 

Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog

Mentioned in this episode:

My new book is out now

You’ve got a bold vision and a strategy to achieve it! But why does your company seem to be standing still? Why is the gap between what strategy promises and what it delivers so vast and disheartening? And what to do about it? Find out in my new book “The PATH to Strategic Impact”: https://geni.us/the-path

New book

Welcome back to

“Irresistible Communication”.

2

Two minutes, twice a week.

3

No nonsense advice on

leadership communication.

4

Mediocrity is a silent saboteur.

5

While great things quickly get

promoted and bad things are fixed

6

fast, average often just stays around.

7

We grapple with it, reluctant to let go of

it, just as we would with the plain bad.

8

But we also often hesitate to make a

decisive push towards excellence and

9

make the edits that just have to be made.

10

Essentially, we struggle

to say, that's just okay.

11

And okay really is not enough.

12

Also, after all, a lot of work has

already gone into that piece, right?

13

So, we keep on tinkering with it.

14

And then some more.

15

So really, mediocrity’s trap is making

us believe we're moving forward when in

16

fact we're just circling the same spot.

17

We think we're acting, but

often we're just rearranging

18

deck chairs on the Titanic.

19

Breaking free would require bold

steps, a grounded transformation, or

20

the courage to scrap it and pivot.

21

Instead, mediocrity captures our

focus precisely because it teeters

22

on the edge of holding potential

for both: failure and greatness.

23

In a way, it exploits our internal

battles, our fears of failure,

24

our aspirations for success,

and the comfort of the familiar.

25

In our reluctance to see the mediocre

decline in our hesitance to take the

26

risks required for excellence, we find

ourselves tethered to this just okay zone,

27

expanding energy without clear direction.

28

This middle area, not great, but also not

exactly terrible, is a sneaky problem.

29

It takes our energy and

overshadows our dreams.

30

It's kind of like a tricky call

leading us away from doing our best

31

by suggesting the idea that this will

be good enough and worth our time.

32

So, the battle here is in recognizing and

resisting this subtle pole of the mediocre

33

that threatens to dilute our potential.

34

Have you experienced

the pull of mediocrity?

35

Keep lighting the path and

share this with a friend.