Excellence is often associated with elite performers or extraordinary outcomes. In leadership contexts, it is frequently conflated with relentless drive, constant urgency, or winning at all costs. But this framing is incomplete and ultimately unsustainable. Excellence is not a finish line or a reputation to protect. It is an ongoing process of growth and becoming that any leader can cultivate. There is no destination. You may achieve great outcomes along the way, but the pursuit of excellence is a continuous path.
If excellence is a process rather than a prize, the question becomes what sustains it over time. Brad Stulberg’s answer comes from peer-reviewed research in psychology and physiology; from philosophical traditions that treat mastery as a practice; and from years of coaching high performers in medicine, sport, the arts, and business. Leaders are at their best when they work with focused attention on what truly matters, apply their distinctive strengths, engage deeply with others, and take on meaningful challenges.
Under these conditions, excellence generates energy rather than depletion. Joy is not a soft or incidental outcome of this process; it is a critical source of fuel that makes sustained excellence possible. It’s not intensity or joy. It’s intensity and joy. When both these qualities are present, leaders are better able to grow, adapt, and bring out the best in themselves and others.
Action Steps
1. Identify what is actually driving your effort.
Consider what is powering how you are showing up in your work right now. Is it connection to the work and a desire to contribute, or stress, competition, and the need for external validation? Fear-based drive can create bursts of productivity, but it often leads to burnout. Sustainable excellence comes from purpose and engagement, not pressure alone.
2. Don’t obsess over outcomes; obsess over process.
Notice where you are overly fixated on results you cannot fully control — rankings, praise, metrics, or public perception. Consciously redirect attention to controllable processes: preparation, decision quality, learning, and execution. Do the work; let the outcome take care of itself. It’s not that outcomes don’t matter (they do), but that the best route to great outcomes is a relentless focus on the process.
3. Reconnect with intrinsic purpose when joy fades.
When work starts to feel hollow, tedious, angst provoking, or downright soul-sucking, return to why you were drawn to it in the first place. If that connection feels distant, step away briefly. One way to do that is to immerse yourself in nature, beauty, and awe (as this and this Nano Tool prescribe) — such as walking, meditating, listening to music, witnessing a craftsperson at the height of his or her powers, or watching a sunset — to restore perspective.
4. Practice deliberate savoring.
When something goes well, resist the urge to immediately move on. Pause to notice how it feels, reflect on what made it meaningful, and share the moment with others. Savoring creates and strengthens positive energy, making it easier to access that source of power during difficult stretches. Celebrate the wins. Then get back to the work itself.
How Leaders Use It
Shift the emotional fuel from comparison to learning: At Microsoft, Satya Nadella worked to move the culture away from internal competition and defensiveness toward curiosity and growth. He encouraged employees to adopt a “learn-it-all” rather than “know-it-all” mindset, reframing high performance around continuous learning and contribution. By changing what drove effort, he helped create a more collaborative and sustainable culture of excellence.
Focus on controllable process instead of short-term optics: During Ford’s turnaround, CEO Alan Mulally instituted weekly Business Plan Review meetings where leaders were expected to surface problems early and openly. Rather than punishing missed targets, Mulally kept attention on the quality of the plan, the clarity of the data, and the discipline of execution. This emphasis on process over appearances helped restore coordination, trust, and performance.
Reconnect people to the deeper purpose of the work: When Hubert Joly became CEO of Best Buy, he began by listening closely to frontline employees and reframing the company’s mission around enriching lives through technology. By emphasizing the human impact of the company’s work alongside financial goals, he helped employees rediscover meaning in their roles and reenergized the organization during a critical turnaround.
Pause to reflect on what worked, not just what to fix: At Pixar, Ed Catmull supported the use of “Braintrust” sessions and postmortems after major projects. These conversations were designed to examine both successes and failures, helping teams understand why something worked and carry those lessons forward. Making room to recognize progress strengthened creative confidence and sustained energy across demanding production cycles.
Read the full article by Brad Stulberg / Knowledge at Wharton
