the agony of victory

Growing up, I would anxiously wait for Saturday afternoons when I would be able to watch ABC Television's Wide World of Sports.  As the opening credits began to run, I would wait anxiously to view the famous (and not so famous) clips of sports history and hear the iconic words spoken over those images "the thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat."  Those words echoed in my mind over the past 7 days as I watched my beloved Chicago Cubs win (after many ups and downs) their third straight National League Division Series.  Four days of waiting for the first game to being...five excruciating games.....two long days built in for travel...over twenty hours of actual baseball (not to mention the pre-game and post-game shows)...and the stress that went with each pitch along the way.  As I began to remember October 2016 (when the Cubs became World Series Champions), I realized that if the Cubs kept winning again this year I would once again be handing over my entire month to this passion...and I would once again be consumed by the stress of each game...and I would once again spend my days reading and talking about the playoffs...and I would once again stay up later than I should more nights than not (last night's game went until 12:45 EST - so happy to be living in CST).  Suddenly I realized that there was an AGONY TO VICTORY, something I would have to endure if I was a fan (and please remember that for about 54 of the 58 years of my life, my Octobers have been mostly normal).

All of this thinking about baseball got me thinking about leadership...and what, if any, parallels might exist for leaders in terms of feeling the agony of victory.  Here are a few thoughts on this Friday morning:

• leaders want to be successful, but are they willing to pay the price for continued success?  It's never enough to win only once...success is about winning (translate that for your own life or organization) time over time.  Finding new ways to win...keeping everyone focused on winning...and being willing to stay the course after surprising setbacks can be very agonizing.
• once the leader and their organization wins, everyone expects them to keep on winning.  The pressure from the outside (be that customers, employees, or boards of directors) has caused more leaders to leave their roles, even after they have had some good runs.  Not being able to satisfy one's constituents can be very agonizing.
• winning comes at a cost of both revenue and people.  Finding the resources to win (and win big) is hard work, especially when raising cash from investors or donors and trying to create a margin that will sustain winning over time.  Getting the right people on the team to do the hard work of winning time after time means making hard decisions (including decisions about one's own leadership ability).  Making and executing on these decisions can be very agonizing.
• leaders know that sometimes they (and their organizations) have to lose in order to win.  Most people end up in leadership roles because they have learned how to win, enjoy winning, and have been rewarded for winning.  Doing something that will lead to losing (even if it is short term for the good of the long haul) is antithetical to most leaders and can be very agonizing.

So why do we do it?  Why would anyone put themselves through this type of agony just to win?  I believe it is because the thrill of victory far outweighs the agony of defeat for both the leader and their organization.  When leaders and their organizations win (assuming that "winning" leads to the betterment of the common good), the world might just be a better place.  For me, when Concordia University Texas experiences the thrill of victory, more people have been developed as Christian leaders and are serving their organizations in a manner that makes the world a better place.  Why wouldn't I want to keep winning?  Why wouldn't I go through the agonizing times to experience the thrill of accomplishment?  Why wouldn't I spend hours of my time consumed about my organization in order that the university reaches its vision?  For leaders, this is their adrenaline - to experience the agony of victory to achieve that in which they completely believe.

A final personal note: in 2012, the Cubs hired Theo Epstein to be President of the organization and from 2012-2014, Cubs fans experienced the agony of defeat just as they had for the past 100+ years...and the past three years have been glorious.  As a life-long Cubs fan, I am thankful to Theo (who had been used to winning in Boston) for being willing to experience the agony of defeat during those years to build a winning franchise.  I am hopeful that he - and many others - will also be able to experience the agony of victory so that I can continue my own agony of victory for many years to come.