Pursuing excellence should not be confused with accomplishing a job or task. When you do planning, you do it by backwards planning. But you do not achieve excellence by backwards planning. Excellence starts with leaders of character who engage in the entire process of leadership. And the first process is being a person of honorable character.
Character develops over time.
Many think that much of character is formed early in life. However, nobody knows exactly how much or how early character develops. But, it is safe to claim that character does not change quickly. A person's observable behavior is an indication of her character. This behavior can be strong or weak, good or bad.