It had been a long time since I read or thought about any of Dr. Seuss’ books as my two sons are both in their 30’s. A couple of years ago I was speaking at a 5 day leadership event in Las Vegas and had the opportunity to meet and listen to Bob Kuehl speak on Seussonian Leadership Principles. Bob is a Deputy Chief with Kansas City PD in Missouri and uses the principles of Dr. Seuss to teach leadership and risk management. Since that time I have had the opportunity to become friends with Bob, interview him for The Excellence in Training Academy and listen to his talk at the WINx event Roy Bethge and I ran in Appleton, WI in October of 2017. (Check out Bob’s WINx talk). In one of his talks I heard Bob use the following quote from Dr. Seuss: "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

It struck me that in one sentence Dr. Seuss embodied the Dare to Be Great and Pursuit of Personal Excellence philosophies I speak and write about.

Unfortunately many people are brought up being told:

• “Don’t rock the boat.”
• “Don’t make waves.”
• “It is important to fit in.”
• “Go along so you can get along.”

Being able to work together with others in a team is important. However, if you feel like you have to go along just to get along and are afraid of rocking the boat you will often make compromises to your values and principles.

If you reflect for a minute on the great leaders, innovators and change agents they were all willing to challenge the status quo and ‘best practices’ and were willing to stand out in order to change the game and make a significant impact.

What’s Important Now? Embrace the Pursuit of Excellence. Dare to be Great. Chose to Stand Out.