Are you playing to win, or simply playing not to lose? This is a question that hits close to home for me. I still remember exactly where I was when my coach asked me this question several years back. This question triggered anger in me — I was working around the clock fighting to drive my companies forward and I didn’t know what else I could possibly do. My coach persisted and drove his point home through several examples of how I was not playing to win, I was simply playing not to lose.
Right now, our industry is facing catastrophic staff shortages and increased inflation as it continues to recover from the pandemic. We’re also looking at a potential recession to hit us right in the eyes. For many in the industry, increasing our hours is not a solution to get us through the challenges ahead. As leaders and managers in our industry, we need a clear vision backed up by relentless execution — we need to make sure we’re playing to win.
This concept is not new, just look at sports teams: how they win is clear. The top-performing teams are so dialed in on their desired outcome that they put their mind and bodies on the line to achieve it. In my experience, most businesses have revenue, COGs and profit goals, but those are not always communicated to or inspiring to the rest of the team. So, how do you play to win? Here’s the process I’ve taken the teams I coach through time and time again.
Identify How You Win
The leadership team must work together to create a clear statement that will fit into one to three sentences max, with the intention of inspiring not only ownership and leadership, but also the staff. What is the promise you want to make to your employees and your guests? Why does your operation need to exist? If we’re clear on the behaviour we want to commit to consistently, the revenue and profit will follow. What is the time-bound goal that, when achieved, you would absolutely celebrate?
It’s Not About the End Game
It’s not about the finish line. The key to success is to create progress markers that show your team you’re on or off track. In football we have yard markers that allow us to see if we’re moving forward or in the right direction to score a touchdown. With bigger goals or visions, we know the destination, but the key to success is identifying clear progress markers and timelines that are on the way to your ultimate goal or finish line. I would pick six to 12 critical dates and benchmarks that your team can stop at to identify if you are on track or off track to win.
Create Absolute Clarity
Once you’re clear on how you win, you need to communicate it consistently and relentlessly to your leaders, managers and staff. Your team should not, and in my experience, will not, buy in if you only share it once. How you win should be discussed in your meetings, pre-shifts, one-on-one discussions — every chance you get. Where focus goes, energy flows as Tony Robbins says.
Recognize and Celebrate
What I want for the teams I coach through this process is clarity on what they want to achieve so we can stop, recognize, and celebrate our progress and success. Too many teams are overworked, overwhelmed and over capacity. This leaves them with the feeling that they are failing daily. Creating clarity and playing to win keeps your team focused, allows you to say no to certain opportunities, to stay focused on the ultimate goal and to recognize and celebrate your progress and success.
Based on what we’ve been through and what we will go through in the months ahead, we cannot afford to play not to lose — we need to play to win. For more info on how to complete this process with your team please email me or pick up a copy of my new book, You Can’t Do It Alone.
By Matt Rolfe is a coach, speaker, bestselling author and entrepreneur. For support or more leadership insights, email [email protected]
