The Decision to Upgrade Your Standards

I just returned from a week in Sicily. I spent three days leading a retreat for twelve emerging, high-potential leaders of a client’s company.

A key theme for the week was the decision to upgrade your standards.

I started my trip last Monday, leaving from Raleigh-Durham International airport. As I was standing in the boarding area, a couple of business guys stood next to me, furiously checking their upgrade status on their smart phones.

Hoping for an upgrade to first class.

Complaining about being number 6 on the list.

Rechecking a few seconds later. More hope.

Alas for them, no upgrade was forthcoming.

The gate agents called for first-class boarding and I got on the plane. A decision that had been made weeks prior when I purchased a business class ticket to Europe.

After the first day of our leadership retreat, we took a tour of the Benanti Winery on Mt. Etna in Sicily. Sicily is in the southern Mediterranean, at a similar latitude to the north of Africa, so most of the wine produced in Sicily is typical of hotter weather wines — high alcohol and produced for immediate consumption.

The Mt. Etna region is different. The volcano Mt. Etna rises 3350 meters, nearly 11,000 feet. The wines of Mt. Etna represent less than three percent of all Sicilian wine production. Due to the slopes and soil on the mountain, very high quality wines are possible.

Possible, but only after a decision to raise standards.

On the tour and tasting dinner, conducted by Antonio Benanti, one of the two brothers currently running the winery, we learned a lot about the history and business of the winery. The family had been producing wine on Mt. Etna since the late 1800s, but the wines were not noteworthy.

Twenty-six years ago, their father made a decision. He decided to raise the standards of wine production on Mt. Etna. He decided to produce age-worthy wines that could compete with the best of the world. At the time, many of the locals thought he was a bit crazy, but he persisted in pursuit of his vision.

Twenty-six years later, Benanti was featured in the October 2014 issue of Wine Spectator. One of their white wines was listed as among the top 20 wines in the world. Not just in Sicily, but in the world. I had the opportunity to taste this wine and it is very, very good.

On the last day of the leadership retreat, we went around the room and each person announced their personal vision for leadership. What kind of leader do I want to be?

In every case, each person was declaring a decision to raise their standards.

We talked about Nathaniel Branden’s book, The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. One of the key principles of the book is “No one is coming.”

No one is coming to raise your standards. You have to do it yourself.

The guys in the boarding area could have decided to raise their standards. Instead, they commiserated in their hoping.

Dr. Benanti could have waited and hoped, but he made a decision and saw it through.

The twelve individuals made a decision to upgrade their leadership, and now they have to see it through.

Are you hoping for an upgrade? The decision is in your hands.