Image by World of Oddy via Flickr

So I got this thing from this professional person a few weeks back. This is going to be a vague story but I swear it has a point. It was a document I needed to be able to do my assigned task and several weeks went by before I received it.

When the glorious  .doc finally graced my inbox I immediately pounced — just sure it would be exactly what I needed.

And then WTF? happened.

Surely this is a draft. Surely I was sent an unfinished version. But no. This is the complete Margie-send-this-along-to-an-important-person final. I was stunned. Did the sender actually read this before he sent it out?

Here’s the deal. Everyone likes to say “the Devil is in the details” but, honey, that ain’t no Devil. That’s your reputation.

Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying you must be perfect.  Lord knows I misspell my own name from time to time or write something that just reads the wrong way. Mistakes happen, but mediocrity shouldn’t be par for your professional course.

Thankfully I had a fabulous (and very intense) boss early in my career. Her mantra was basically, “If they ask for summary, make it a memo. If they ask for a memo, make it a plan. If they ask for a PowerPoint, blow that presentation out of the water.”

Some folks call that a knowing how to “under promise and over deliver.” I call it creating for yourself a reputation for quality, meaningful and relevant work.

A half-hearted work approach produces half-hearted work product, which produces your reputation for shoddy half-ass work.  Better to blow a deadline and take your time crafting a thoughtful piece than cram some words on a page to check it off your list. Honestly, I’m such a list-checker-offer that I often struggle with that temptation. But I know and was taught better (thanks, SH!).

DEFY MEDIOCRITY.

Even if you don’t know what you are doing – figure it out. You are smart. You do good work. Don’t give folks a reason to believe otherwise because it’s really hard for them to forget.