In this post, I hope I can speak to colleagues whose duties entail that they are adversarial, competitive and dominant as a key deliverable.

For example , winning a football tournament is the primary focus and goal of the individuals and the team as a whole. Being on top of the league is the optimal mark of success.

In corporate governance, the organisation seeks to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with a view of devising a strategy to “win” or “be the market leader” in the industry they operate.

Internally, there is also a desire to win by working in collaboration with each other to form a formidable response to the external environment the organisation operates.

I submit that competition within the corporate in the context of performance appraisal and management is a progressive and effective tool for promoting the success of the organisation. Unique to this is the fact that the aspect of encouraging peak performance does not entail the perception of colleagues as threats but rather as partners. Further, there is usually a built in support structure for enhancing skill and performance of different actors in the organisation. For instance, a Board of Directors will have a deliberate program for training to assist them with the exercise of their functions and the same applies to employees.

It is critical that the governance structures in an organisation understand the difference between the two approaches to winning.

Internally, everyone should win, while externally, the corporate aims to win over competition with an winning formula premised on teamwork!

I think that the mastery is in the art of applying the right approach in the right forum.

I propose an introspection as to whether we are channeling our knowledge, skills and energies to the right cause…Should we be gladiators or collaborators and are we playing the right role in the right place?