Today I read an intriguing headline on the cover of a past Harvard Business Review, “Do You Play to Win, or To Not Lose.” When I read the article, it wasn’t what I was expecting, but it’s a great title and sparked with something I’ve been thinking about – competition.
I help salespeople overcome their personal issues with competition, and I see this theme of playing to win or to not lose in action on a daily basis. There are salespeople who love to compete, to participate fully in the game. Others, for whom winning isn’t the most important thing, would rather give up and walk away when things get too heated.
In working with this issue, I find it is useful to get to the core of your personal beliefs around competition if you want to make lasting changes. Awareness is the first step of any change, so I invite you to do a little reflection, dig into your belief structure, and consider the following:
– Would you rather be right than win? What is the cost of losing?
– Do you know what winning looks like in any given situation? Do you believe there is a win-win in every situation?
– When have you walked away and regretted it and when have you stayed only to find you needed to walk sooner?
Once you have awareness, it’s time to take action. Call us if you get stuck.
Of course, knowing when to stay in the game and knowing when to walk away is enormously useful in life as well as in sales. At least I know it is in mine.
