Building Character Through Competition Dick Roth September 1990 If we're in business to beat the competition, thinking that

there can only be one winner, we've already lost the game. In ctober 19!", I stood under a cloudless autumn sky on the infield of the lympic Stadium in #okyo. $rom my vantage point as a competitor, I was deeply moved by the tradition and the pageantry of the pening %eremonies. #he brightly colored flags and traditional costumes, the presence of the &mperor of 'apan, the (ets, the myriad balloons, the swarms of pigeons, and the hundreds of thousands of people all contributed to my awe. )uring a *uiet moment, the huge scoreboard at one end of the stadium flashed the words of the lympic motto+ ,It's not whether you win or lose that counts, it's how you play the game., I was (arred out of my state of reverie. ,-o way., I said to myself, ,I'm here to win., #his viewpoint, while commonly accepted, is really *uite (aded. 'ust competing in the lympics is a tremendous honor and feat. /inning any medal is e0traordinary. 1et somehow we have come to believe that winning is everything2 nobody remembers who got second. It has not always been so+ 3ierre de %oubertin penned the words of the timeless lympic motto less than 100 years ago. %ompetition for the (oy of it used to be the focus, even in lympic athletics. In the movie Chariots of Fire, a true story about the 1940 lympics, an &nglish gentleman gives his place in a race to another, simply for the pleasure of watching him run. 5s recently as 196!, 'esse wens helped an lympic competitor better himself without thought of how it might affect the eventual outcome of the race. /hen I competed in 19!", our attitudes toward winning had become *uite egocentric, but we still thought of ourselves as amateurs. 7ery few of us ever considered making a living from our sport. /hat a difference today. -ot only do athletes train under professional coaches, many have several specialty coaches for strength, endurance, form, fle0ibility, choreography, costume, and mental conditioning. /hy8 9ecause our society now values winning so much that the stakes and rewards are immeasurably higher. 5n athlete can be set for life by beating the world. /e e0pressed collective shock when 9en 'ohnson got caught for using steroids. 9ut he is only a symptom of our societal overemphasis on ,winning at any cost., #his attitude

1 9uilding %haracter #hrough %ompetition by )ick :oth

has totally captured our collective psyche and permeates society far beyond the boundaries of sports. ver the last ;0 years, we have seen not only the decline of the traditional character ethic that has made our country and culture strong, we have also seen a corresponding rise in all< or<nothing competitiveness. /inning used to be like the cream rising to the top+ if you let things alone, the best would appear all by itself. -ow we think of winning in terms of beating others. /hile the difference is subtle, it is profound. #his win<lose ethic comes out of a mentality of scarcity the idea that there is not enough for everyone2 that if someone else wins, I can't. #he first 1;0 years of our country were dominated by e0pansion, optimism, and growth. #here was so much freedom and opportunity that reali=ing the 5merican dream was limited only by energy and imagination. #he country was working toward a common goal+ ,#he business of 5merica is business., #hen came the depression of the 1960s. ur government assumed new responsibilities+ it took care of us. 5nd *uietly, our beliefs about limitless abundance and e0pansion started to shift. $or the first time, we perceived a limited pool of resources. 5s survival became a main concern, people started looking out for number one+ ,>aybe there isn't enough for everybody if not, I'll get mine first., #his new attitude was reflected in the growth of self< centered success literature, as well as in the e0cessive competitive attitude of ,beating, instead of ,winning., #rue ,winning, re*uires starting with a level playing field+ if everyone has an e*ual chance, the best will naturally prevail. #he word ,win, comes from the ld &nglish winnan, ,to struggle, to contend, to contest., #his definition implies that winning is a process, not an outcome. ,9eating, has come to mean doing whatever you can, ethically or unethically, to gain an advantage over others. #he word ,competition, is derived from the ?atin word competere, ,to seek together, to coincide, to agree., In this root meaning, there is no connotation of ,losing., 9ut in modern business usage, competition implies a winner and a loser+ competition for a bid2 competition for a promotion2 competition to be the best sales team2 competition between divisions, companies, or countries. Inner Competition #he idea that you beat someone else is a fallacy. 5thletes never beat anyone but themselves, never con*uer anything but their own doubts and fears. /e used to talk about ,psyching out, others, but we were only ,psyching ourselves up.,

