Developing winning characteristics is an uphill battle learned slowly over time in fast-paced environments.
You’ll hear us talk a lot about winning. It’s what we’ve built our company culture on. We believe learning to win is an important skill. So let’s talk about what that means.
Winning in your sport is well-defined already. Coming in first. Striking out the batter. Hitting a home run. Winning the game. Winning in the classroom is also pretty easy to recognize. Getting an A on the exam or the paper. Making a great presentation in class. Graduating with honors.
Winning in business means closing the deal, making the sale. Solving the customer’s problem. Gaining repeat business because you performed well.
But the W and L columns are not the whole story. Sure, you’ll need to rack up a winning record to be successful, but there are ways to win even if you don’t win the game. Here are some of the important elements of winning:
- Doing your job. Notice I didn’t say “doing your best.” Doing your best is not enough in most cases if you didn’t get the job done. Winston Churchill said “Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required.” That gets confusing to people sometimes because they believe that doing their best is all that should be asked of anyone, but if there are skills you need to do your job well, then you need to acquire those skills. Make the tackle. Get the hit. Block the kick. In sports, as in business, your team needs to trust that you will always do your job.
- Giving your best effort in every situation. Doing your job is the baseline. Giving 100 percent is what makes you great. Running hard to first base even when you’ve hit a fly ball that will almost certainly be an out. Sprinting your heart out even though you’re going to finish third. Playing your best game when you’re down by 20 points in the fourth quarter. Never giving up. Your effort will prove who you are and inspire your teammates to give their best effort as well.
- Improving every day. You may not be winning the game, but if you can improve your technical skills, get stronger, faster, build more stamina every day, you’re becoming a winner. Achieving a new personal best is winning, even if your team didn’t get the W. Focus on your forward progress.
- Showing leadership. Mastering your emotions. Being consistent. Not letting the last inning, the last free throw, the last false start get into your head and hurt your performance right now. Not letting anger or disappointment, a bad call or a dirty hit, get to you and affect your next play. Acknowledging your opponent’s skill. Being humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Leadership doesn’t come from winning; winning comes from leadership, both on and off the field.
Developing these characteristics of winners take time. Talent is given; winning is earned. Whether it’s on the field of play or in your career, you can start each day by asking yourself “What will I be working on today?” At the end of the day, you can measure your progress. “What can I do better tomorrow?”
You already have a winner’s mindset from sports. Once you’ve learned how to apply that winner’s mindset to your career, you’ll be able to quickly recognize it in others. You’ll learn to surround yourself with winners and disassociate yourself from people who don’t care enough to put in the effort. This skill will help you become the best you can be at your chosen career and mark you for leadership roles down the road.
The great Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is a habit.” Make it yours.