How you talk after a loss says more about you than any interview after a win.

Anyone can be gracious with a scoreboard behind them. Losing removes the cushion, so what comes out is closer to your actual settings: whether you reach for blame, whether you can name what went wrong without flinching, whether you can still say something decent about the other side. Nobody expects cheerfulness. They are only listening to how you handle not being happy about it.

After the next bad result, give yourself ten minutes before you say anything at all. Then say one true thing about your own part and one fair thing about theirs.