No one wants to be a loser. There are plenty of circumstances, however – particularly for leaders – where losing is just better than winning. While the call here is not to be a chronic, lifelong loser, I do urge you…be okay with losing for the right reasons. There is a wealth of knowledge to be gained from the pain of losing.
6 Reasons Losing is Valuable in Leadership
#1 It Demonstrates Determination
“Any coward can fight a battle when he’s sure of winning; but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he’s sure of losing.” – George Eliot
No one looks up to the guy who always takes the easy way out. It’s not admirable to win if there are no stakes. It’s admirable to keep up the good fight. When you lose, it means you were willing to risk something. You put your money, your reputation, and your business all on the line for something you believe in. That’s the determination and commitment that people want to see – and look up to.
#2 It Grounds You in Reality
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates
If you don’t think you’re capable of losing, you’re in for a rude awakening. Success is great, but it doesn’t teach us anything about how to handle a loss. Chronic success means that inevitable failure will blindside you. Your ability to recover and bounce back will be severely hindered by your lack of experience. If everything always goes right, you’ll never know what to do when things go wrong.
#3 It Kills Complacency
“Losses have propelled me to even bigger places, so I understand the importance of losing. You can never get complacent because a loss is always around the corner. It’s in any game that you’re in – a business game or whatever – you can’t get complacent.” – Venus Williams
Complacency kills businesses. Complacency goes hand-in-hand with laziness. When there’s a real threat of losing in your mind (usually from experience) you will be more diligent in ensuring it doesn’t happen again. You will better be able to see and identify risks and areas of improvement. Complacency allows people to take advantage of you and your business. It means you stop innovating and taking risks. You stop pushing towards the next goal. If that’s the case, what’s the point?
#4 It Makes You a Better Man
“You might win some, you might lose some. But you go in, you challenge yourself, you become a better man, a better individual, a better fighter.” – Conor McGregor
Nothing builds character like failure. It is so telling when we watch others fail. How do they react? Do they handle it with grace or with rage? Do they take responsibility or pass the blame? Failure is humbling. If you allow it, losing can make you a better person. A person who empathizes, bounces back, encourages, and keeps on fighting the good fight.
#5 It Might Be the Right Thing to Do
“Sometimes it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing.” – Tony Blair
In any business, there are opportunities to take shortcuts. It might be using a subpar material or service. Cutting corners to save a buck. Making less-than-upstanding deals. There are plenty of ways to get ahead in the world if you’re willing to compromise your values and ethics. Sometimes, you lose because you choose the high road. There’s no shame in that. In fact, you will feel better knowing you stuck to your principles and lost rather than sold out to win.
#6 It Is a Trial By Fire
“You learn more from losing than winning. You learn how to keep going.” – Morgan Wootten
Losing isn’t fun. It never is. If you allow it, though, these pains can help refine you – as a person, as a leader, as a boss. The process of refining something means removing the flaws and impurities. For us, that means removing our blindspots, identifying our bad habits, and exposing systematic issues. These trials by fire give us opportunities to purify not just ourselves, but our businesses. We are able to see what is holding us back. And, ultimately, we find the determination to keep moving forward.
What is the greatest lesson failure has taught you? Share in the comments.