Hello, my friends.
I recorded this video blog early on the Monday morning following the 2018 Super Bowl.
I had watched the team I love and have rooted for since I was a child lose a very tough game. But here I am in the video – the very next day – smiling.
As I take a sip of my morning coffee, I say there is something that I don’t want you to drink, and that’s “Haterade.”
Don’t Drink the Haterade.
Forgive me if this comes across as preachy; I don’t mean it that way. But in the heat of all the hype of a big game, there’s a lot of emotion tied up in sporting events.
I coached my children. They’re all grown and out of the house now, but I coached them all. I coached them in basketball, baseball for one year, and then in soccer. If you add all three of the kids’ time in sports together, that is probably twenty years of coaching soccer alone.
Regardless of the sport, what you teach a child is to win with grace and lose with dignity, and vice-versa. You teach them to be polite and kind to their opponent, no matter the outcome of the game.
Without the opponent, there is no game. So be grateful.
Be truly gracious and thankful for the opportunity to play. Don’t be a sore loser.
I am talking about this also in the context of life.
In business, things don’t always go your way. Be professional. Put your personal feelings and emotions aside, and do what’s right overall for the team, even if you disagree.
When you win, don’t gloat. When you lose, be gracious. (Click to tweet)
This is true on the sports field, in business, as well as in your family. There should be no sore sports and no gloating.
Whatever the environment, the principle applies.
If things go your way, don’t walk around with an attitude of superiority. Be classy regardless of whether you win or lose.
We adults needs this lesson, too.
One of the biggest challenges – and anyone who has coached youth sports knows this – often is not the kids who play the sports, but the parents.
When I coached, I set very clear expectations for the team on how we were going to conduct ourselves. Whether we won or lost, I set the expectation that we were going to behave in a classy way.
I will tell you it was easier for the six-year-olds, the eleven-year-olds, and the fourteen-year-olds to shake hands sincerely and say thank you to the opponent than it was for a small minority of the parents.
You get the point: Be classy…don’t drink the Haterade.
And wherever you are – whether you win or lose today – make it a great day!
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Ed DeCosta is one of the most engaging executive coaches and thought leaders of our time. He delivers results with companies of all sizes, from high tech start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. Ed is an ICF certified professional coach. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University, a master’s degree in international management from the University of Texas, and an MBA from the University of Texas. Ed is also an adjunct faculty member in West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics, teaching Professional Selling and entrepreneurship courses.