FEMI TAIWO: WHY WINNERS WIN (II)
STRATEGY WITH FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY
Michael is a first class chemical engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and a PhD holder in same discipline from the University of Arkansas, United States. He works in a multinational energy giant in the United States.
Lastly, winners put angels to work. I use the term ‘angels’ here to mean any person, process or system available to help IF you let them. Winners excel at recognizing angels. They possess an uncanny ability to know who or what will help them. They unmask opportunities where others see threats. They ask for help, they reach out. They know that if you don’t ask you don’t receive. Some winners even request for a double portion of angels! They understand that success is teamwork. And the best team wins. Winners are excellent self-examiners – are my habits helpful or hurtful? Winners worry about the people around them – are they angels or devils? Winners master the rules of the game – what should I be wary of? what can I make use of?
I have mentioned four things that winners do. But let’s face it, there are countless number of things that winners do that make them win. So maybe the question should be less about what they do and more about who they are. How are winners wired? Ultimately, winners win because they have been programmed to. There’s a coding in their DNA that abhors excuses and loathes failure. They win as a matter of habit, as a matter of course. It was Aristotle that said, “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” Winners autograph their work with excellence. Winners win because that is their nature: the way it is in the nature of dogs to bark, of cats to meow and of horses to neigh. Winners win because they cannot do otherwise – it will take more effort for them to lose; for losing, to them, is an unnatural act. Imagine asking Messi not to score, or Ali not to punch or Williams not to play.
Make no mistake: one win does not make a winner. Winners win repeatedly. The converse is also true: one loss does not make a loser. Winners sometimes lose; their losses are usually few and far between, but it does happen. Over the long haul though, the norm is that they win. Their stock is always trending up. In the end, they come out on top.
Winners are attractive. The bewitching ease with which they go about their calling is endearing. You know it is not easy but they make it look so. Their sweat, when they sweat, drips gracefully over their divine bodies. You have fun when you watch them because they are having fun. They are attractive because they paint – with their words and actions – a believable picture of what could be. Winners make us dream.
I have written for two weeks now on Why Winners Win by looking at two things – what they do and who they are. Consider this as an intro into a topic I have been itching for months to talk about: Nature vs. Nurture. That is, are winners born or made? Be ready to be shocked.
