4 Keys to Winning When You're an Underdog with the Odds Against You
Patrick Leddin, PhD
Practice Leader | Professional Disruptive Speaker | Led the Vanderbilt Disruption Project | WSJ Bestselling Author | Podcast Host
We have all had underdog moments. These are the times when the odds are stacked against us, we find ourselves ill prepared, or we face a long uphill battle.
Perhaps you are experiencing an underdog moment right now.
Maybe you are:
- Trying to land a job against very tough odds
- Opening a business in the face of a strong headwind
- Looking to turnaround your performance when everything seems insurmountable
- Transforming your team from struggling to winning
- The list goes on and on…
Whatever your situation, I invite you to take a few minutes to consider how well four underdog keys are present in your life.
Key #1: Take on the right mindset
- What is your mindset?
- How do you see yourself in the situation? Victim? Feisty upstart? Etc.?
- Do you sport a large chip on your shoulder?
- Are you quitting in your mind before you even got started?
Key #2: Set a clear goal
- Have you taken the time to set a clear goal, even in the face of serious adversity? Is your goal specific or vague?
- Have you shared the goal with others to gain feedback on it?
- If so, what have you done with their comments?
Key #3: Commit to doing the the hard work
- Are you willing to do the hard work needed to persevere through the tough times?
- Are you working in smart ways, asking for help as needed? Or, do you take everything on your own shoulders and make things harder than needed?
- Are you constantly acquiring new skills to accelerate performance?
- Are you working while others rest?
Key #4: Get someone in your corner
- When times are tough, who will be in your corner? Who is rooting for you to win?
- Are you willing to share your goals and progress with your cheerleaders so they know what to root for? Or, will your ego not allow you to bring them into the discussion?
- Are you willing to take time to celebrate small victories with someone who is your advocate?
Being an underdog can be a tough and exhausting situation, but doing it well, can be the source of your greatest successes.
I wish you all the best as you strive to win in the face of adversity.
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Here's a brief video that talks about the 4 keys. Feel free to share with your colleagues and teams.
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Photo by Charles ???? on Unsplash
Real Estate Broker/Click Homes Investments, LLC
5 年Excellent article.
Thank you for laying a path to get back on when situation fails us. This post is really a motivation to get a optimistic lookout during harsh down times
Executive/ Family Business Coach (PCC)| Vanderbilt Professor | MG100 | Board Member
5 年Great post!
Locomotive, Metro Technology, Electrical Machine and FMEG Business Leader (Sales) - Rolling Stock, TCMS, Signaling and Power Distribution, Automation, IIoT, ML and AI - Sales, Service and Business Development.
5 年Well captures Patrick. Greetings and Applause. Even sometimes you won't find situations as conducive as stated.? 1. Keeping a mind set is far beyond success and failure - we only remember and have our values to survive. 2. Setting a clear goal - agree. Knowing our values will help us define our goals and mission. 3. Hard work at times will exhaust us too much and bring down our minimum power to think right, leave apart doing the correct things or taking the correct steps. We need not change our behavior always and call to situations. Things may not be that tough in reality - think again, relax and move on. 4. Most time we won't have anybody to bank on. What work for other, may not work for em, and people are too busy keeping their own breathless pace these days. May be we should not look outside? ?and go astray. I appreciate your views, highly and would like to add - looking inside and building our own strength will not only empower us but others too leading to an inclusive growth and prosperity.
Senior Business Analyst | Real Time Payments| Business Process Design | Product Management| Business Analytics
5 年So true Patrick.