03/22/2020
The Ladder to Success – Inspiring More Win-Wins
By Cecilia Alvarez
I recall many years ago seeing a drawing of a ladder on a blank page with a figure almost to the top, but what was puzzling was the missing steps at the bottom. For a young high school student, the irony of how and what success was depicted made me determined that the model should be different. Of course the meaning behind the iconic image was that once someone climbed to a certain level of success, the steps for others were taken away…a if I win, you lose philosophy.
I am not certain who started this win-lose philosophy in America, because as long as I can remember and have read about, immigrants from Europe (Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Norway etc.) and Latin America (Brasil, Colombia, Venezuela) and Asia Pacific (Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, China) entered the United States and found their way into the boroughs, made their homes in neighborhoods where the community helped one another. This is a beautiful way to live don’t you think? Where people helping other people achieve a level of success is a good thing? I still see this teamwork and sense of community throughout and find that very inspiring. At our core, we all are wanting a better life for our families and our communities and will lend a helping hand to those who need it. Without a doubt this is what America stands for.
So I go back to the question that I posed earlier. Who started the win-lose mentality? Why is it so pervasive in the Financial world? In boxing, there is a winner and a loser; however, doesn’t the loser make a lot of money as well? How is it that there are two financial winners in boxing?
The win-win philosophy in business has always been my favorite model. When two or more parties are looking to achieve a mutual goal, shouldn’t they work together to achieve this? This is how team sports is played. Each of the team members play a different role, but the diversity of skillsets enables the team rise to amazing heights because of the sharing of strategies, utilizing their natural and developed abilities to deliver great results.
I am inspired by the communities within our American neighborhoods who support local businesses and encourage ingenuity and entrepreneurship. There are small businesses that thrive because of the support they receive from their families, friends, neighbors. This is what makes a community great.
In trying to understand why then this model works in our communities, but when it comes to financial arenas, there seems to be difficulty in ensuring a level opportunity for all. I do not have an answer, but I know that a small percentage of persons having all the wealth while others scrape by in today’s world seems unbalanced. Should there be more education on Finances at the school grade level to enable systemic improvement in how the American Financial systems work? A show of hands on who understands the Credit Score system in America might be telling that there is a need for us to be better informed about this area that determines whether we win or lose in reaching for our American Dream. I think that if we were better informed about basic personal finances, we would find more win-wins in this beautiful country and land of opportunity that we live in.
As we go about our daily lives, I encourage each one of you to truly look at people you meet and appreciate their journey. Everyone has a Dream like you do…if you can make their day a bit brighter by a word of encouragement why not do it? That word may inspire them, may improve their mindset, may keep the world moving in a positive and right direction. Win-wins are great just like America is. We must actively practice this win-win philosophy to ensure that it continues for future generations.
