I’m still buzzing from the annual Absa Business Day Supplier Development Awards last week. It was such fun to dress up, celebrate in a physical venue and gather to chat and share conversation with real people, real food and a really funny MC. Even the most party-shy of us got a thrill from it, and the after party went strong into the night. 

The event celebrates the best of South African corporates that are doing great things in Supplier Development. It’s also a chance to celebrate some of their exceptional small suppliers who have grown and prospered under their care.  

The evening was filled with stories of innovation, collaboration, resilience under stress and the gracious enthusiasm of winners and finalists. 

Apart from the joy of celebrating winners though, the evening was a reminder that in any game (other than on Oprah, of course) there are winners and losers. Where winning provides the opportunity to bathe in the light of success, losing is just as important, if not more so. Losing gives one the chance to reflect, to take stock of one’s work and become open for learning and new growth. 

A gracious loser who reaches out for help will quickly find themselves surrounded by people wanting to help, and that could after all turn into the gold medal for next year. 

So, teaching our children to be gracious no matter if they are the top of the ranking or the very bottom, is a task for all of us parents. It’s good, too, to remind ourselves of this.