HI Everybody. It's Paul here and I am putting out my leadership and business and sales tip for the day.
This actually has to go back to more ownership than anything else, right? So when you're a leader, you should always take ownership. And even if you're not the elected leader and you have some leadership ability and you end up changing people's minds and how you do things, then I think that's a important and how you lead and do things right.
So at the end of the day, being a leader is taking ownership when you make a mistake or you don't succeed because ultimately the, the mantle falls on you. So how or why is this important?
About 15 years ago we were playing rugby for old blue my old rugby club in NYC. We ended up making it to the Division One championship playoff round, a sweet 16. And, and, uh, we ended up going to a Worcester Massachusetts to play in the first round of the playoffs. And Lo and behold, we beat the Boston Irish wolfhounds. And when we did, I took it upon myself, which was probably a huge mistake at the time to convince a fair amount of people on the team to go to Boston and celebrate. And we did, but we paid for it in spades and next day, right? The next day we ended up losing to, I believe it was Worcester, the local team who was hosting. And we never should have lost to them. They should have easily beat them. Um, but because a good two thirds of the starting 15 were hammered and hung over from the night before, um, it didn't, we didn't do well.
There was a thread last week, um, from a bunch of my friends I played with at the time complaining about that loss. And I said I would take ownership because I do feel responsible because I kinda rallied the troops and said, hey, let's go to Boston. Let's go celebrate. And we did, but we lost. Right. So in the way the rankings work, if we would've won, uh, that second game, it was a very good chance we would have been, in I think the top four in the country, uh, and we would've had a much better seating and we would have had a better chance to make it to the elite eight and then the finals and potentially win a national championship. So to this day, it's been bothering me and been eating me up inside. So I really wanted to put it out there and say, I take responsibility.
I said it last week in the post and I'll say it right now publicly, I don't really care cause I know it was probably my fault. Now other people have to take responsibility for themselves. They went. But, I feel responsible because I should have been a better leader and said, hey, we need to stay here and hunker down for the night and get ready for the game tomorrow. But no, we didn't. So we ended up going out. And so it's important for this, and I think it's in every aspect that you do, whether you're doing your, you're running a company, you're, you're leading a team, you're growing a business or you're selling a product or service that you take ownership when you make a mistake. Hey, I promised you that this deliverable, would he be here this day? And it didn't show up on time.
That's my fault. I take ownership even though I had delegated out to somebody else. It really is my responsibility. And the reason it didn't work out the way it should have. So at the end of the day, I think we need to understand that leadership is a dichotomy, right? Is an up and down and good things and bad things will happen. Good things happen, that you put it out in a team and say, hey guys, you did a great job. When bad things happen, it falls back on your shoulders and you need to carry that weight. So I've been carrying that weight and I really wanted to apologize to my teammates. Again, it's a long time ago, but there's a lesson here, right? And the lesson is that you take ownership and you, when you're a leader, you take ownership of things that you do bad. Um, and even if it's indirectly not your fault, but you still feel responsible, then you take it.
And that's what I did. So that's what I'm doing right now. So you can do that with everything you do, right? So think about your Business Unit, right? And Your Business Unit is responsible for deliverable. The deliverable is a project and you have your team working and at some point you might get pulled in a different direction and the team doesn't answer the call or fill the deliverable at the right time, then, it falls on the wayside and you don't produce, right? So, you know, what do you do then that's your fault, right? You're the leader. You need to take that responsibility, jump on that grenade. As a medic, we ultimately like to, um, help other people, right? And sometimes that is what I'm trying to do with that hubby get, move forward and move beyond what happened 15 years ago again. But when people constantly bringing up year over year and you're like, I need this, I need to say something.
So I'm saying it right now and I think this is the best way to say it, right? You say it out publicly, you tell everybody it is what's going on. Here's what happened. This is my, I feel responsible for this. I think this was my fault. And that's it. So you know, you'd live by these, I guess he's called tenants of leadership, right? Loyalty, duty, respect, honor, integrity, courage. Right? So these are the things that I live by and I feel like if I didn't get this out and put it out into the world, and great social media is for this, this is what social media is for, right?
You say this is what happened. This is what I'm doing. This is why I put this out here. And that's what it is. I love my teammates. I love what I did with old blue. I feel responsible. So I'm taking shit and that's it. Thanks Christopher Wilkins for putting this out here on me and telling me, hey, you should take responsibility. And now I am and Keeler and Cooper, Davies, and anybody else who was on that team. I'm sorry guys. We had a great squad and I made a mistake, but at the end of the day, I still have nothing but love for you guys.
So anyway, everybody have a great day. Get after it every day, ring the bell, cheers. Abrams out!