4 9uilding %haracter #hrough %ompetition by )ick :oth

/e always give our approval to our own state of mind, either tacitly or directly. /e have the power to choose our reactions. 3avlov's model works well for dogs and rats, but people can choose their response. ur choices are derived from what is important to us, our values. 9orn from these values are our attitudes, including competitive attitudes. In other words, we choose how we react to competition. #o (udge your competitive attitude, ask yourself this simple *uestion+ ,)o I care if the score is kept when I play games8, If the answer were placed on a continuum, one end would be, ,I have to know the score,, and on the other end, ,I (ust play to do my best and would rather not know the score., 3eople with a win<win ethic do not gain security or satisfaction from keeping score and beating others. %ompeting at the highest level of mutual competence is the win<win goal of the game. #he outcome is incidental. #he fun is in the playing, not the victory. /inning is the process, not the outcome. wners of win<lose attitudes gain self<respect through comparisons with others by keeping score, which is an illusory or distorted source at best. /hen you reali=e that you are only competing with yourself, your source of self<esteem comes from an inner measure, which is ultimately more correct. %ompetition, of course, is a tremendous motivator. 3roperly understood and channeled, it can be a vital component of success. @owever, competing only to beat someone is a defective attitude that doesn't align with timeless principles. /hen the win<win attitude is rooted in our subconscious, it builds relationships. ur natural state of e0istence is interdependent, both socially and environmentally. 5n attitude of ,beating, would lead us to try to get things for ourselves2 an interdependent attitude of win< win allows us to be in harmony with the way things naturally are. Why Japan is Winning /hy are 5merican companies getting clobbered in the international marketplace by 3acific :im countries8 In large part, because these societies place a higher value on working together towards a common end. #he governments and the people are achieving the same purpose through a mentality that says there is enough to go around. #his more closely matches the original meaning of ,compete,, to seek together. ur rush to embrace 'apanese team<building management techni*ues will eventually fail if we don't change our underlying attitudes and paradigms. #eam building is only a techni*ue. It works in an riental culture because their sense of ego e0pands to embrace more than one's self. /hen they hear the word ,you,, they hear it in the plural. #he only true prescription for leadership success is to first change one's character, then apply techni*ues that come from that character. Surface techni*ues will not counterbalance our underlying character tendencies. In fact, techni*ue<oriented prescriptions will 6 9uilding %haracter #hrough %ompetition by )ick :oth

eventually be counterproductive because they cause deep subconscious confusion. /e simply must alter our scripting first. #his can only come after much effort. #here is no *uick fi0. /e see corporations throwing one trendy management tool after another at their people. 9ut what is at the core of your company speaks much louder than whatever new trend you wear on the sleeve. #he leader's (ob is to influence the core character of the company. /ithout a shift in paradigms, we will see the same old cycle+ new techni*ues will sprout to replace the ,outdated, shop<worn, surface<oriented, fads we are using today. /hat we will eventually learn is that style and techni*ue only work if they are aligned with the principles and beliefs from which our conduct flows. -ow is the time to realign our character and actions with timeless principles, to place winning Ain business and athleticsB in proper perspective. /e will then see a return to an abundance mentality and win<win attitudes. ur culture will again take competition to mean working together toward a common goal. /e will hear ,you, in its plural, not its singular meaning. ur other choice is to see ourselves slip further and further behind in the new international realities of the 1990s. Dick Roth, who won an Olympic Gold Medal in swimming in 196 , has !een a s"ccessf"l entreprene"r, !"sinessman, cons"ltant, and p"!lic speaker#

" 9uilding %haracter #hrough %ompetition by )ick :oth