Here in Baltimore, I often feel that the city’s mood can be tied to the performance of our professional teams on the field, namely the Orioles and Ravens. This reality got me thinking about how business and sports have a lot in common: You have wins and losses, changes in leadership and personnel; some lifelong rivals and some that come and go; and almost nothing stays the same for very long.

There is also the ever-present challenge of doing your best today with what you’ve got, while planning for an uncertain future. It’s a lot, whether you’re running a professional sports team, public relations firm, home improvement business, or restaurant. 

One major difference between business and sports is that athletes and their coaches – especially at the highest level – succeed and fail on a very public stage. It’s one thing to lose out on a big proposal; quite another to hear a cascade of boos when you fail. 

Could you imagine? You’re pitching a client and there’s a typo in the presentation and all of a sudden… “Boooooo!!! Can you believe this guy!? Unbelievable!” 

I’m glad we don’t operate in those conditions.

As I watched the Orioles and Ravens both struggle and succeed in recent weeks, I thought about the ways in which lessons on the field carry over to those in business and public relations. 

Here are three that stand out: 

You learn the most from the losses 

Obviously we all want to win as much as possible, but you definitely learn the most from failure. Put another way, when you win, you celebrate; when you lose, you contemplate. 

Everyone experiences losses, no matter the industry or level. Sometimes it’s something as basic as a campaign or pitch that falls flat even when you felt you did everything right. It happens. 

Asking yourself tough questions after a loss will go miles toward improvement. Lost a new business pitch? It’s easy to blame the other guy, but better questions to ask yourself might be, “Did we create clear differentiation in our services? Were we talking to the right people? What factors may have played a part that we weren’t initially aware of?” 

Another great way to learn from a potential loss is to do what’s called a “pre-mortem.” As in, pretend that a new endeavor, project, pitch, program, etc. went horribly wrong. What might have happened? What signs are staring us in the face right now that we can address before we even begin? 

Leadership matters 

When the game ends in sports, there’s almost always a press conference where the leader of the team and some of the players face the media for a post-game breakdown. Can you imagine if this were the case in business? After every big moment, you have to face the queries of a team of professional second-guessers? 

That’s why it’s hugely important for teams – in sports and business – to have leaders who are ready to make the tough calls, face the music when things go wrong, and learn from their mistakes with humility and grace. 

It might be occasionally lonely at the top, but leaders never have to go it alone. Strong leaders surround themselves with talent; welcome input from experts; and are never afraid to make changes. It’s not easy, but always necessary. 

When in doubt, have fun! 

You’ll hear a lot of people say, “take your work seriously but don’t take yourself too seriously.” I’m reminded of this in sports when MLB players celebrate after clinching a title with a dogpile on the field.

In recent years, many teams have created custom, often comical celebrations for home runs. The Orioles have their hydration station; the Red Sox award the hitter a medal; the Colorado Rockies place ski goggles on the man of the hour; and the Seattle Mariners hand a giant trident to the deliverer of the long ball. It’s a good time and often carries over to fan celebrations. 

Obviously in business we don’t have as many chances to outright cheer, but there’s no reason you can’t introduce new traditions in your business to get the good vibes rolling. When our team is in the office, we ring a bell to signify a win; and post-pandemic, we have an electronic version of the bell ring where colleagues can give each other shout-outs that everyone sees. 

In this season of meaningful games and big moments, I hope you’ll take the time to celebrate as well. We all work very hard in our chosen fields of endeavor and in my experience, a little recognition and celebration goes a long way.

There are lots of games left to play in the seasons ahead, I hope you put more wins on the board than losses and, of course, enjoy the process. 

Let’s go Ravens and Os!