“Some officials are slacking this year and have not achieved positive results. They stopped working hard, believing that they have reached the top, which is a misconception,” chided His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

He was speaking during the Dubai Government Excellence Programme (DGEP) awards ceremony, which recognise and rewards exceptional government employees, departments and initiatives.

This year in addition to the recognition came a clarion call to action, “Starting from today and until next year’s DGEP, you have to work hard and diligently to implement the fourth generation of the government excellence system, which is currently being used in the federal government.”

When you’ve began to achieve your targets it’s tempting to become complacent, but you mustn’t allow your ambition to wane or complacency to take hold. There is so much more you can achieve. There is always one more step on the ladder to success. Guard against becoming complacent.

Ask yourself, “How can I push myself further? How can I achieve more?”

To illustrate that good enough simply isn’t good enough, when Shaikh Mohammad was just starting out as a serious equestrian owner, he could’ve easily become complacent. By 1979, only two years after his first victory, he had already amassed 11 wins.

By many standards he was off to a fantastic start, and I’m sure advice dribbled in to stick with what he was doing, the way he was doing it. But that wasn’t good enough for Shaikh Mohammad. So he decided to sneak into Keeneland.

Keeneland is the world’s largest thoroughbred auction house, located in Lexington, Kentucky. It is where you go to buy a winner — horses sold at Keeneland frequently go on to win the Breeders’ Cup World Championship, the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and other top races.

Before he entered the auction house, Shaikh Mohammad had convinced himself that it would be better to attend without anyone knowing he was there, so he could freely observe his surroundings.

Having grown up around horses as a young boy, he’d learnt from his father what to look for in a thoroughbred. Yet he wanted to absorb the theories on this from within the industry, from the ground up. So, he decided to sneak into Keeneland with the intention of learning and getting better on his own.

And get better he did. Thanks to his persistence and willingness to never become complacent, Shaikh Mohammad is now one of the leading horsemen in the world.

To give just one example, Dubai Millennium — his personal favourite and one of his greatest horses — won nine of his ten races, including a stunning victory in the world’s richest race, the Dubai World Cup. Held annually on the last Saturday of March, this thoroughbred horse race is coveted for its $30 million (Dh110.19 million) in prize money, with the finale carrying a cash payout of $10 million.

Have you maxed out your potential? Can you be any better?

The answer — to never becoming complacent and instead continually achieving even more — lies in a relentless focus on improving, and your refusal to accept “what is” as a substitute for “what could be”.

“Deliberate Practice,” a term coined by psychologist Anders Ericsson, argues that to get better you have to practice at it. Expert-level performance is primarily the result of expert-level practice.

This isn’t to be mistaken with hours accumulated while working; rather it’s time specifically set aside to practice. For example, a professional golfer gets better by practicing on the range, in the bunker, and on the greens, not just by playing in tournaments.

For you to get better you must practice at it rather than resting on the way you’ve always done it. You’re mistaken if you think you can get by without practicing at getting better.

“It’s good enough!” are words you’ll never hear in Dubai. While Shaikh Mohammad’s words may not have been spoke directly to you, heed them anyway: Never become complacent!

Never settle for being good enough. Constantly pursue getting better. Always achieve more.

— The writer is a CEO coach and author of “Leadership Dubai Style”. Contact him at tsw@tommyweir.com.