Your best is not good enough! If you say it out loud like that, it almost sounds like a line out of a movie, or something a drill sergeant will shout at his troops.
It could however be applied to management and leadership as well in the sense of continuous improvement and striving to be the best – the best in your industry, within your company, within your team.
To say that you tried your best in managing your company, or project, or even team could potentially just not be good enough if you failed, and to say you at least tried your best amidst a flurry of other “valid” excuses could or perhaps should also not be good enough either. Your people and clients depend on you as the manager/leader of the company to be better than your best and to ensure that the initiatives you manage succeed, and if it does not, that you at least recover significantly enough to move forward.
Think about it, if everybody just did their best, where would your company be? Where would all of us be? We would be creating a culture of mediocracy, wouldn’t we?
What if a world-class athlete just tried their best every time they raced, and never pushed the limits? Would there ever be new world records? If a car manufacturer just tried their best to manufacture good vehicles, would there ever be new improvements in fuel economy and safety, not to mention new improved designs?
So as a leader or manager, I think it is safe to say that your best just isn’t good enough, and you will have to be better, and will also have to strive to continuously improve as well if you want your company, project, and team to succeed.
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