Female professional giving a high five to her colleague in conference room. Group of colleagues … [+]
This column is about winners.
It’s about how you spot a winner, how you pick a winner, and how you become a winner. It’s about not just winners but winning – at anything.
Why do I feel qualified to address this? Because I’ve done it over and again – except when it comes to those damned NCAA March Madness brackets, where the more you think you know, the less you really do.
However…
I’ve coached more than 7,000 clients over the past 26 years as an independent career and executive coach; I’ve recruited, hired, onboarded, coached, and managed more than 400 direct reports over the previous 24 years; I’ve set up and overseen two reseller networks, one covering eight states selling to 25% of the US population and one selling seven product lines in New York City; and I created two start-ups, one with 11 employees, the other my current coaching practice..
I’ve made some mistakes along the way (nobody bats a thousand) but for the most part I’ve learned a thing or two about winners and winning. And one of the most compelling lessons I’ve learned is that being aa winner is a complex thing, derived from a multitude of factors: five, as far as I see it, all of which must be present for wining to take place, and all of which must sustain in order to keep winning. Coincidentally, they all start with the first letter of the alphabet, thereby dictating half the title of this article: Bring Your A-Game. Here they are.
Attitude: What you’re willing to do
Your attitude, they say, determines your altitude. Although that’s a hackneyed cliché, it’s true. Another truth: A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You go nowhere until you change it.
Ability: What you can do
This is different from achievement (which also starts with “A” but isn’t part of the A-Game metaphor). The problem is that while we judge ourselves by what we’re capable of doing, others judge us only by what we’ve done. If you’re hiring, look for the difference; if your job searching, display it.
Aptitude: What you can learn to do
This is probably the hardest to identify, certainly the hardest to show, but a good indicator is your track record of learning and your commitment to it.
Aspiration: What you hope to do
And this one’s the easiest to detect or to show. You just have to articulate it if you’re pitching yourself or a product – or look for it if you’re hiring or purchasing.
Ambition: What you will do
Easy, once again, to articulate on thr=e front end, but the last one that actually gets demonstrated. This is the proof of the pudding: in the eating.In my extensive experience, all five elements of your a-Game must be well-developed and adhered to. Bringing your A-Game doesn’t mean bringing four-fifths of your A-Game.
Winning is, indeed, a complex thing.