| Summary |
Confidence is an important trait in many aspects of life, especially when it comes to success. Streaks of success, or winning streaks, and streaks of failure, or losing streaks, can have a tremendous effect on a person's confidence. A winning streak can give an individual a sense of accomplishment, as well as the motivation to keep pushing. Conversely, a losing streak can easily result in lower levels of confidence, making it difficult to achieve success.
The key to managing both winning and losing streaks is to be aware of the emotions associated with them. Winning streaks are energizing and can make a person feel invincible. It's important to recognize that these feelings of success are fleeting and should not be taken for granted. When a winning streak is over, it can be difficult to switch gears quickly and adapt to a new situation.
On the other hand, the emotions associated with a losing streak can be extremely discouraging. Rather than dwelling on the negative, it's important to stay positive and remember that the situation is only temporary. Losing streaks can often be seen as a learning experience, with valuable lessons to be gained from the experience.
Finally, it's crucial to recognize the importance of self-confidence. This can be achieved by setting realistic goals and taking steps to achieve them. It's also essential to remember that everyone experiences both winning and losing streaks, and it's important to stay motivated and stay focused on success.
By understanding the emotions associated with winning and losing streaks, individuals can gain the confidence they need to keep pushing forward and achieve success. Being aware of the feelings that come with the different phases of success and recognizing the importance of self-confidence can give individuals the tools they need to stay on track and face any challenge that comes their way. With the right attitude and mindset, a person can overcome any obstacle, regardless of the current winning or losing streak.
Winning and Losing Streaks - How it Happens
When it comes to success and winning, there is no such thing as luck. Luck is usually seen as a way to explain away successes which aren't really deserved, or a way to explain away luck in a positive way rather than objectively analyzing a situation. Success is something that is earned, not just obtained by luck. This can be a hard pill to swallow, especially in competitive sports or professions that rely on talent-based success. That is why it's important to understand the patterns of winning and losing streaks and how they start and end.Analyzing Winning and Losing Streaks
Success and winning streaks happen when a person or team has a combination of skill and confidence. Confidence is an important aspect of success, because it leads to more decisive actions and also helps to reduce stress. Confidence and skill combined can lead to a streak of wins, and it can be quite hard to end it for the opposing team. To end a winning streak, an opposing team or individual must have very high skill levels coupled with some great luck to be able to break it.The Role of Confidence and Skill
When it comes to winning streaks, confidence is key. It is what helps individuals or teams stay in a winning groove, and it is not something that is gone overnight. Confidence must be built up over time, and it usually takes much longer to lose than it does to gain. Confidence can also contribute to winning streaks continuing on for longer than anticipated, as it helps to keep the team motivated and focused.The Impact of Losing Streaks
Losing streaks can be harder to break than winning streaks, as the lack of confidence and skill can become an obstacle. Losing streaks can cause players to lose focus, and if not addressed quickly, they can lead to long-term dips in performance. It is important to recognize when a team or individual is going through a losing streak, as this is the time when it is important to restore confidence and morale. This can help teams to bounce back quicker, and restore their competitive edge.Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin & End by Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a fascinating look at how companies, sports franchises, banks, and governments rise and fall or struggle against repetitive patterns of losing while trying escape the clutches of a Dante-like spiral down into the Inferno of the "circle of doom."
Whether or not you are a baseball fan, most people were captivated by the dramatic and ultimately heartbreaking story of the Chicago Cubs' 2003 playoff appearance. You may remember it. The Chicago Cubs were leading the Florida Marlins three games to two in a best-of-seven series for the National League championship. It is the top of the eighth inning; the Cubs are winning 3-0; and there is one out. Luis Castillo of the Marlins hits a high fly ball toward the left-field stands. As the ball drifts into foul territory, a longtime Cubs fan wearing a hooded sweatshirt, hat, and headphones reaches out over the railing to catch the souvenir. At that same moment, Cubs' left fielder Moises Alou drifts over, feels for the wall, and leaps up to make the catch. The fan deflects the ball before it reaches Moises Alou's glove. Foul ball. Instead of two outs in the eighth inning and a probable trip to the World Series, the breaking of a "demon curse," and the end of a losing streak that spans decades, Luis Castillo returns to bat and draws a walk. That moment begins a Florida Marlins' offensive which would produce a staggering eight runs in that inning. The Marlins win Game 6, tying the National League Championship Series and defeat the Cubs in decisive Game 7. So close. Cubs fan Steve Bartman, who ironically is a Little League baseball coach and has taken the brunt of the blame for the Cubs' losing the series, had to be escorted by the police out of the stadium and all the way home. The author, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, states that Bartman cannot be blamed, that something far deeper is responsible for the losers' mentality afflicting the Chicago Cubs. You can't shake decades of losing in one season. It is a struggle that takes time even with the correct approach.
