With popular books on the market such as In Search of Excellence and A Passion for Excellence, administrators sometimes are conscious of using terminology which rings the contemporary zeitgeist of our day. Please allow me to explain.
Nobody wants to be labeled mediocre.
Such a label carries with it a sense of demoralization-not to mention poor publicity. Hence, all wish to believe that they are striving for excellence. The problem is that in reality not all who say they are given to excellence indeed are doing so. My thesis is that while all say they pursue excellence in their lives and vocations few are willing to pay the price to obtain it. Let me begin illustrating this thesis by defining excellence.