I was involved in planning a relatively large event recently.  The event co-chairs charged me with finding corporate sponsors, which, considering my sales background, I gladly accepted.  The sponsorships were needed for the organization to pay travel and lodging expenses for a few dignitaries, as well as to reduce the per-person attendee price.  The co-chairs gave me a dollar figure.  I told them it was a slam dunk.

I failed to come anywhere close to the target figure.

As you can imagine, I felt like I let the co-chairs and organization down.  I felt like I let myself down.  In short, I felt like crawling in a hole or sticking my head in the sand.

Mike, one of the co-chairs, listened as I berated myself for failing.  He knew there were personal matters that forced me to change my priorities - matters that took most of my attention away from obtaining sponsors.  He knew I felt horrible.

“Did you learn anything?” he asked.

Yeah, I learned a lot.  Or, rather, I re-learned a lot.

I’m lucky.  I won’t be fired.  I won’t be excommunicated.  I won’t even be shunned. 

But most of all, I’m lucky enough to have an immediate do-over – a mulligan of sorts.  The organization is holding a larger event, with members coming from many states and parts of Canada, in the late spring.  There will be more dignitaries requiring more amenities and freebies.  The chairperson of that event has tapped me to handle the sponsorship responsibilities.

The event is larger.  There will be more people there.  I’ll need to raise two to three times the amount needed (and missed) for the most recent event.  In short, there’s more at stake.

But the upcoming event chairperson has faith in me.

Why?

He knows I’ve bounced back from defeat before.  He knows I’ll have a timeline with sponsorship milestone dates.  He knows I’ll have a sub-committee assembled.  He knows I have the skills and the talent to get the job done this time around.

And so do I. 

Abraham Lincoln.  Mohamed Ali.  John Elway.  You and I.  We’ve all endured embarrassing failure.  The trick, Ali has said, is not to avoid getting knocked down, but to avoid staying down. 

Luckily, I won’t have the opportunity to stay down.  I’ve got a committee to put together and sponsors to get.

IN THE CARAVAN:  Defeat happens.  Winners learn from it, brush themselves off and use their failures as springboards to success.

NEXT WEDNESDAY: Your “A Game”

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