Born to Win

The following quotes about Winners are from the book Born to Win by James & Jongeward, originally published in 1971. The entire first chapter, titled Winners and Losers, is a must read for all who lead. I will only share a little, don’t want to risk any type of copyright infringement claims.

Note: I bought this book in a used book store in San Francisco for $3 about 20 years ago. It was worn and beat up at the time and is falling apart now. I never heard of it, but the title caught my attention.

Winners have different potentials. Achievement is not the most important thing. Authenticity is. The authentic person experiences self-reality by knowing, being, and becoming a credible, responsive, person.

Authentic persons – winners – do not dedicate their lives to a concept of what they imagine they should be; rather, they are themselves and as such do not use their energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretense, and manipulating others. Winners can reveal themselves instead of projecting images that please, provoke, or entice others. They are aware that there is a difference between being loving and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting knowledgeable.

Winners are not afraid to do their own thinking and to use their own knowledge. They can separate facts from opinion and don’t pretend to have all the answers. They listen to others, evaluate what they say, but come to their own conclusions. Although winners can admire and respect other people, they are not totally defined, demolished, bound, or awed by them.

Winners do not play “helpless,” nor do they play the blaming game. Instead, they assume responsibility for their own lives. They do not give others a false authority over him. Winners are their own bosses and know it.

To winners, time is precious. Winners don’t kill it, but live it here and now. Living in the now does not mean winners foolishly ignore their past history or fail to prepare for their future. Rather, winners know their past, are aware and alive in the present, and look forward to the future.

Although winners can freely enjoy themselves, they can also postpone enjoyment, can discipline themselves in the present to enhance their enjoyment in the future. Winners are not afraid to go after what they want, but they do so in appropriate ways. Winners do not get their security in controlling others. They do not set themselves up to lose.

A winner cares about the world and its peoples. A winner is not isolated from the general problems of society, but is concerned, compassionate, and committed to improving the quality of life. Even in the face of national and international adversity, a winner’s self-image is not one of a powerless individual. A winner works to make the world a better place.

There are methods to improving organizational culture that leads to more “winners” in an organization that is focused on making the community it is serving a better place.