Anyone with kids who play sports can relate to today’s post. On nearly every team—from Tee Ball to soccer to football (regular or flag)—there’s that one gifted athlete who is clearly more talented than the rest of the kids. He or she appears to overachieve with ease. They are the clutch player, the standout, the goal-scorer. They are the difference maker in whatever game they play.
This becomes more apparent when they’re in middle school. By the time they reach high school they end up being all-regional or all-state, sometimes as early as their freshman or sophomore years.
College coaches track them from eighth grade on, hoping to connect and edge out the competition for their attention. These athletes are so good that when they finally do commit to a college, local media outlets cover the decision.
But once at college, things often turn out to be different—especially at highly competitive universities! They are redshirted their freshman year; they can practice but not play. Then once they can compete, they often don’t get the playing time they were expecting. The athlete begins to question if they still have what it takes to compete at that level, and people back home are shocked and surprised that they are not still overachieving.
This should be expected. Everyone they’re playing with (and against!) in college was “the star athlete” back home. Everyone who makes it this far is a standout athlete, so it takes time—and certainly more effort and perseverance—to compete at this higher level.
The same is true in academia. At the highest-rated colleges, nearly everyone was either the valedictorian or salutatorian of their high school—or at least in the top one percent academically. So, the competition is tough! Everyone is smart! They all are overachievers.
We often encounter these same sorts of situations in business.
I am reminded of an insurance agency I worked with years ago. They were a strong organization, having found much success working with lots of small companies. The only problem: They were wearing out their staff trying to serve hundreds, if not thousands, of small customers.
I had had my own success with multiple agencies helping them change their focus from small customers to the more lucrative middle market. So, I met with this insurance agency and suggested a change. Together, we laid out a plan where they would begin to focus on middle-market opportunities. They were excited at the chance to reduce their work loads and potentially increase their agency revenue by focusing on fewer—yet more profitable—customers.
Several months into this change, they were dejected and despondent. They had gone 0 for 10 in trying to win over middle-market companies; in a couple of cases, there were not even asked back after the first sales meeting.
They told me this new approach wasn’t working and they were going to go back to selling to smaller companies. I told them that the slow start was to be expected; we were just starting off in this new and more competitive game.
Looking back, I realize I had not done a good job in setting expectations that they were going to be losing a lot before they began to win. Their competition was more sophisticated, more used to customers of this size, and they had a reputation and track record of success.
I pleaded with the agency to stay on course. It was just a matter of time, I said, before things would change. They wanted none of it and decided to go back to selling to their typical (smaller) client.
Here’s the point: Anytime you compete at a higher level—whether it’s in sports, academics, or business—you’re going to have setbacks. You will experience rejection. And you’re going to want to quit. But I challenge you to stay in the game! Commit to work harder while anticipating rejection and losses. Over time, you will catch up to the speed of whatever game you’re in.
If you do that, if you persevere, you will do what you do better.