Congratulations to the 2015 World Series Champions, the Kansas City Royals.
Last year, the Royals came within just two runs of winning the World Series, but lost in Game 7 to the San Francisco Giants. Imagine getting that close only to come up short—and then coming back the next year to push even harder and win it all?
How would you respond?
Imagine you’re about to close one of the biggest deals of your life. Everything about it looks like a sure thing. You’ve worked hard, you’ve done everything right—you know you shouldn’t, but you start planning the celebration in your head. And then, out of nowhere and at the last minute, it falls apart. Someone else gets the deal. You don’t. You lose. All that work for…
NOT NOTHING!
First of all, getting that close means you’re doing something right, so that’s very good to know. Second, all that work will pay off in other ways. Maybe the exposure will lead to another deal down the road. Maybe you learned something important. The point is that not every team makes it to the World Series and just getting there is an accomplishment most can only dream about.
But in the moment, it’s hard to maintain that perspective. You’re disappointed. How do you respond? Do you sulk? Do you quit, walk away from the whole industry and start over in a new field? Maybe you go back to work and try again but you don’t give it your all because you don’t think it will do any good.
The Kansas City Royals didn’t respond that way. They’re a small market team with a payroll that could probably fit in Alex Rodriguez’s wallet, but they won the 2015 World Series because they didn’t sulk and they didn’t doubt themselves.
You do the same. Sulking is not who you are. It’s not how you roll. You almost had the deal, so you know you’re on the right track—you’ll get another shot if you keep doing what you’ve been doing. So you prospect, you study, you do good work. And new deal presents itself.
How do you respond?
Ask the 2015 World Series Champion Kansas City Royals.
2015 Video – World Series Champions!