If we watch the best athletes, we see what separates great from average: The best never want the play to be over.

In pickleball, they get every shot back. They go for everything, doing whatever they can to keep the point alive to give themselves a chance to win it. 

In tennis, they slide for balls that seem out of reach, stretching their racket just to get it over the net, even if it won’t be a winner. 

In basketball, the best players scramble on the floor, hustling for loose balls with their opponents, hoping at worst to force a jump ball instead of giving up possession. 

In football, you watch the quarterback (Fernando Mendoza) in the College Football National Championship game breaking tackles and lunging across the goal line. For him, the play was never.

I was recently playing pickleball with a pro and others who, like me, have fairly average skills. At the end of a game, my teammate said, “You know the difference between how the pros play and how we play? For her, the point is never over until it’s over.”

That’s what leadership is about.

Leadership is about doing everything possible to win the point for those you’re leading, while always staying within the rules of ethics and integrity. 

For school leaders, that means doing everything you possibly can to make sure every child has a great teacher in front of them. 

For business leaders, it’s ensuring the strategies and outcomes are the best possible for the organization. 

For nonprofits, it’s creating strategic plans and managing finances in ways that intentionally meet — and exceed — the mission and goals.

Great leaders understand that the play is never over. Even when the ball seems out of reach. Even when the goal line feels too far away and there are defenders in the way.

And when you’ve truly given it your last shot, you can look back and say, “I did everything I could in that moment.” Then you move on to the next play, the next strategy, the next round. 

Great leaders are always learning what they can do differently and what they can do better, carrying those lessons forward with strategy, heart, attention, passion, and purpose.

How do you see that the play is not over? How do you keep going, learn from it, and move on to the next?