Winners Get Up and Go

Bonnie St. John, the first African-American to win Olympic medals in ski racing in downhill events at the 1984 Paralympics, captivated a packed ballroom at the Girls Scouts Annual Success to Significance luncheon last week.  She is an accomplished speaker, trainer and author, who radiates enthusiasm and possibility. The story of her Olympic medal races provided insight for everyone.  She was number one after her first run, and in sight of the finish line when she fell during her second run.  The icy course had caused many racers to fall.  Bonnie earned an Olympic medal by getting up and finishing the race.  The gold medalist also fell, but got up more quickly.

Winners

Working with straight shooters who want to do the best thing for our customers and the company makes work productive and fun.  When no one overtly seeks public credit everyone wins.  I've had the great fortune of working for an organization committed to helping our customers prosper.  With this goal in mind, we've all prospered.

Friends who deal daily with internal gamesmanship don't enjoy the same satisfaction.  When more effort is exerted in appeasing internal egos and deadlines than seeking to delight customers no one really wins.

Make Me Look Good

A friend and I attended a business function last evening.  When the photographer asked to take our photo, my friend asked specifically that the photographer make her look smaller.  This astute photographer was eager to deliver great customer service and took 3 photographs staged differently to ensure that my friend was pleased. 

Not only do I love stories of great service, this story highlighted a universal need.  We all want to be positively perceived in our endeavors.  When we look for opportunities to make others look good, we all win.

Winners are Winners Regardless of the Score

There's nothing like high school sports to remind us that winning is about far more than the score.  Obviously, it's much more fun to win.  No matter what the scoreboard indicates, every player who gives his or her  personal best, while embracing true sportsmanship and supporting his or her team mates is a winner.  Learning to compete fairly and support our team with our best effort will serve us well throughout life.

New Game of 21- Everyone Wins

Many adults are familiar with the "21" or Blackjack card game.  I concocted a new version of 21.  As the featured speaker for a Sterling Bank Women's Business Initiative luncheon, for one of my exercises, I provided a deck of cards for each table.  My only instructions were to deal all the cards and see how many winners each table could produce.  As I'd hoped, the players shared cards to ensure that everyone was a winner. One of our 10 tables had to overcome a 21 purist.  And we had over-achiever tables that ensured that they had a 21 hand for everyone present and created 21 for as many additional hands as they could muster.

We all have opportunities to change the rules to create more winners.