"Show me a good loser and I'll show your a loser." So said Graeme Souness.
Jose Mourinho muttered about high level conspiracies, Alex Ferguson like to motivate his team by encouraging the believe that everyone wanted them to lose. When Arsenal’s historic unbeaten run was ended by Manchester United, at old Trafford, Cesc Fabregas notoriously through a slice of pizza at Alex Ferguson. Bad losers are not just found in sport.
Organisations loses equal pay claims costing thousands. They lose unfair dismissal cases that damage their reputation. Senior management make embarrassing climb downs. It’s life you don’t have to agree with the decision but you have to accept it. Not everyone does. Bad losers want some one to blame. HR for not doing their job. Employment Tribunals for putting process before common sense and the board for talking tough and then failing to see it through. Their instinct is not to accept the out come. But what damages an organisation‘s reputation more losing an unfair dismissal case or calling into question the competence of Employment Tribunals?
There is a saying in HR that an organisation gets the Trade Union it deserves meaning if management is combative then the TU is less likely to be cooperative and if management is churlish when they don’t get their own way they are more likely to provoke further conflict.
Some people clearly think only losers are good losers and that successful people are by virtue of their habitual success bad at losing. But this is simply not true people who are gracious in their triumphs are more likely to be magnanimous in their defeats.
Blair Mcpherson former Director, author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
