Super Bowl LV is now in the books. Whether you watched the whole game, just tuned in for the commercials, or skipped it altogether, we are now in the season of Monday morning quarterbacking.
Pundits will scrutinize plays and players, dissecting the game as it happened in the past through the knowledge of today.
I know some people (ok, maybe many people) who do a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking on a consistent basis, regardless of the time of year. Meaning, they look back on previous decisions in their professional and personal life and play the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” game.
They look at yesterday’s decisions in light of the now-known outcome and deride themselves, as if they should have known better. They plunge into shame and self reproach over what turns out to be a poor or less than perfect decision.
High levels of energy are spent looking backward and critiquing decisions that were made with the knowledge available at that time.
While stirring the ashes and reviewing outcomes has benefits, it cannot become a personal bashing session. Nothing good ever comes of that.
The most tragic result of this unfortunate quarterbacking session is that focus and energy are placed in the past and no resources remain for present opportunities.
As Steven Furtick says, “Don’t judge yesterday’s decisions with today’s wisdom.”
Emotional intelligence, which is part of self awareness, gives understanding that choices are made in the best interest of the moment and offers kindness when decisions turn out to be less than ideal.
Authentic leaders work to increase their self awareness and allow for kindness when reviewing previous decisions.
Authentic leaders don’t succumb to Monday morning quarterbacking.
This is absolutely fantastic advice. Thanks for such amazing insight.