Zainab Aderounmu 
I’ve always really wondered what it meant to be an excellent person or to strive to attain excellence. Yes, doing things at the highest point attainable or at the best form possible. But how is that different from perfectionism?
Last week, I met an accomplished man whose presence and short interaction exemplified what excellence means in practical terms.
It was the launch of the Nigerian University of Technology and Management’s tech research report and Dr Folarin was the presenter. As the host, I had done a bit of a background check on him and I knew who he was before so his friendliness was a refreshing idea.
He had arrived early to check the slides and found them to be a little unsatisfactory. The fonts were tiny and each slide was crammed. So, he insisted that corrections be made immediately. Now, what struck me was how he punctuated every sentence with ‘excellent’ after every correction.
‘Excellent’. That word kept ringing in my mind. How many times have you thought of excellence as a divine virtue bestowed on some people by God, or an inborn trait rather than a daily commitment to the best, even in simple tasks?
That interaction lingered with me for days and when I thought I met an excellent person, I met another person who embodied it in a simple moment. I hosted at the National Head Girl Conference and I couldn’t stop thinking of the female photographer for the event, Ms Chika. She wouldn’t let a single hair out of line in a picture. I remember the group we took, we had to stand for a lot of minutes because she insisted on personally rearranging everyone in the picture.
I realised that excellence isn’t something you miraculously attain, neither is it flawlessness, it’s mindfulness. Attention to details, and a deep care about the outcome of a task. While perfectionism seeks approval, excellence seeks impact. How would this turn out? Would it look like the best? Is this the best we can do? Excellence is paying attention to the littlest things daily, everyday in every task.
Excellence shows up in the mundane; how a speaker rehearses one more time before the big stage, how a leader sees no sunk costs and reworks the strategy if it’s not birthing results, how a writer overhauls her first draft in pursuit of a better one. It’s not about giving your best only when people are watching but even in your corners.
As you change the world this week, I’ll leave you with this quote by Martin Luther King; “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michael Angelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
Zainab ADEROUNMU A. W. is a First Class graduate of English Language and the Overall Best Graduating Student from the Lagos State University, Lagos Nigeria. She’s a professional Master of Ceremonies, known as The Hijabi Compere , a public speaking coach and Communications Professional. She is currently a Youth advisor to the European Union where she doubles as the Spokesperson and Head of Communications & PR for the Youth Sounding Board.