7 Reasons Leaders Need A Short Memory

The most shocking event of the 2nd weekend of college football was #13 Virginia Tech’s surprising loss to James Madison.  It is my theory though that VT never recovered from its loss to Boise St the previous Monday evening.  In essence, I make the argument that Boise actually beat the Hokies twice.

Have you ever had a single event or decision that kept beating you over and over again?  I have and if it has happened to you, you understand.  For leaders to achieve their full potential, we have to properly evaluate our losses but they can’t continually defeat us.  We have to get over it and move on. 

The following are the reasons why:

1. The Oval Track – Leadership many times does not have a finish line.  Because leadership is continually moving forward, we are on a continual oval track.  The mistake we make is that we confuse starting lines with finish lines.
2. Our Team Needs Us – We have to get up and move forward because our teams need us to help them navigate through difficult times.
3. Mental Health – Because you are constantly breaking through barriers and taking new ground as a leader, this will require intentionality, focus, and direction.  A sense of defeat leverages against that.
4. Attitude – People follow positive individuals.
5. Proper Image – As leaders, we need to model to our team how to handle disappointment.  Our team will follow our lead.
6. Big Picture Thinking – We need to evaluate things that set us back in context of a larger picture.
7. Momentum – We were taught as children that when we fall off our bike we need to get right back on.  That principle is still true for adult leaders.  When you have a defeat, get back on the bike and quickly regain the momentum that only comes from victories.

I wish our personal performance and that of our team was always up and to the right.  However, history tells us this is not the case.  When something seems to have gotten the better of you, just don’t let it keep beating you.  Once is enough for leaders to learn from.

Do you rebound quickly from disappointments?  If so, tell us how you do it.

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