My kids will tell you I’m competitive. I am because life is hard, and my experience and lots of studies show that we succeed when we put in the work. I also operate with the concept that success and money are abundant for everyone willing to work. While a positive mindset is essential to win, we can’t just wish success into reality.
Competition is good; it motivates us to be better at whatever we are doing. In a business market, it challenges us and creates options for consumers. In organizations, it creates challenges between divisions to raise standards and productivity driving the organization forward. Between individuals, it can make us work harder to improve our minds, bodies, and capabilities. Winning at all costs and by any means is counterproductive because, at some point, we will need the help of our competitor, be it a sibling, co-worker, business, county, State, or nation.
We expect leaders to be able to stand alone in the heat of battle and chaos. Leaders also understand that their team creates the product and the results. That means they must cooperate with their peers and boss and collaborate with their team and peers to create the desired outcomes for the organization. Cooperation is supporting someone in a separate effort, with an expectation of reciprocation, like teams working on different projects. Collaboration is working with another person or group to accomplish the same mission. Both require a level of unselfishness, and neither includes competition.
I have seen healthy competition, cooperation, and collaboration at every level of an organization where the leaders understood and trusted each other. The key is a selfless attitude and the recognition that, at some point, your team will need the support of another team.
The greatest challenge you have heard me say is the competition with ourselves to become 1% better every day. So, start with your most significant goal and do one thing every day to reach that goal.
This week, I challenge you to identify that team on your left or right that you may need in the future and meet them. We call that networking these days.
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Remember, “all things are possible through prayer and heavy deadlifts.”™
