No comfort zone for winners
You always get a buzz from winning. Winning is everything,” declares former horse racing jockey AP McCoy. It is a state of mind. Winners are not contented with anything less than winning. They’re happy under pressure and do not fall into a comfort zone.
Most winning mindsets can be found in the world of sport. And most people know just how difficult politics is, that no business or sports enterprise is as intricate or complex as a government; that no CEO or manager of a private business faces quite the kind pressure a president or prime minister is under. President Duterte reportedly said, “Seeking the presidency was a mistake.”
People in politics have often lagged behind those in the sports arena in the science of winning, and they can learn in particular from elite sports in the fields of formulating strategy, building a team, leadership, resilience, innovation, data, and handling failure.
In the book Winners and How They Succeed, author Alastair Campbell used lessons from all walks of life — especially sports and business — on how to win in all you do. He has interviewed the rich and famous, political figures and celebrities in great numbers. His findings confirmed that winners are bold and ambitious; they focus, are flexible, avoid complacency, learn from their mistakes, aim for constant improvement, shape good teams and hate losing. Here are some interesting key takeaways from this bestseller:
• Winners are neither born nor made. For leadership and winning — whether a physical or cognitive ability is genetically endowed or is an interaction of genetics with early environment — nobody will succeed without talent as the starting point. If the talent is not there, no amount of application of techniques, rules or practice will lead to success. But if it is there, then continual commitment, application, focus, practice and development are essential.
• Winners are strategic thinkers. While it is widely accepted that sports people need to study the behavior of winners, the worlds of politics and business can also pick up strategic pointers from the world of sports. The author’s mantra in thinking strategically is embodied in the acronym OST: objective, strategy, and tactics. They should have a clear winning objective, basic plan that they intend to execute, and tactics that should not deviate from their core strategy unless there are fundamental changes in their environment.
To simply illustrate the OST principle, the author used the indiscreet liaison of former US president Bill Clinton as a parallel. The objective was survival after the shameful event involving a White House intern; the strategy was to project “business as usual;” and the tactic was to ensure that the American people knew that Clinton was doing business as usual.
The strategy worked pretty well: he didn’t get thrown out of office.
• Winners do not need to be liked. They should certainly not be feared, but they do need respect if they’re going to bind a team together as champions. Real winners need to communicate with a strong sense of authenticity. They should demonstrate real knowledge and experience down to the finest detail.
• Winners work hard. The effortless rise to the top is a myth. Their work ethic is fundamental. Practice and pain are essential. They work extremely hard and fight on.
• Winners maintain their commitment to the strategy and imbue others with this commitment, every day. They need to develop an ability to “think correctly under pressure” and after failure “get good out of bad.” They have brains, talent, persistence and energy — four of the many qualities they need to be winners.
• Winners make sacrifices. Whether it’s the girlfriendless footballer Gary Neville, the home-leaving cycling coach Dave Brailsford, the six-jobs-to-pay-for-her-sport professional surfer Layne Beachley, the seven-days-a-week working life of businesspeople and effective politicians, they do the things they have to do, and often do without the things that others take for granted. The training regimens to reach and stay on top, the need to focus on diet and rest, are routines few can live with. They may get the rewards, but only if they make the sacrifices, too.
• Winners have a winning mindset. Some Formula One teams pay enormous attention to detail, use available data efficiently and are deeply obsessed with innovation. They have a mindset that dictates: “No matter how fast you go, you should have gone faster.” Successful entrepreneurs are exactly the same. Perfection doesn’t exist; there is always room for improvement. A mindset can be positive, negative or just right. London has a good number of winning brands: Harry Potter, the Premier League, David Beckham, Team Sky, Andy Murray… these brands are proud about wanting to win. To them, winning is a celebration of positive people doing positive things in a way that everyone can hopefully relate to.
• Winners solve problems. Personal frustrations drove many of Richard Branson’s best ideas to fruition. He put up Virgin stores because he loved music but soon discovered that existing record stores were uninteresting. His record label got started because he discovered a huge singing talent he couldn’t get contracted to a label. And Virgin Airlines emerged from his own disappointing flying experience: bad food, uncomfortable seating and no entertainment.
Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, built an online platform for good journalism that was free and could be accessed by all, since she expected the blow digital technology would have on newspapers. Other brands like Nike, Starbucks, Apple, Walt Disney, and Nordstrom knew how to get out of troubles. That’s why they are winners. They have simple ideas, but they solve people’s problems or adapt to change in the world.
• Winners never give up. Talent is critical, but it isn’t everything. Winners have experienced failure and rejection in their time. Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, declared that getting fired from Harper’s Bazaar was a defining moment in her career. The failed launches of Virgin Cola and Brides and Cars haunted Branson before these brands became successful. Winners have the ability to recover quickly from impediments and rise up again when they fall.
Other interesting quotes from the tome that can guide aspiring winners:
“Even if you aren’t sure of yourself, pretend that you are, because it makes it clearer for everyone else.” — Anna Wintour
“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.” — Floyd Mayweather
“I had a very simple objective: survival.” – Bill Clinton
“It is only by being bold that you get anywhere.” — Richard Branson
“Caution won’t win elections; boldness will.” — Tony Blair
“If you can’t win, what’s the point?” — Haile Gebrselassie
“Build a man a fire and he’s warm for a day, but set fire to him and he’s warm for the rest of his life.” — Terry Pratchett
“Do not judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” — Nelson Mandela
“Strategy is always just one word: simplification.” — Steve Jobs
All winners fear failure and this is one of the drivers that pushes them forward. But no winner, or leader, succeeds forever. In the end, events, time, physical decline or mortality intervene. That is part of being human.
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