Quote-A-Day: Day 315

Those who have the most to lose are often those who tend to lose the most. #QuoteADay #Day315 #edchat #edu #ThinkPositive

Life should never be thought of as a losing battle.

The minute we adopt that mindset is the minute that we make decisions to avoid “losing” rather than to make everything better for all.

Those with the biggest stake in things also tend to be those whose future is often resting on a big decision. 

And that’s a dangerous place to be.

We should never have to put all our chips down on one hand; that type of “decision-making gamble” is a loss, even if our hand wins. “How can a community truly feel comfortable with itself if everything comes down to one big decision?”

To avoid having the most to lose (and therefore being someone who tends to lose the most), leaders need to think for the future when making plans and making choices.

While it is sometimes easiest to put our blinders on and decide for the day, the only way we avoid an “All-In” scenario is to play things out ahead of time to map our options.

The best leaders know that there is no true “winning,” only an increasing move towards continual improvement.  These leaders do recognize that there is a way to lose, however, and that tends to happen when we either gamble on only one option and it doesn’t go our way, or gamble on only one option and it does (because likely, stakeholders have been so nervous about it working out or not working out that they are highly stressed). 

So the best bet?

Lead for the future, so you don’t have as much to lose in the present.