“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”

Vince Lombardi

The word “behold” has recently gave me new perspective.

The word is not just to look or to view, but to look and look again. To literally remove yourself from the situation and to evaluate the circumstances in order to get an opinion before decision-making or strategizing.

The world we choose to live in always demand perfection.

The way a brand position itself, if it is a person or business, want to be perfect, want to be the best and not comparable. But what is perfection and is perfection attainable?

Beyers Truter, well renowned winemaker and founder of the Beyerskloof brand recently said in an interview when asked: “Have you made your best wine yet?”, replied, “That once a winemaker said he has made his best wine, he must retire or die.”

He reason that there is always something to improve on in your craft of being a winemaker.

Beyerskloof is a multi-award winner brand and internationally known, but still the founder of the brand clearly stated that it is not perfect.

This mindset encourage me and our clients to rather strive for excellence and really behold our purpose, service delivery and brand position with the aim to take changes, improve and inspire.

The Beyers Truter interview was also packaged with background interviews with his farm workers, winemakers in the industry, his kids, young entrepreneurs and friends.

The characteristics of Beyers Truter mentioned in these interviews was not the flashy kind most business leaders state on their LinkedIn profiles.

It was authentic skills no one can teach you, but are refined through experience and define your brand.

I call them skills, as these are the fundamental elements that inspires other and really build an excellent brand.

Beyers Truter skills

Great sense of humor

Very good listener

Humble

Opportunist

Willing to share knowledge

Open door policy leadership style

Let us be encouraged to behold perfection in our brand and relook the things that should really reflect our businesses’ purpose. Let us not be afraid to take changes, being scared to fail. Let us all redefine failure as opportunities to learn from and to build and put more focus on the way we lead, build and inspire.

Forever inspired!

JJ van Niekerk

Creative Director: Forever Friday