What Does It Take To Win?

In this series, professionals discuss their experiences accomplishing something for the first time. Read their stories here, then write your own using #IWasTheFirst in the body of the post. 

Coming in first is one of the greatest feelings in the world! I love the challenge of going up against stiff competition – and winning.

I developed a deep passion for coming in first as I competed in sports growing up, and I bring that same passion and enthusiasm into my business life.

This year’s epic World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians reminded me of the year my baseball team won our league championship. The season was incredibly long. The rigor of hours of practice six days a week while keeping up with my school workload was grueling. The emotional roller coaster of good days and bad days, good games and bad games was both exhilarating and exhausting. The pressure to perform at a high level and to win intensified as the season progressed. I will never forget the feeling I had as I stood on that mound as the starting pitcher for the championship game with my dad positioned squarely behind home plate.

Experiences like winning a championship game, or winning a record setting contract in business taught me three very important lessons about what it takes to be first.

Courage

I recently attended the Conscious Capitalism? CEO Summit that featured Brené Brown, the CEO of Brave Leaders, Inc. Brené made a simple but powerful statement that resonated with me. She challenged attendees to choose courage or comfort, and made a strong point that you can’t have both. She went on to say that strong leaders have a huge capacity for discomfort, and they learn to embrace it.

First and foremost, it takes courage to come in first. You have to be brave to lean into something nobody has ever done or into something that nobody believes you can do.

Perseverance

I have faced obstacles and doubts with almost every “first” I have ever achieved. Perseverance is quickly becoming a lost art. In today’s world most want the quick and easy solution, but coming in first requires an enormous commitment to discipline, restraint and practice.

I remember vividly the number of times I wanted to quit, but thankfully, something or someone encouraged me to keep going. Tap into what motivates you. Commit to persevere and power through those hard days and tough times. Even if the outcome was not what you had hoped, you can always learn from challenging experiences.

Trust

Almost all pursuits in life are at some level a “team sport.” I see lack of trust or the unwillingness to extent trust as one of the greatest barriers to achievement today. Rarely does anyone come in first without help. Read Stephen M. R. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything. Learn to trust your team as an accelerant to the realization of your goals.

Reflecting on what it takes to be first is a healthy exercise. As I stated above, I believe that demonstrating more courage, committing to perseverance and extending a higher degree of trust will help you achieve your ambitions.

But, there is a danger I want to address about the desire to win. Like in all things, what is healthy can become unhealthy. We live in a very individualistic society. We have trained a lot of me-first, me-focused people, which is not good for our future.

So, in addition to asking what it takes to come in first, you should also ask what it takes to put others first? In my experience, putting others first is the path to coming in first. The three critical traits required to put others first are:

Purpose

What if your courage was powered by your passion for a purpose? Purpose gives courage context. Think about what drives you – what is your reason for being? Channel your purpose in how you can serve others, and you will have a FAR greater chance to come in first if you are driven by healthy motives.

Humility

What if your perseverance was grounded in humility? Humility involves considering the interests of others more than your own. A very close cousin to humility is vulnerability. Brené Brown describes vulnerability as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. I challenge you to embrace humility and watch what happens when you let someone else shine. You can’t come in first without experiencing vulnerability in spades.

Caring

What if your trust was wrapped in a great deal of caring? It is easy to build trusting relationships with your team if they know how much you care about them and their needs. As a matter of fact, caring is a fundamental element to the kind of inclusive leadership our world needs now more than ever. You have a much better chance of coming in first if everyone cares about each other and celebrates both individual and collective wins.

I started by saying how awesome it feels to come in first, but I can honestly say that the feeling I get when I put others first takes me to a whole new level.

Put the characteristics you need to come in first – courage, perseverance and trust – together with the traits you need to put others first – purpose, humility and caring – and you will have something truly powerful!

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About the author: Bob Patton is the EY Americas Vice Chair of Advisory Services. He has extensive experience working with Fortune 500? companies in the consumer products, utilities and high-tech industries, as well as experience working with key public sector organizations. In 2011, Bob was recognized by Consulting? magazine as one of its Top 25 consultants, honored in the category of Excellence in Leadership. In addition to his LinkedIn profile, you can also interact with Bob on his Twitter account @BobPattonEY.