Life, sports, and business are intertwined. And during my life and being involved in both sports and business I have learned lessons, both positive and negative, from many of the coaches I have been associated with. The simple mission is to take away and emulate the positive lessons, make them your own; and from the negative learn what not to do.
I have played sports my entire life – enjoying basketball, tae kwon do, lacrosse, tennis, and swimming to name a few – a couple of which I rose to very high levels. As I’ve become older, I now see how the many things my various coaches said to me, ways they tried to encourage me to be the best that I could be, have helped me in my business and personal life. I am not without fault and I fail regularly, however, I do my best to learn from those failures in an effort to become better. Here are several anecdotal lessons that have served me well. Hopefully they will give you some encouragement as you move forward with your career.
You may have had a coach or business mentor who was mean-spirited and degrading – there is no place for that in any form of business or life situation – but you can learn from these folks as well. I have had clients, bosses, and coaches who believed that intimidation was the best method of teaching or communicating. For me, like many of you, it actually created barriers of resentment and distaste. Remember the following quote:"Rather than lighting the fire underneath someone, it is better to light fire inside them."
Never Forget the Basics. My tae kwon do instructor was dear to me, always poised and in control, patient and tolerant. One late afternoon, while training for the U.S. Olympic Trial Meet in California, my teacher, Grand Master Peter Cha, approached me, asking me to do a series of basic kicks: front kick, back kick, side kick, etc. After executing the kicks as instructed he said, "Do 1,000 times more with each leg, then you can go home." He walked into his office and watched from the one-way mirror as I proceeded for the next two hours executing these basic kicks. Afterwards he asked me, "Are you angry with me?" I said, "No, but I don't understand. I am one of your best students and you have seen me perform those kicks to perfection for the past 16 years. I just don’t understand why you would have me do those so many times?"
His response will live with me forever. "When you learned to write could you just sit down and write a story?"
"No," I responded.
He said, "You practiced the letters, then learned the words, then sentences, paragraphs and you developed the story and each time you wrote a story you practiced the letters – these are the basics, never forget the basics."
Show Up Every Time. On a recent trip to Florida with my wife, I scheduled a tennis camp for the both of us and it was the experience of a lifetime, not only for the tennis instruction but the amazing coaching that went on at the facility. We were met the first morning by an upbeat coach named Roger who was 51 years old and had been at the facility since he was 16.
Roger was first a student and now works as one of the tennis pros. After day one and four continuous hours of drills I was drained, sore and didn’t want to come back for day two. Before I left he said, "Eighty percent of winning is just showing up." Although I heard that before, but in that moment, he knew what to say to encourage me to come back. The next morning, still aching and tired, I got up and made the effort and we had an incredible class. Roger, knowing what condition I was in, said, "Cliffy, you’re a winner." I will do everything I can to be just like that with the folks that I coach professionally.
Be Coachable. My track coach in college was an amazing guy, slow to anger, firm and managed to get every bit from each of the guys on my team… we were good and it was because of his teaching and coaching methods that caused us to gel and become the very best. I remember him repeating, "Listen and try it, there is nothing you can’t accomplish." When we failed he never became irrational, arrogant or got in anyone's face and screamed; instead, he gave so much respect and commanded it back ten-fold.
As I move through life, I have the incredible opportunity to teach others, learn from others and I never take that for granted. I love giving back and sharing the lessons I have learned from others. I remember both of my children asking me what it takes to be successful in sports while in college. I gave them both the same answer, "Be eligible first and be coachable." No college coach wants an academic headache on his or her hands and furthermore they don’t want a know-it-all on the team, either.
Go to class, respect your teachers, and complete the assigned work. When you go to practice, be open to absorb and learn all you can, ask questions but never question their decision… be coachable!
Until next month, continued good selling!
Cliff Quicksell, MAS, has been involved in the promotional marketing industry for over 30 years. He is the recipient of over 25 international sales and marketing awards for innovation, creativity and his contributions to the industry. He can be reached at cliff@quicksellpeaks.com or 301-717-0615.