Happy Friday everyone!
To strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others who are trying to do the same. This is a definition of compete.
Competition plays a role within our schools, our families, our professions, and our relationships. Competition can be healthy and unhealthy within teams, organizations, and relationships. These two types of competition are commonly referred to as positive competition and negative competition. Positive competition can increase motivation and effort. Negative competition can elicit a sense of fear between teammates which causes anxiety and animosity.
Negative competition occurs when we compete with others so that we want to win at the expense of the other person or people involved. In other words, our success is predicated on their failure. Negative competition is based on the notion that if we win, we're good, and if we lose, we're bad. The emotions surrounding negative competition are feeling superior or inferior based solely on the outcome. Negative internal competition shuts down trust and psychological safety. It promotes a negative culture.
Positive competition occurs when we compete in ways that bring out the best in us, individually and collectively. It is a way to challenge yourself and others while pushing everyone to be better. When competing in this positive way, we are not rooting for our teammate to fail so we look better nor are we consumed with winning at all costs. We don't label ourselves as "good" or "bad" and we realize that results do not determine our value to our team. Positive competition is about growth, grit, and taking ourselves to a higher level. This is more important than the outcome labeled as winning or losing. When we compete positively, it benefits everyone involved. Positive competition increases motivation, effort, and productivity. It helps us identify our strengths and weaknesses and gain a clearer understanding of our role and value within the team. It improves the quality of work and strengthens trust.
Knowing the value of positive competition, we should all take a moment to reflect on how we have been competing within the teams, families, organizations, or schools we are a part of to ensure our competition is healthy and positive.
Happy Friday!!