March Madness & Failure: How you handle disappointment defines you

It's March Madness season!

Passionate sports fans everywhere are filling out brackets with names of basketball favorites, money is put forward as indication of confidence, and adrenaline levels are rising fast. Sports fans are investing in the belief that their favorite teams will succeed and deliver against an expectation of success.

BUT... What happens if your teams lose? Will you stomp off and claim someone cheated... or do you accept the outcome and move on?

In sports, and in business, how we accept failure and disappointment and keep our composure influences our reputation as others watch how we navigate stress, frustration and disappointment.

There is no personal brand strategy for reputation building that doesn’t address the inevitable frustrations and setbacks of life.

While success is always our goal, failure is often our reality.

I have a client who declares he is "an expert at failure”. He is the President of a successful tech company and is viewed as an accomplished business leader by many who know him. Yet, he insists that his ability to navigate complex situations, deal with difficult people and grow an enterprise comes as much from his understanding of stress, disappointment and failure as it does from what works and achievement.

How do you view failure?

Do you see it as a setback or as an opportunity to learn which way doesn’t work??

Here are some tips to learn about your personal brand and uncover opportunities in the face of setbacks and failure:

• Assess the situation from all angles. Was there something you could have foreseen if you’d been clearer about your intent? Did you have all the data to make a good decision (were you rooting for a team just because you liked the uniform colors but didn’t really know their free throw shooting record)?
• Take accountability for where you fell short and what you could have done differently. This is often the toughest part for most of us. When you can own your role in a situation, you can find it easier to see things clearly and eventually move on.
• Who, in your network, was giving you good advice? Who offered you incorrect guidance? This will help you know who you should turn to next time.
• How much of your decision-making and action was emotion-based and how much was motivated by logic? Did you over think the situation and neglect your gut feeling? Often times, it is our intuition that guides us in the right direction and our head gets in the way of doing what we know in our hearts is right.

Winning and failure are two sides of the same coin.

In sports, there’s a 50/50 chance of winning or losing (unless a tie is possible), meaning the odds are evenly split. In business, however, we aim for win-win situations—in relationships, transactions, projects, or collaborations. However, when both parties benefit, that’s what defines a truly successful endeavor.

This March Madness season, if you participate in the excitement of the games (or as a #leadershipdevelopment lesson), remember that??:

Your ability to deal with success is as important to your reputation as your ability to navigate failure.

As noted basketball coach, John Wooden, once said, “Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.”

How do you deal with failure? Let me know what strategies you implement in the comments below.

**As previously appeared in part on LIDA360(dot)com.