Make a World Cup Class Comeback

There will be a minimum of 5,760 minutes of game time played in the World Cup, yet it only took 71 minutes for the first great controversy of the competition.

You’ve probably heard by now that the Croatian team was robbed of a potential point in the inaugural match against Brazil. Referee Yuichi Nishimura is in the spotlight after making a controversial call that seemingly doomed the fate of Croatia to a 3-1 loss.

The two sides had each other locked at 1-1, when Brazilian striker Frederico “Fred” Guedes seemed to have been knocked over by the wind. Yuichi promptly awarded a penalty kick to Brazil, which gave the host country the lead.

To Croatia’s credit, most teams would have completely lost the wind from their sails. They fought back brilliantly however, with sheer determination.

So when you career takes a setback, how do you make a World Cup Class Comeback?

Get Over It – Fast

Many people isolate themselves when they’ve had a setback. It could mean not spending time with colleagues at lunch or after work or, if you have gotten laid off, you might stop going out socially. That’s one reason the unemployed have higher rates of depression.  The longer you dwell on the setback, the further you will spiral downward.  Holding a negative attitude will clearly show, and pretty soon, people will take notice – hesitant to associate with your negativity.

Once the damage is done you can’t change it, no matter how much you yell at the ref. Line back up and get ready to go again.

Don’t Retreat – Advance

Instead of slinking into the corner, get moving. Jack Welch, former head of GE and now Executive Chairman of the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University, recently wrote that after a setback on the job, the best course is to start overdelivering. Volunteer to help on tough projects, or company-wide initiatives that you wouldn’t previously have done.

Whatever you’re doing, do it better and faster. Expand your job’s horizons to include bold new activities. Come up with a new concept or process that doesn’t just improve your results, but your unit’s results and the company’s overall performance. Surprise everyone.

You will need to respond just as Croatia had done.  Move further up field, be bolder, make daring runs – and attack.

You may need to change your tactics, or as entrepreneurs prefer it: Pivoting. Examine what went wrong, how it happened, and why. Use this as your starting point to relaunch.

So how do you recover when you get knocked down? Refer back to the unofficial anthem of the ’98 World Cup.