Actually, ‘life’ is a contact sport.

Decades ago I coached football.  And, years before that I played football.  Sometimes I joke that I used to be a really good athlete about 30 pounds ago.

Football is a true contact sport.  Hitting – physical contact – is a major part of the game.  Hitting is not an incidental aspect of the game; it’s the point of the game.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the game of football let me provide a simplistic explanation of the Canadian version of the game:

Two teams of 12 players each, completely clad in body armour from head to toe, stand opposed to each other on a field approximately 110 yards long by 65 yards wide.  The team on offense, who has the football, attempts to run or pass the football down the field to get the ball into the end zone.  They get 6 points if they get the ball in the end zone – which is called a touchdown – 1 point for a convert of that touchdown, or 3 points for a field goal.

They have 3 attempts (called downs) to move the ball 10 yards down the field in order to get another set of 3 downs to keep moving the ball down the field.  If they fail to move the ball 10 yards within their 3 downs they can either punt the ball to the opposition, or have to turn the ball over to the opposition at the place where they fell short of moving the ball 10 yards forward.

Now, here is the contact part of the game.  While the team on offense is attempting to move the ball down field and ultimately get it into the end zone for a touchdown, the team on defense is doing everything they can to tackle the person on offense with the ball.   The objective of the defense is to knock to the ground the person with the ball – and perhaps hit him hard enough so that he fumbles the football and they can get the ball and start their turn at offense.

Everyone who plays football knows that one of the main objectives of the game is to tackle the person with the ball – to knock him to the ground.  So, whenever the person with the ball is tackled he doesn’t get upset.  Getting tackled is part of the game.

Years ago there was a large marketing contract that my agency was vying for.  It appeared that we were a shoe-in for the contract.  It was ours.  I was already working through in my mind how we were going to do the work and do a fabulous job.  Then the word came that we didn’t get the job.

“What?  You have got to be kidding me?  You’re joking right?  This is a joke!”

It was no joke – we didn’t get the job.  I was gutted.  It was a huge body blow for me.  I was really discouraged.

Then I thought about football…

Getting tackled is part of the game.  What would we think of a player who, after getting tackled, stormed off the field because he was so upset that someone knocked him down?

“Buddy, get real – getting hit is part of the game.  If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”

Leadership, business, life – they are all contact sports.  Getting hit is part of the game.  We have got to expect opposition.  Circumstances, finances, fears, insecurities, bad decisions, failures, the competition and myriad other issues will oppose us.  We are going to get hit, and sometimes we are going to get hit really hard.  We can’t just lay down and sulk when it happens – it’s part of the game.

We have to get up, take a deep breath and get back in the huddle with our teammates to call another play.  Don’t get offended.  Don’t get discouraged.  Don’t give up.  Get back on your feet, join the huddle and try to figure out what went wrong so you don’t do that again.

Yes, leadership, and life, are contact sports.  Getting knocked down is part of the game.  Let’s get up, call a new play and get back in the game.