The 5%: Growing from Good to Great

"It's all good, but you need 5% more to make it great," my former boss said (years ago) after listening to my presentation to client. 

This is a variation of the Level 5 leadership concept and the book by Jim Collins, "Good to Great." Many leaders advocate it as a path to excellence, but in different ways, such as:

"Your greatness is just five extra percent of energy away."  

I used it as well on my college and MBA students in Critical Writing. "This is good! Now add the missing 5% and transition to great," I echoed my ex-boss. 

It always works. People, who want to excel need to exert extra effort.   

That was not the case with Hezekiah, who was acclaimed a good king--likened to David--in the Old Testament. While most other kings through generations did evil in the Lord's sight, Hezekiah did good. 

After his father Ahaz' wicked reign, Hezekiah put the house in order. He destroyed all pagan altars, idols, and temples. He cleaned out and reopened the doors of the temple in Jerusalem shut by his father. He re-instituted the Passover as a national holiday (2 Chronicles 30:1). Judah was revived. 

"He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses. So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did . . ." (2 Kings 18:6-7)

When the Assyrians, the world power at the time, threatened to invade Jerusalem,  Hezekiah prayed a beautiful prayer for help (2 Kings 19:19).

God, faithful as always, protected Jerusalem. And the Assyrians were vanquished (2 Chronicles 32:22).

Later, Hezekiah became very sick. He begged God to be merciful and to remember all the good he had done. The Lord healed him and extended his life by 15 years (2 Kings 20:5–7)! 

And then, Hezekiah dropped the ball. 

Instead of pursuing the 5%, he backslid big time!  When the Babylonians, who had heard he was sick, sent him a gift, Hezekiah did not speak of the Lord's goodness and of Him as Judah's one true God. Instead, he showed them his treasures, his riches, and everything in his arsenal. 

Although he was a model of faithfulness and trust in the Lord . . . although he was always rewarded with answered prayers, Hezekiah had fallen to the folly of pride. 

We are called to a life of obedience in the one true God.  We need that 5% to grow from good to great.