Lessons from Defeat - Courtesy of Usain Bolt

I don’t know a Jamaican, or Usain Bolt fan for that matter, who would not have wanted Bolt to win the last race of his career. But it wasn’t to be – there was no gold medal in those legs and he had to ‘settle for bronze’ (ponder those words!). While it was sad to have missed the storybook ending I think that we got a different story – how to handle defeat or failure. By the end of the night the story was all about the graciousness with which ‘The Big Man’ handled his defeat and his stature grew even more.

Every organization is going to face a failure. If it does not face failure because of risks, then it will face failure because it has not taking any and has grown stagnant! When the results aren’t what we wanted or expected then what do we do? Do we turn around and blame the equipment, the staff, the economy, the record keeping? Many times the answer is yes – we look around for a scapegoat. Once we find that scapegoat we put the blame on it and everyone else in the organization can breathe happy. Of course the problem with that is that the underlying condition often does not get addressed!

In Mr. Bolt’s response we see some important ways of behaving:

1. Immediate acceptance – As soon as he crossed the line in third place he went to congratulate those who took first and second place. He did not waste time or energy in denial.

2. Managed response – Instead of going back to the dressing room to lick his wounds he stayed on the track for another 20 minutes signing autographs, taking selfies and talking to his fans.

3. Setting the tone – Even from thousands of miles away, those of us in Jamaica felt the stunned silence in the arena when Bolt did not cross the line in his usual first place. However his response told the crowd how to behave – accept it. His embrace of his competitors did the same thing. And finally..

4. Think about others – Mr. Bolt knew that his supporters were disappointed, and when asked by a reporter what he wanted to say his first words were “Sorry I disappointed you”. He clearly ran as hard as he could and he owes no one anything, but he realized that millions around the world wanted him to win and he was sorry that he could not deliver that win. He didn’t make it about him or his disappointment – he made it about ‘us’ and ours.

Quick takeaways for leaders

•  We know that denial is a part of the grief cycle but we have the power to shorten that part. If your organization has gone through a failure don’t wallow in it. Leaders should step up and help others to move on sooner rather than later
  

•  Think about your response. If you lash out at others then you will sow conflict in your team as they look for scapegoats. If you go into prolonged denial, then you delay the acceptance and the learning.  What is in the best interests of the organization and how can your response help to achieve it?
  

•  Be a role model for what you want to see. I remember sitting with a leader when we received the results of an audit. His aggressive and abrasive tone made everyone uncomfortable. The results were not what he wanted to hear, but his response did not take advantage of the learning opportunity. In fact it sowed seeds of destruction since those of us present in the room learned that truth telling was not welcome. You will not be surprised to learn that the problems identified in the audit continued to get worse.
  

•  Keep failure in perspective. Mr. Bolt is a legend. He wanted to win his last race but coming third did not detract from his legendary status.  If your unit or department has a failure it does not mean that it is a failure! Accept the failure as part of life.
  

•  Of course you should learn from failure to meet expectations and that means reflecting on it. I notice that the best athletes do that automatically and can say where they think that they had problems. They are used to self analysis as an important tool for corrective action in the future. Post-mortems in our organisations are important but only so far as they identify issues that you need to deal with. If they are simply to cast blame or avoid blame, then they are useless so set the right tone when you hold them.
  

One final word – I remember seeing an interview with Mr. Bolt’s remarkable coach – Glen Mills. Mr. Mills said that it was critical for athletes to understand that they would lose. Understanding that he said, removed the fear of it. Don’t let your employees feel that failure is the end. Encourage them to win and teach them winning strategies. If and when they miss a goal however, lead the way by a quick acceptance and bounce back. Learn from Usain Bolt who is the undeniable king of the Sprints but realizes that life is a marathon – not a sprint.

source: linkedin.com