Success is a race for stayers

A photo finish decided last year’s Melbourne Cup, only the benefit of cutting-edge technology could confirm the faintest speck of light between first and second place.

The winner, Dunaden, pocketed $3.6 million in prize money, as for second place, the name had already escaped me just moments after the race. Who will take the prize this year?

In business, the difference between being remembered and not being recalled at all can be minuscule. Commonly, contracts are won on minor details, not necessarily major points of difference. Failure can be measured in millimetres, and it’s these crushing blows to our confidence that either spurs us on to greater heights, or corrals us in defeat.

If you’ve lost a pitch you’ve put your heart and soul into winning, it’s always what you do next that best defines you. Next time you meet with defeat, take some time to reflect. Did you give it your all? What areas can you improve upon? Perhaps there are clever strategies you can learn from your competitor for next time?

Remember, if you succumb to defeat, you’ll never grow or improve. And it’s the pain from your most monumental losses that become your best assets. Much like the Melbourne Cup, business success is a race for stayers ? sprinters don’t even qualify. To win you’ll need strength, endurance and, most importantly, a commitment to be the best you can be.

It doesn’t matter where you’re placed on the final turn, it’s how you finish that matters most, and how you finish is how you’ll be remembered.

Trent Leyshan is the founder of BOOM!, Australia’s leading sales training and development specialist. He is the co-founder of Expand People and author of The Naked Salesman.