The Value of Sportsmanship
From a young age we are taught the importance and value of sportsmanship. It doesn’t matter if we learn it from little league baseball, a football program, a softball program, or a hockey program. We are taught that winning the right way is important. We should respect our opponents and shake their hands. If we win we should be mindful of our opponent’s feelings and if we lose we should congratulate the winners. The value of sportsmanship helps us be better people and its lessons can be applied in adult life.
Showing Respect
When we were little we did not always like all of our teammates and opponents. Sure we have some friends and get along with most people but as humans we are bound to clash with people. We have different opinions and different ways of doing things. However, we learned to respect all of our teammates, even though the ones we don’t like. This skill is likely one of the most important we learn. As we get older we meet more and more people and some of them drive us crazy. It could be a co-worker, a spouse’s friend, a neighbor, or even a boss. In reality it doesn’t matter what are relationship with the person is, we have to find a way to deal with it. That is where respect comes into play. We do not have to spend our free time with people we don’t get along with but when we must work or interact with them it is important to be respectful. When people clash, the person who is disrespectful is likely the one to suffer consequences. We must be the better person and being respectful, like we did when we were playing sports, is always an appropriate way to act.
Teamwork
There is not a single person on this planet that can do everything by themselves, we all need help from others. Youth sports teach us how to work together as a team to achieve a common goal and this is also a critical life lesson. Some people are better spoken then others, while some people are better at math. Some people are great cooks and others find ways to burn toast every time. As we grow older we learn what are strengths and weaknesses are and we learn how to overcome them and when we need help. Most careers paths require us to do work beyond our skill set and this is when our team building skills are most important. We need to know who we can trust and who will help us. Additionally, we need to be available to help others, because at some point we will likely need their aid. The rise of the global economy has made communication and working together with others significantly easier and to survive in this business atmosphere we must form teams. So do not hesitate to ask if you need help and be sure to lend a hand to others when asked. This is how strong teams are formed and if sports teach us anything, a strong team is better than people with individual agendas. Just ask any championship athlete, they will tell you the importance of their teammates.
Be Graceful Winners
Having a disagreement with coworkers is not uncommon and inevitably someone will be proven wrong and that is okay. What is not acceptable though is gloating when you are right. Human nature ensures that people will have different ideas and different solutions to problems. Sometimes both solutions will work, sometimes neither solution will work; however, when a decision is made to choose a plan it is important to be supportive. If your plan is chosen it is critical not to gloat or be disrespectful to the persons who plan was rejected. Odds are you will need their help for your plan to succeed and it is important to have everyone on board. Additionally, there will be a time when your plan is rejected and I doubt you want them to return the favor if you were negative. Furthermore, no one likes someone who brags. Being that person will get you a bad reputation through the entire office. We should all strive to be the person everyone respects and everyone trusts and we do this by admitting when we are wrong and being humble when we are right, just like in sports. No one on the team respects a teammate who is hurtful to a peer when they mess up; however everyone respects the teammate who helps people fight though mistakes. So remember to humble and kind when you are right, others will respect you for it.
Winning is not Everything
No one likes to lose, winning is just more fun. That is a fact of life; however, there are more important things then winning. For example, what if a victory comes at a cost? Is it worth hurting others to ensure a favorable outcome? There is no contest or argument that is so important that it is worth harming another person physically or emotionally. Yes, it doesn’t feel good to lose but what if winning an argument costs someone there job. In this case, abstaining from the agreement might be the best thing to do. You can never get yourself or others in trouble for what you do not say. Another example is what if someone you work with is wrong and they are so sure they are right that you will cause more conflict by arguing with them? In this case the best option is to let them fail. We often learn more from are failures then our victories and arguing with this person might take a way a valuable life lesson from them. There are too many example when losing is the right thing to do to machine. In reality all that really matters is knowing that winning is not always everything. That being said it is important to maintain a winning mentality. This means always be positive, always give effort, and always try to care. If you bring these traits to any conflict you are doing the right thing and should have no issues getting past a loss it that is the outcome.
There is so much in life that we cannot control; however, there is a lot that we can be in charge of. We can live our lives with integrity and with morals. We can be respectful of others and value our teammates. Finally, we can live with the values we learn when we are children. Be respectful, act like a champion, and do what is best for our team. If we do that we should be proud of ourselves.