I will never forget where I was when Joe Carter hit the gaming winning homerun for the Blue Jays in 1993 to win the World Series.\u00a0 Since then, my beloved city hasn\u2019t been able to celebrate much around baseball\u2026until last night when the Jays clenched the American League Division Series.\u00a0 The energy, enthusiasm, passion and drive to win were amazing to witness and the sweet taste of victory was the best part.\u00a0 As I cheered for the Jays win last night, it made me think about how we can tap into the a winning attitude within our teams and organizations and enjoy the euphoria of winning at work.<\/p>\n
Much has been written about the characteristics required to win – what you need to do to be successful and achieve your goals.\u00a0 Some these include:<\/p>\n
The same is true for organizations. Our companies and our teams need to embrace a winning attitude.\u00a0 We need to have leaders that cultivate an environment that promotes healthy competition, focus, drive and provides rewards for those that achieve their goals.\u00a0 We need to tap into the incredible power and momentum that is created when a group of people come together with the common goal of winning.\u00a0 This could include:<\/p>\n
When we focus on what \u2018the win\u2019 will look like and rally people around that vision we can inspire people to stretch their skills, push themselves further and achieve more than ever before.<\/p>\n
Employees and teams who want to win are in constant competition with themselves.<\/strong>They are intrinsically motivated. While external rewards will be a strong motivator, ultimately their desire is to improve upon their personal best.<\/p>\n Leaders need to coach and motivate teams to set goals that are higher by asking the right questions: \u2018How can we do better than we did last time?\u2019 Tapping into a desire to win, improve and beat our personal best will rally people together. Spend time with team evaluating their past wins and others in the organization.\u00a0 What are the common themes? What actions did the team take that made them successful? How did they overcome obstacles?\u00a0 What is it about \u2018the win\u2019 that is so great?\u00a0 What will we do to celebrate when we achieve our goal?<\/p>\n Evaluation, preparation, training, direction, motivation, support and rewards are all required in order to win. Your organization must create the conditions that allow those who want to win, to succeed.<\/p>\n I participated in an incredible staff training day this week with a client.\u00a0 They hosted a fantastic event that had cross-functional teams participate in a series of games to win a grand prize.\u00a0 The tag line was \u201coutwit, outlast and outplay your peers\u201d. What a great slogan for encouraging friendly competition.\u00a0 The games were fun, active, informative, incorporated a generational theme and were very creative.\u00a0 The team members laughed together, worked together, and encouraged each other to win together.\u00a0 The day served as a strong team building activity. \u00a0The enthusiasm and energy in the room was palatable. Everyone had fun\u2026but the cheer that occurred from the winning team was more passionate than I expected.\u00a0 They were thrilled to be crowned the winners and the rest of the teams cheered for their win. \u00a0When victory comes, no matter how big or small, we need to soak it in, enjoy the moments and use the energy to inspire us to go for a bigger goal.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s bask in the glory of winning for just a little bit longer before it\u2019s time to get back to work and push for the next win.\u00a0 This victory makes me smile and inspires me achieve my own wins.<\/p>\nVictory!<\/h3>\n