How you treat the other team after you lose is part of your leadership résumé.
LEADERSHIP
WHAT THIS MEANS
Everybody is watching the five minutes after a defeat, because that is when the performance stops and whatever you are really like comes through. Being decent then is harder than being decent after a win, and worth far more, since nobody can claim it came easily. It also settles something in your own head about whether the result owns you. Those few minutes get remembered longer than the score.
After the next loss, shake hands properly and say one true thing to somebody on the other side. Do it before you talk to your own team. Be disappointed afterwards, away from everybody.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
How did you behave toward the winners the last time?
MORE IN LEADERSHIP & INFLUENCE
- A crew that argues about the formation is a crew that cares. Your job is to end the argument, not the caring.
- Taking over someone’s task because you’d do it faster teaches them they’re not trusted.
- Watch who everyone glances at before they laugh. That’s who really leads the table. Make sure it’s someone kind.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.