Your integrity in sports reflects your character… I made a mistake last week that upset me… here’s what went wrong and what you can learn from it.
The call came over the radio, “Race committee, we just wanted to make sure that you knew that the last boat to finish skipped one of the marks.”
I looked at my crew. We were the last boat to finish.
But we hadn’t skipped a mark. I was sure of it.
So, I got on the radio and said, “Race committee, that is inaccurate.”
The race committee started to give the other boat protest instructions when suddenly I realized they were right. We had skipped a mark.
I got back on the radio and said, “Race committee, they are right, we withdraw from the race.”
And then I felt like an ass… for quite a while.
You see, I didn’t care at all about being last in the race. Half our crew wasn’t able to make the race, which meant we couldn’t use all our downwind sails and therefore were pretty much doomed to come in last (or close).
In fact, by mid-race we were so far back that we stopped paying attention and I actually thought (believe it or not) that we had gained ground on one of the boats because of our better sailing when in reality it was because we skipped a mark.
(Never doubt the human ego’s ability to delude itself.)
But when I realized my error what I was angry about was this: people’s perception of my integrity.
My biggest concern was that people would think I had deliberately skipped the mark and therefore cheated. Even worse, I thought people would believe I was arguing I was right when the other boat complained.
Integrity in Sports
The next day I looked at the race results and I saw that they had scored us last rather than Did Not Finish (DNF). DNF gives you a worse score than coming in last (and would impact our standing in the overall race series).
So, I sent the race committee a note, owned my mistake and asked them to correct it.
I was really surprised by their response…
George,
We really appreciate your honesty. It seems the Corinthian spirit is often lacking these days and it is refreshing to see someone taking a stand to keep it fair out there. We would love to reward you with a regatta T-shirt!
While the t-shirt offer is nice, I really wish the whole incident never occurred. Yet based on their response, it seems like my approach is in the minority. In fact, as many parents can tell you, there is a lack of integrity in sports these days.
Here is my point in sharing this story (and it is not to toot my horn, because I feel like an ass):
- You never know who is watching. Though I know my mistake was innocent, there are others who will judge my character based on it. There is nothing I can do about that now.
- Be prepared and pay attention. I knew we wouldn’t do well based on our small crew, so I didn’t prepare properly or try all that hard. This caused the missed mark and the whole problem to occur. If you’re going to compete, do your best.
- People are paying attention. There are people who I literally will not do business with because I have seen them repeatedly and intentionally cheat in sailboat races. I know one person who has a stack of trophies that suggest he is a fast sailor; his reputation in San Diego is not for his sailing but his lack of integrity.
- Keep things in perspective. Since I knew we weren’t going to be in contention to do well, I let a competitor from another class pass us earlier in the race rather than shutting the door on him when I could. He appreciated that. Hopefully that karma will pay off in our next race!
What does this have to do with your career? It’s simple: everything… EVERYTHING you do reflects on your character. My mistake last week in a race may cost me future clients. -And that is a high price to pay for an honest mistake due to a lack of preparation.
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