WHEN YOU DON’T WIN THE GOLD

 

Commenting about the athletes that didn’t win Olympic gold, a friend of mine lamented about the hard work that netted no gain.  So what do you do when you’ve practiced, worked hard, competed fairly and you don’t win the gold?  Have you ever competed for a promotion, a raise, a visible new strategic role only to be told that you didn’t get it but you should be proud of how well you did do and maybe with more experience you’ll get to compete again?

Here are some ideas to let go and move forward:

 

Do your homework or keeping with the sports analogy “study the replay”.  Follow up with your leadership team to understand how well you competed and what you might want to improve for the next opportunity. What have you learned that can be applied to your next project and personal development?

 

Be gracious.  Congratulate the winner.  Join in the celebrations. Don’t whine about losing or how you probably would have been better for the job (although this might be true).  Complaining won’t win the admiration of the team.  Graciousness is easy when you’re the champ; and, inspirational when it comes from someone who put their heart and soul into competing but didn’t get the golden ring.

 

Reconnect with your vision.  Your dreams and vision have meaning and purpose for you.  Review it, talk about it, dream about it and see how that your efforts and practice have only moved you closer to your vision.  The laws of attraction move in mysterious ways.  One of the components of my personal vision was to have an opportunity to work with MBA students related to creativity, entrepreneurship, and leadership.  Last year, I was in conversations with a college in Ireland to work with them in developing an MBA curriculum.  They decided to put their objective of developing an MBA program on hold but to my delight, I had a call from a college 10 miles from my home to teach entrepreneurship, organizational development, and leadership in their MBA program!

 

Network, team, and be supportive. While you were competing, you may have made new friendships, mentors, and served clients in interesting ways.  Consider how you can continue to serve them.  How can you plan and collaborate with the individual who did get the promotion? 

 

Get back into action. The best way to get over emotional upsets is to get back into role and into action. Ask for a prominent role on the new project or working for the new leader.  Make a decision to let go, embrace the new, and move forward.  These are the trademarks of great leadership!

 

Til next week,

Dr. M.