Sunday was a tough day for fans of Irish Rugby.
We came agonisingly close to beating the New Zealand All-Blacks – the best team in the world. We’ve never beaten them since we first played them 108 years ago. We had led for nearly the entire game and New Zealand came back to beat us with the very last possession of the game.
Gut-wrenching is an understatement of how we felt at the final whistle.
One of the Irish players, Sean O’Brien, was named man of the match and was interviewed on the pitch within moments of the final whistle. He was shattered. The award meant nothing to him. The defeat was consuming. And I liked that.
Why?
For him the effort wasn’t enough. He wasn’t consoling himself with his effort. He wasn’t saying “Ah sure we tried our best”. He knew an opportunity had been let slip – a historic opportunity.
In a radio interview on Monday morning he said “We had the ball at 79:30, so in 30 seconds we lost the game.”
The lesson for us in business : When we lose it’s our responsibility. It’s not Karma. The universe doesn’t owe us success. It isn’t enough to be nice and to try. It isn’t enough to be in the game. We shouldn’t confuse activity with achievement.
O’Brien also said that “we need to get to a place where we can compete for 80 minutes and not for 79-and-a-half minutes.”
The lesson for business : We need to focus on fundamentals – unrelentingly.
Have you Sean O’Brien’s attitude? To succeed you need to!
Does this seem harsh? Tough – it’s true! The world works the way it works – not the way you want it to work. Embrace that reality and infuse your efforts with O’Brien’s attitude. Then you’ve a chance – not a guarantee – but a chance.
If you’re motivated, I’m ready to work directly with you to help drive your business forward in a focussed and effective way. If you think I can help you then email me and we’ll take it from there.
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