When my oldest son as 12 years old, I coached his soccer team. I had never played soccer growing up. In fact I really didn’t understand the sport of soccer till our boys started playing.
When I volunteered to take over the coaching role, I had to quickly learn the sport and rules of soccer. Then the first day of practice came. All of the boys started to trickle on to the field. Looking around I thought “oh boy, what a motley crew”. The first thought in my mind was how are we going to win a game? We had boys who were un-athletic, timid, overweight and a few who had some skills.
Yet as we continued our weekly practices I could see where the team was gelling together. Each kid was able to overcome their obstacle and contribute to the team. As the season started we won our first game, then second, then third and all of a sudden we had won every regular season game.
During our last game of the season we were hammering on the other team. I had to pull my key players either off the field or tell them NOT to score. Then I told the team NOT to cross the center line! We even pulled kids off the field to try and let the other team catch up a bit. Sadly after that game the other coach came over and said “I have never seen a coach run up the score as bad as you just did today. You humiliated my kids”. We won 8-0 that day. Unfortunately I will never forget his comments. They hurt.
However the truth is I hate to lose. With the skill set we had, we should not have won a game. Yet working with the skills and kids we had, we found a way to not only win but build a team spirit centered around a bunch of misfits. We built a team of kids who now knew no matter what, they could win and do things they didn’t think possible. I constantly preached to my team “We are WINNERS, no losers here”.

(Stefanos Lekkas – Sioux Falls Stampede Goalie)
That same mentality passes over into our business… I hate losing. Losing bids, losing clients, losing relationships. In business there are no participation trophies. There is no second place. You play to win… or you lose. When we lose a project proposal, we look at why. Why did the client choose someone else? Was it the presentation? Cost? We analyze that and make changes to win the next project.
That attitude has helped to fuel our business and our clients success. The most important thing is our clients success. We design projects to help our clients get the attention and leads they want and need. The next time you want to promote your company. Have a game plan. Recruit the most effective players. Play to win…