Power Play: Know when you’ve won and never bring it up again

Power Players never gloat. Winning is only sweet when you don’t make others feel bad about losing.

Power Players also have this square in their heads: every time you win, you just increase your odds of losing next time around.

Power Players know it’s not their job to praise and celebrate their own success. Instead, they use the momentum it has created for the next job or project.

I’ve often listened to power-seeking wannabes who relive every second of their win because they fear it will be the only win they ever have.

Power Players let it go (and yes, they probably remember it fondly on tough days) and then gear up for the next big thing they need to do.

The story

My favourite boss of all time won perhaps the biggest advertising account in the country, pretty much single-handedly.

He devised the strategy, wrote the pitch document, created the in-room presentation and even came up with the creative idea, and then at the eleventh hour, chucked it all out, started again and (unbelievably) came up with something even better.

About a dozen people claimed victory for the win and talked about how much they’d contributed to the work.

The boss said absolutely nothing, never corrected anybody, never mentioned the role he had played and never brought up that win again.

Not one word! Pretty cool, right?