One Apple A Day #800 - winning
A few days ago, during a workshop, I asked the participants what their meaning for "winning" is.
Almost everyone answered "to reach my objective" or "to achieve my goal". I loved those answers and the conversation that they sparked.
However, they also triggered a few thoughts and reflections that have been lingering in my mind since.
The first is about competition.
"To reach my objective" is personal and it doesn't refer to any form of competition per se. It doesn't say anything about defeating or getting ahead of others. It's just me achieving my goals and dreams. But they also don't say anything about others' goals and dreams.
What if I reach my objective, but the people around me don't? Is it still a victory?
The second thought is about leadership. As a leader, I may have a goal for myself and for my team. I may lead my team and get the results I wanted. Yey, that sounds like a victory worth celebrating for the team.
Yet, a few times I've been in winning teams, but I didn't feel victorious at all. Sure, as a team we delivered, and I contributed, but those victories felt hollow to me. How so?
I just realised that the team objective was not "my" objective. It was my leader's or my company's, not mine. I'm quite sure that in most cases, I didn't even know what was my personal goal in that context.
So, we got the result, but I didn't get my victory.
Leaders have the responsibility to understand the goal of everyone in their team and align or sync those goals with the collective one. Only the, everyone will have their win at the end.