From the early days of their first “just do it” posters Nike have set out to capture the spirit of a winning attitude by association with global sports heroes who win when it matters most, against the toughest competitors, in the cauldron of an Olympic Games or World Championship.

 Athletes like Paula Radcliffe don’t just compete. They dedicate their lives to a single goal to the exclusion of everything else. Every daylight hour is focussed on a training regime, a mental and physical preparation towards that single goal that would terrify us. When she says ‘nearly isn’t enough’ most of us would have said enough already!

Can this approach to translate to the pitch? A winning attitude is evident in most successful companies since without it they also can’t compete. It is usually not lacking in pitch teams who launch into the  preparation with all guns blazing and a real desire to perform well.

However, unlike Paula, they are not channelling their ‘winning attitude’  to the exclusion of everything else. Why? Because they have day jobs, clients to look after, operations to manage. So while they may be ‘putting everything into the pitch’, they aren’t. ‘Enough’ will be what can be done in the time available after other demands are met.

If Paula, or Mo, were on your team you would not say enough so readily. You would fight for more preparation, more training, more resource, better support and make “nearly isn’t enough” your mantra. After all, it only takes one of your competitors to be doing this and they will win.