You still have to prove it

Original post:  June 8, 2015

Sports may not be to everyone's liking, but there are some aspects of competition that are directly comparable to our business world.

This weekend, American Pharoah faced the weight of history. Over the past generation, many brilliant horses had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown but fallen short at the Belmont Stakes. American Pharoah not only lived up to the hype, he also was able to leave no doubt by leading wire-to-wire throughout his race. The first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 can now enter the history books as the first storied horse of a new generation.

In the tennis world, the French Open represents the second major title in the calendar year. For the women, Serena Williams won despite playing at less than her best due to illness. On the men's side, world #1 Novak Djokovic finally beat his clay nemesis, Rafael Nadal. Nadal had won nine of the previous ten Opens and had lost only once before in the tournament. After beating Nadal, it appeared Djokovic would finally claim his first title on clay. That would give him the career Grand Slam (a win at each of the four major tournaments)--something only seven other men in the history of tennis had ever accomplished. Unfortunately for him, victory in this tournament would elude him again. He was crushed by the sudden emergence of Stan Wawrinka, a talented Swiss player who had struggled with self-doubt despite his massive talents.

In the NBA, the Golden State Warriors played the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first two games of their best-of-seven series. Golden State was the most successful team in the regular season. They dominated the stronger Western conference and are highly favored to win the series. To add their fortune, Cleveland lost one of its star players earlier in the playoffs to injury. In a closely contested first game, the Warriors managed to offset the heroic efforts of the best player in the game, LeBron James and win in overtime. To add to the degree of difficulty, Cleveland lost another star player to a serious knee injury. It now appeared that Golden State would waltz to the title.

LeBron James was quoted before game two as being upset that the sports writers now seemed to dismiss any hopes of Cleveland winning the title. In a spirited effort, Cleveland clawed to a two-point win in game 2 to level the series and wrest home-court advantage away from the favored Warriors.

How does any of this relate to the business world?

The competitive lives of any athlete are doomed to be brief. Age ends up robbing even the most gifted players of their talents. In the same way, our organization is loaded with potential. Despite our many advantages over our competitors, we will not succeed without an excellent total effort from our entire organization. Without incredible dedication and fortitude, we can't expect to win. We'll have to work extremely hard--knowing all the while that our competitors are waiting for the slightest bobble to take advantage of their opportunity (Nadal, Djokovic and Wawrinka). Even when the stars seem to align and point the way to victory (as in the Golden State example), you still have to perform when the time comes. If we do, perhaps we can live up to the advance billing (like American Pharoah) and enter the history books as champions!

If we are really consistent, then perhaps we might one day aspire to Serena Williams level of greatness. She just won her 20th major championship. There are only two women in history with more--Steffi Graf with 22 and Margaret Court at 24. She won her first major in 1999! Sixteen years of excellence in a grueling sport like tennis (where most players are washed up by the time they turn 30) is truly impressive.