The Peak Performance Expert

So the fabulously talented LeBron James refused to shake hands with his opponents after the Magic won at Amway Arena in Orlando because, as he said, “It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lost to them.”  

Of course it’s hard.  And therefore…? So if something’s hard, you shouldn’t do it?  

Mr. James also said, “It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me.”  

Sure if someone beats you up in the schoolyard or in an alley, you would not congratulate that person but this is organized sports where there are traditions and expectations.  The tradition is that the losing team acknowledges the success of the winning team and that everyone acts like a gracious gentleman and/or lady.  Pouting and sulking are frowned upon. 

I do not want to take anything away from Mr. James’s exceptional athletic prowess and fierce determination to win but this behavior is unseemly and tarnishes his otherwise glowing image. 

There are several qualities that contribute to mental toughness and one of them is what I refer to as the championship mindset.  This refers to individuals who are willing and eager to assess their performances in an objective fashion in an effort to learn from mistakes and improve.  This objectivity allows them to control their emotions in order to assess, learn, and move forward.  

A championship mindset includes the ability to recognize that sometimes the other guy wins and when that happens, a true champion will be able to step back and be curious as to why that happened. This curiosity encourages an objective stance, a learning perspective that promotes questions such as: “How did the other team win and why did we lose? What can be learned from this?” 

Sure it hurts.  It hurts a lot especially because of the heroic effort Mr. James delivered but with a little more effort he could show us that he is mentally tough not only on the court but in life.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Championship Mindset, Mental Toughness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.