How to Deal with a Win-Lose Situation

The other day a friend was telling me about someone in a win lose situation and how it was taking a toll on this person.

We often find ourselves in situations that we find difficult or cause us to become demotivated and frustrated.

Employees often find things that they would like to change, but feel powerless to do so. Unresolved issues can amplify over time and affect motivation and performance.

Leaders may be unhappy with an employee’s performance and complain about it, rather than dealing with it proactively.

Here’s what winners do when they don’t like a situation.

1. They do everything they can to positively change the situation without becoming manipulative.
2. They accept the situation as it is and do not resort to complaining or blaming others.
3. They get out of the situation. They leave their job or they terminate the employee if they are the boss.

The next time you’re faced with a situation you don’t like ask yourself what can I do to change this? If that doesn’t work, try something else. And if that doesn’t work, try something else again until you’ve exhausted everything you can do to change it.

If the above doesn’t work and you don’t want to leave, accept things the way they are and focus on the positive. Do your job without blaming and complaining.

If you cannot live with the situation the way it is, then you must get out of it.  Otherwise you could do damage to yourself and your relationships. Make the decision to move on.

For leaders, your job is to teach this type of attitude to employees by walking the talk. Be an example of a winner!