Competition can take on many different meanings.
Being competitive is equally as challenging to pinpoint from a definition
standpoint. In their purest forms, we understand them clearly. We compete with
others for business. In today’s world, Amazon is a competitor or competition
for nearly everyone. Frequently though, who the competition is can become muddy
and even cause confusion.
Having or even
creating healthy competition can be a positive thing, but taking too far can
actually begin to work against you, especially when your personal
competitiveness is the cause.
Something to
Consider.
To some, this next
statement may seem blasphemous: not everyone is hyper-competitive. That may
seem hard to believe, but not everyone is driven to beat other people at what
they do. People also respond to and recognize competitions differently. As a
leader, it is our role to understand how best to connect and influence peers,
co-workers, or team members. It is also important to understand what generates
the need for competition.
What motivates
Competition?
If you see
yourself or someone else as ultra-competitive, what drives that? Is it truly a
feeling of needing to be the best? Is it a personal response to the other
person or business that you want to beat them? Competition is often driven
by fear. Fear that not being the top performer will result in less
status or worse, termination. In most cases, those are not rational drivers
when you take a step back, even though they may be very real in the minds of
the individuals.
What are you
competing against?
“I want to win.”
“We need to win this quarter.” Those are common statements you may hear from
any retail leader at any level. But what do they mean? What is winning? Is it
to achieve a specific goal? Is it to beat the competition? Without a clear
definition of what winning is, it is hard to achieve that success. And even
then, is it really winning?
In business, we
are all playing an infinite game; it is not something that can be won.
Understanding the difference between infinite games and finite games can
help reshape the mindset of leaders and team members about how they define
success. Aiming to achieve success at specific milestones will lead to better
long-term results, versus trying to win any particular point in time or beat a
competitor. Ultimately, we are working to help ourselves reach what is most
important to us as individuals or collectively as a team.
Collaboration
instead of Competition.
Working together
or collaborating can produce some of the same positive effects, if not more, as
‘beating’ someone seen as a competitor. The same ‘reward response’ received
from winning can be found in even larger amounts when working together with
someone else. Instead of seeing colleagues as the competition, work together
towards something bigger. The benefits can be exponential for the individuals
involved and your business as a whole.
Are you the
problem?
When the leader is
the most competitive person on the team, it can lead to conflict, uncertainty,
and missed growth opportunities. Most people have experienced situations where
the boss needs to be the smartest person in the room. They are always looking
at things as a competition. It could be about sales, ideas, or strategy. They
may take others’ thoughts and use them as their own. Or they could just
withhold information from others because they feel it gives them an
advantage.
The concept of
being overly competitive and the realization that you are holding yourself and
your team back is real and steps have to be taken to combat them.
An excellent idea shared can be applied in any business environment to
help ensure that the competition is not inside you or within your own company.
There can be tremendous value in being competitive, or at least have the desire to be the best you can be. What we need to avoid is incorrectly defining who the competition is and what we are competing for. Whether you are a team leader, regional leader, or above, the competition should not be inside your own company. We all strive to be the best but that only matters if everyone within the company is finding success, and the company as a whole is reaching the objectives that have been defined as most important.
As usual, we remind you to take your Memo Plus Gold daily. It will help to keep you alert and mentally sharp. For more information or to order for Memo Plus Gold, please visit : https://oze.my.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.