Sometimes the difference between very good and excellent are the little things.
As a baseball junkie, I’ll often hear a commentator share the cliché: “That won’t show up in the box score, but what that player just did saved a run.”
Inside Baseball Explanation: the “box score” is the official record that is reported after every game (once in newspapers, now online). It gives the overall performance of every player and important major statistics. It does not record the “little things.” I won’t go Inside Baseball any deeper to list some of these “little things.” But I know my fellow baseball fans are already doing that in their heads.
If you want to be excellent, then you absolutely need to do the BIG things well – the things that everyone notices. But here are some little things that deserve your attention as well.
*Arrive a few minutes early for every meeting. Running late from meeting to meeting does not make you look important; it makes you look disorganized.
*Be fully prepared for every meeting.
*Double check your statistics.
*Call everyone by their name – even the lowest assistant to the assistant – and say their names correctly.
*Proofread.
*Support a colleague who is having a challenging time.
*Share airtime.
*Give credit where credit is due.
*Giving a speech? Rehearse.
*In baseball we would say “hustle on every play.” Do that in the work context.
*Be polite and respectful to everyone; say Please and Thank You.
*Own your mistakes – and make up for them.
*Baseline – don’t be a . . . . let’s just say, Jerk.
These are the kinds of things that won’t show up in your professional box score – your performance review – but maybe they should.
