When talking about the seven C’s with friends of colleagues, I’ve found they tend to pause and hesitate the quickest when ’Competing’ is discussed. Why? Simply put, it’s what we have been conditioned with from birth, from grades, to sports, to business, everything is a competition. We are taught its key to success in life. Second place is first loser. They say things like, “come on, you have to compete to get ahead” or ”our country runs on competition”. While I agree that there are certainly plenty of times for competing, in relationships and love of friends and colleagues, it just doesn’t work. Choosing to ‘Be Flexible and Generous’ is more effective every time, in my experience building trust and better outcomes over and over again in the long term. Don’t believe me? Check out the research done by experts like Adam Grant on the real benefits of giving. This said, ’unlearning’ our learned, overwhelming tendency to compete in just about everything can be incredibly difficult, taking conscious choices throughout our day to sail this particular C. I highly recommend taking a very amusing look at this challenge of ‘Competing’ versus ‘Being Generous’ in the NY Times 3 minute video by Key and Peele, key words ”The Generosity of Key and Peele”, that introduces the NY Times cover story on Adam Grant and his work on giving and helping others. Beyond simply cracking you up, I know the irony in the video wont be lost on you.
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