Outside the Box
Building a legacy of excellence.
January 6, 2026
Excellence: greatness attained, high distinction, meritorious, uncommon, worthy of high appreciation.
Is not excellence the aspiration to which we devote ourselves regardless of profession, circumstance or season of life?
When considering the pursuit of excellence, the words of Michael J. Fox provide important context: “I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.”
Horst Schulze, co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton hotel enterprise, was driven by the desire to become the best. To achieve and maintain excellence. His focus was always on the customer’s expectations and experience. Through this lens he determined there were three universal principles:
- Customers want products and services free of defect.
- Customers expect timeliness.
- Customers expect that the person with whom they are dealing is nice and demonstrates a caring attitude.
As you read this, you might be thinking Schulze’s advice is fine and good for a hotelier, but not for the rugged and challenging work of cattle production. I would challenge you to consider the premium price of beef places our product in an elite category and, thus, carries high customer expectations across the spectrum of the supply chain.
While we might not come face to face with a beef consumer, or even the buyer of our feeder cattle, our actions and attitudes have an effect.
While we might not come face to face with a beef consumer, or even the buyer of our feeder cattle, our actions and attitudes have an effect. At the very least, an attitude of excellence will have a substantial influence on how we do business, the reputation of our organization, and the quality of our internal and external relationships.
Keeping focused
Schulze suggests every enterprise has four focal points — keep the customer, earn new customers, encourage the customer to spend without violating the first objective, and commit to continuous improvement.
As outlined in his book Excellence Wins, there are barriers to attaining high standards, including excuses, failing to go the extra mile, and not responding to concerns or complaints.
A close study of successful long-term businesses reveals a prevailing attitude — businesses are obligated to earn the customer’s loyalty while rejecting any process or attitude that conveys the incorrect belief that a business deserves customers.
Schulze points to three ways to lose customers: underdelivering on brand promises, arrogance and carelessness. Self-reflection and implementing a process to monitor performance in key categories is vital in the work of assuring that customer satisfaction cannot only be maintained, but strategically enhanced.
Editor’s note: In “Outside the Box,” a regular, separate column in both the Angus Journal® and the Angus Beef Bulletin, author Tom Field shares his experience as a cattleman and his insightful perspective on the business aspects of ranching. Field is director of the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he holds the Paul Engler Chair of Agribusiness Entrepreneurship.
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