We recently submitted a proposal to a potential local client. They were looking for someone who has expertise in negotiating service contracts, cleaning up and streamlining their workflow, and ensuring continuity of service before an upcoming milestone in the fall. We’ve worked in similar capacities before, so it wasn’t a lack of know-how on our part.
After weeks of waiting to hear about the status of our submission, we finally heard today that we were not selected for the project. Heck, we weren’t even brought in for an interview. They didn’t even seem remotely interested. We later found out, they elected not to interview anyone who submitted a proposal for the project! Instead, they decided to keep their existing Project Manager on-board to do the work.
Thus, we were forced to look at this situation in reflection.
What can we take away from this? What can we learn?
When most things don’t go “our way” we tend to get very down on ourselves. We default to, “what did I do wrong?” or “I screwed this up!” While the answers to some of those questions may never come, we can often find those answers internally.
We really should be asking ourselves: What went well and what successes can I replicate next time?
Simply feeling like you’ve done your best work can be enough to give you peace of mind. We tell our coaching clients all the time: there are doors that open for you with the best intentions, and there are doors that stay shut for a reason!
Have a great day folks!
