January 10, 2005
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ACCEPTING DEFEAT
My firm has a particular client that has been ours for almost 25 years. They have a new project that has come up that I did multiple proposals for. Although the final decision has not yet been made, at this point it appears that they are going to award the contract to a company out of
When it comes to sports, if I’m playing, I couldn’t care less who wins. When it comes to games of any type, I am the least competitive person on the planet. However, when it comes to business I fall more into the “take no prisoners, kill anyone who gets in your way, go down bloody in battle, never accept defeat” category.
Upon hearing the news second hand last Thursday that my client is headed in a new direction, I have been unable to sleep, I have no appetite, and I can’t say that I’ve been particularly “pleasant” to be around. My son walked in this weekend about 3:00 a.m and found me sitting in the living room, in the dark, in my bathrobe, watching “Pimp My Ride” on MTV, and scowling over my impending defeat.
Why do I do this to myself? Why can’t I just chalk it up to “win some, lose some”? I know why. I allow my work to have way too much relevance when it comes to defining who I am. I understand this tendency is particularly “male” in nature. Women typically define themselves by the relationships in their lives while men tend to define themselves by whether they were able to kill the mastodon and drag it back to the cave.
In the grand scheme of things this project only represents a small fraction of the revenue I will generate this year. In its place, I’ve already had several new projects laid on my desk. Most importantly, it has no bearing on whether I’m a good husband, father, or friend. So, ….I’m going to take a deep breath, shake it off, and go on.
Except that I’ve already come up with two new strategies to turn the project in our direction, all I need to do is leverage this one person in our favor and then have that person………
I’m hopeless.
Comments (2)
AWWWW……your really to hard on yourself. I feel that as long as you did the best you could possibley do then thats what matters. I am sorry you did not get that particular client but as you said…you have others in the waiting so keep looking ahead…right? Good luck to you…your a very smart man and from the sounds of it, you have a wonderful family. Take care!!
Hey! How come I’m the one killing the mastadon and dragging it back to the cave if the man is supposed to???
You have a good work ethic… that’s very respectable! However, sometimes you’ve just gotta keep your job where it belongs… at the office! 
I’m a good one to talk… I’ve done the same thing… this week in fact! Take care!