IF YOU AIN’T FIRST, YOU’RE LAST
There are a number of challenges that come with choosing the way of the champion - not only in in the work it takes to become our best, but also in the responsibility we have to help bring out the best in others. The truth is, what we decide to do and who we decide to be is just as important to our team's success as it is to our own. If we’re really serious about winning, it’s worth recognizing how our choices influence the people around us.
I want to challenge you to stop and consider what it is your team needs from you today, and what choices your best in performance and in leadership requires. It’s not easy, but when it comes to leading with the courage and the humility that define a champion in any area of life, I want to encourage you to take a simple approach: if you ain’t first, you’re last. You may recognize those words as the cocky, win-at-all-costs mantra of Will Ferrell’s character Ricky Bobby in the Nascar comedy Talladega Nights, but they also serve as great advice for bringing out the best in those around us.
When it comes to leading with the courage and the humility that define a champion in any area of life, I want to encourage you to take a simple approach: if you ain’t first, you’re last.
Here’s what I mean. There are certain moments, in leadership and in performance, when courage is called for and someone needs to step up. In those moments, the champion chooses to go first. You’ll find them there at the front of the line, willing to enter the arena and show others the way. Fear can make each of us hesitant and unsure. It’s easier in those moments to hang back and blend in, and to let someone else make the first move. But champions embrace those moments and the responsibility that comes with them. When courage is called for, you’ll find the champions in the front of the line.
Other times it’s not courage that’s required, but humility. When things go well, when our winning moment arrives and when the praise gets passed around, it’s not at the front of the line you’ll find the champions, but instead at the back. Champions recognize these moments as opportunities to serve - to elevate the performance of others, to celebrate their contribution to the cause, and to let them shine. When credit's being given, it's natural to want to step forward and receive what you may rightfully deserve. It takes someone strong and secure, in that moment, to think of others before themselves. That’s what champions do. When it comes to receiving the praise, you'll find champions putting others before themselves.
I don’t know what exactly your team needs from you today, but I do know that when it comes to being the best version of you and bringing out the best in those around you, mediocrity lies in the middle. When it’s courage that’s called for, the comfortable and convenient thing to do - the thing most people do - is to step back. Their fear of looking bad or fear of what others might think keeps them from moving forward. The same can be said for those moments when humility is required. The comfortable, convenient thing to do - the thing most people do - is to step forward. The threat of missing out on the credit they think they deserve reveals their fragile, insecure nature. Your best in leadership may require you to go first, or it may require you to go last...but it probably won't allow you to settle for something in between.
Choosing the way of the champion isn't easy, but it's important to remember that what you decide to do and who you decide to be is critical, not only to your own personal success, but to the success of your team, too. So don't allow yourself to settle for the mediocrity that comes with life in the middle. You validate your identity through your willingness to move, either to the front of the line or to the back. Those are really the only two options. If you ain't first, you're last.