In the words of motivational speaker, Les Brown – "You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great." Where do you start to transform your business from mediocre to great?

Below are your top 7 essential ingredients for cultivating greatness within your own business:

1. Know What Your Business Stands for and Live Those Values

More than ever, today, customers don't just ask "what products do you offer?" They also ask "what values do you stand for?" What values does your business stand for? What practices have you developed to live those values daily?

→ Put Values First

2. Know Your Compelling "Why"

Viktor Frankl, the great Austrian psychiatrist, said it best: "Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue ... as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself." For what "transcendent" purpose does your business exist? How does your business make a difference in your customers' lives?

→ Value Innovation: Yin-Yang Strategies

3. Always Seek The Edge

In 1954, Roger Bannister did the seemingly "impossible" and ran the first 4 minute mile. When asked how he did it, he said "It's the ability to take more out of yourself than you've got.'" How can you "take more out of yourself than you've got" to achieve the seemingly impossible in your business?

→ Surprise To Win

4. Dare To Be Different

Contrarians are the change agents in the business world. These wealth-building businesses are not simply "executing better" – they're radically changing the rules of the success game in their field or industry. Where in your business can you break the rules? How can you set yourself apart from the crowd in your industry?

5. Find Models Of Greatness

Within every industry, every geography, every career path, there are examples of greatness everywhere. Find those people, those businesses that inspire you the most. What is it about them you would like to emulate? What changes can you make today to be like them?

→ Steve Jobs' 12 Rules of Success

→ Matsushita's 7 Principles of Management

→ 25 Lessons from Jack Welch

→ Estee Lauder's 15 Success Rules

6. Know The End In Mind

Great businesses **decide** their future. They are not dictated by it. They know exactly where they want to be, by when, how, and then persist in getting there. What decisions have you made about your business future? What do you need to decide differently in order to have a great outcome?

→ 8 Key Entrepreneurial Questions

7. Commit To Personal Greatness.

Your business is a direct reflection of where you are at. It only grows as quickly as you do. To build a great business, you must commit to your own personal greatness. How do you define personal greatness for yourself? What changes can you make to unleash your own greatness?