So the losing streak of the Chicago Cubs lives on. Television crews from around the country beamed shots of loyal Chicago Cubs fans in the stands after the game. They were stunned. Some were paralyzed in their seats, crying; other just shook their heads in frustration. But a great pall hung not just over Wrigley Field that night, but over America, and continued into the next day. I remember going into a Santa Monica coffee shop the next morning, and I was sad. In my brief conversations, I discovered that even though the people in the Infusion Coffee Shop were not Cubs fans, they were also feeling "down." Everyone talked about it. It didn't matter if you were a Chicago Cubs fan or not, baseball fan or not, you felt for Cubs, for their determination to win, for their determination to break the grips of a long, long losing streak. You wanted to see the Chicago Cubs be successful; you wanted to see them win. As the 2003 National League Championship Series between the Cubs and the Marlins unfolded, the various news media played up the Cubs curse and their long losing streak. The drama escalated, you felt it; you felt for the Chicago Cubs and their fans. The Chicago Cubs' 2003 quest to reach the World Series read like a Hollywood script: a losing franchise, the hiring of a superstar manager to overcome antagonistic forces, millions of die-hard Cubs fans who cheered and cried. In October 2003, the Chicago Cubs captured the hearts of America.
This brief incident encapsulates the universal experiences which people share regarding their individual plights, such as breaking out of bad luck cycles; being labeled an eternal underdog; and losing, no matter how certain victory appears. This is the main theme of Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin & End. Though the book presents the emotional and financial stakes that people and their teams have in winning, it spells out how losing deteriorates the human spirit and will, and, more importantly, what you can do to change your fortunes and regain your dignity and confidence. Confidence contains far more than just anecdotal stories about success and failure.
Rosabeth M. Kanter is an Ernest L. Arbuckle professor of business administration at Harvard University. Having authored of 16 books, she specializes in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change. She has been hired by major international corporations and governments for her organizational expertise. She is a senior adviser to IBM's award-winning Reinventing Education initiative. Between the years 1989 and 1992, she also served as Editor of the Harvard Business Review. Professor Kanter has received 21 honorary doctoral degrees and has been ranked among the 100 most important women in America and the 50 most powerful women in the world.
In this book, Professor Kanter examines in detail the collective strategies and behaviors of a plethora of corporations and sports franchises. The author traveled the world to interview the leaders of great companies and observe the structure and operation of these companies. With the skill and precision of a surgeon who discovers, analyzes, and excises a cancerous tumor from a body, she presents strategies of great leaders who restored order and prosperity to failing corporations. She demonstrates the circumstances which can lead companies into the realm she calls the "Circle of Doom." She explains why certain intervention techniques can work not only to save a floundering company but also to make it thrive and prosper. At the root of each company's success is confidence.
In a chapter called "The First Stone: Facing Facts and Reinforcing Responsibility," Professor Kanter traces the history of the Gillette Corporation, a global company whose name is a household word in more than 200 countries. This corporate pillar took a financial plunge in the early 1980s. Kanter describes Gillette as having "a near-death experience" during that time. The company recovered by the end of the decade and posted significant profits and regained its pride, only to fall into another downward spiral a few years later. But it was the Gillette "team" — this team concept is echoed throughout the book — that rose like the Phoenix out of the flames of failure. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in 2003 when Gillette's top brass gathered with their spouses and guests to watch the New England Patriots — another entity that turned its fortunes around — beat the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium. Sitting a private skybox was the tall, calm, white-haired Jim Kilts, Gillette's current CEO and former executive for Nabisco. He has been called a visionary. Kanter asked him if good defense was the key to victory and if that same theory applied to Gillette. Jim Kilts smiled and replied, "You can practice and [eventually] perfect defense by paying attention to details of execution," he said, "but offense means taking risks and seizing the moment." With a team mindset, Gillette opened the lines of communication. Managers admitted their mistakes and took responsibility for the consequences. Accountability is the prevalent theme here.
In this revealing and informative book, Professor Kanter tells story after story, detailing the dynamics of diverse groups and lessons in the struggles of life. Nelson Mandela, who after being sentenced to life in prison, is released after continued international pressure on F.W. de Klerk, then the head of the apartheid government. Nelson Mandela walked out of prison in February 1990 to begin a life not of revenge, which many South African whites feared, but of healing South Africa and bringing all people together. Jeffrey Lurie bought the losing Philadelphia Eagles franchise, relocated his family to Philadelphia from Los Angeles, and over a long difficult journey that included the firing and the hiring of coaches and the signing of Donovan McNabb in the face of protests from even the mayor of Philadelphia, has finally built a team that is a perennial contender. Kanter subtitles one part of the Philadelphia Eagles story as "Culture Change: A Long Road to Success." In the front lobby of the team's headquarters are not photographs of Hall of Fame football players but tributes to Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and Jonas Salk. Great companies have great vision.
Great leaders have great vision. This book gives you an inside look at how and why we win and lose and applies that knowledge to tell how to reverse a losing streak. It does not matter if you are interested in business, government systems, or sports teams or if your major concern is your day-to-day family struggles. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin & End is worth your time and your money.
