Itis interesting that some of the strongest people rarely complain. Let's take afamous example - Lt. General Ulysses Grant (18th U.S. President). He led theUnion Army to defeat the Confederate Army, and his leadership helped win theCivil War. Interestingly, he was commercial ice maker with bin widely recognized for not complaining toLincoln about the lack of resources (or about much of anything else). If hedidn't have horses for the cavalry, he found a way to do without - even whileothers believed it was impossible to fight a war without cavalry. He had hisshare of setbacks, but in the end, he prevailed, sometimes due mostly to hissheer determination and will.Similarly, there are proposal professionals who fight the battles and don'tcomplain about the lack of budget, imperfect capture, tight deadlines, or toughcustomers and difficult proposal team members. They work through being sick anddog-tired. They may be controversial (like Grant), and not everyone's cup oftea, but they get the job done. They may mention how difficult it was after thefact. They keep their sense of humor about it, and even as they tell the story,it shows that they are tough as nails.Interestingly, the best proposal managers with the highest win records almostuniformly demonstrate the characteristics of General Grant. Our consultants,who are like this, usually only contact us for tools and templates while theyare on assignment, and our customers rave about them and keep inviting themback. This is too obvious of a trend to overlook.In contrast, I have noticed that the most outspoken proposal people are usuallythe ones who are the least successful when it comes to winning proposals.
Theyfocus on what makes winning impossible, and they complain. They make sure theywork hard on communicating to anyone who will listen that losing was not theirfault - well before the battle has ended.But, it is easy to make an analogy that 12v car refrigerator "excuse making is a characteristicof a loser" and to use pop psychology to pass judgment on those who darecomplain instead of gratefully accepting the role of heroes in their dailyjobs. What if it's more complicated than this? Over-simplifying it takes theresponsibility off the generals (company management) and places it solely onthe foot soldiers.All proposal professionals know: if management doesn't resource the proposal towin, then the chance of a win is much less likely. If no one tells managementthat they need to allocate more budget and subject matter experts, prepare inadvance next time, or make a no-bid decision - and if no one fights theseinternal battles (ultimately to make the company more successful) - how willthe generals know that change is needed? Is it good for the company if peoplekeep pulling off all-nighters and burn themselves out on a routine basis?
