It's Really Not Just About Winning, It Is About How You Play
It's Really Not Just About Winning, It Is About How You Play
Spring training has started for professional baseball. The teams and players are preparing for a long season, their goal is to win the World Series. They won't do that by winning every game they play, they can't. They need to win enough games to reach the playoffs. That's the first milestone. Then they need to win enough games in the playoffs to reach the World Series. Then they need to win enough games in the World Series to take the title. It's more like a marathon race than a sprint.
Business is similar. The economy is throwing us knuckleballs right now. We've come through a period when all we were seeing was fastballs, maybe an occasional curveball. Good hitters can hit fastballs because they have excellent hand-eye coordination and can anticipate where the ball will wind up almost as soon as it comes out of the pitcher's hand. The knuckleball is thrown at a much slower speed and good knuckleball hitters have the ability to hold back until the last possible moment to get as much information as possible about the path of the ball. They get hits because they are patient and save their swings for the balls they know they can hit. Just as they do, we need to resist the urge to swing at pitches too early.
Because of the current economic conditions, people have a tendency to chase every opportunity that catches their eye. It's the shiny ball syndrome - see it and chase it. The problem is, having done that you might wind up someplace you never intended to be and spent money that was intended for something else. Then it's even harder to get back to where you need to be.
As a coach, I've been helping my clients to remain focused on the ultimate goal and the overall plan to reach that goal. Then, as the shiny balls come into view it's a simple decision - either it fits the plan, it doesn't, or we need to revise the plan.
For us, every day is a new game. We won't win every one, but if we win often enough and win the right ones, we will prevail. Isn't that really the goal?
Its Really Not Just About Winning It Is About How You Play - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Ferguson's Website.
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I've written before about the three traits of successful business people - passion, persistence, and patience. There's a word that sums up that approach - prevail. Especially in these economic times, those who adapt their thinking and approach will prevail.
Spring training has started for professional baseball. The teams and players are preparing for a long season, their goal is to win the World Series. They won't do that by winning every game they play, they can't. They need to win enough games to reach the playoffs. That's the first milestone. Then they need to win enough games in the playoffs to reach the World Series. Then they need to win enough games in the World Series to take the title. It's more like a marathon race than a sprint.
Business is similar. The economy is throwing us knuckleballs right now. We've come through a period when all we were seeing was fastballs, maybe an occasional curveball. Good hitters can hit fastballs because they have excellent hand-eye coordination and can anticipate where the ball will wind up almost as soon as it comes out of the pitcher's hand. The knuckleball is thrown at a much slower speed and good knuckleball hitters have the ability to hold back until the last possible moment to get as much information as possible about the path of the ball. They get hits because they are patient and save their swings for the balls they know they can hit. Just as they do, we need to resist the urge to swing at pitches too early.
Because of the current economic conditions, people have a tendency to chase every opportunity that catches their eye. It's the shiny ball syndrome - see it and chase it. The problem is, having done that you might wind up someplace you never intended to be and spent money that was intended for something else. Then it's even harder to get back to where you need to be.
As a coach, I've been helping my clients to remain focused on the ultimate goal and the overall plan to reach that goal. Then, as the shiny balls come into view it's a simple decision - either it fits the plan, it doesn't, or we need to revise the plan.
For us, every day is a new game. We won't win every one, but if we win often enough and win the right ones, we will prevail. Isn't that really the goal?
Its Really Not Just About Winning It Is About How You Play - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Ferguson's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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