Chapter 21 - Driven from Within
Today's Chapter is based on the book “Driven From Within” by Michael Jordan and Mark Vancil.
Buy it on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Within-Michael-Jordan/dp/B000GYI1II
Here's what I have learned:
Leading By Example
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”
— Albert Schweitzer
Michael Jordan is notorious for being the greatest basketball legend of all time. Not only was he successful on the court as a basketball player, he is also well known for building the Jordan brand, the second largest athletic shoe brand in the world after Nike. One of the first common trait he found between great leaders on the court and in business is that they lead by example.
“That's why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can't demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see. They might even listen, but they usually will act based on the actions of the person talking. If the CEO skips out early on Fridays, then he or she has sent a message that tells everyone else they can do the same. I practiced hard every day because I wanted every one of my teammates to know what I expected out of myself. If I took a day off, then I knew they would, too.“
— Michael Jordan
This is eerily similar to the concept we learned from Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of The Home Depot who once said that “If an associate picked something up off the floor, it was because we did it first. We set the example. Few people ever felt that they were working for somebody. Hopefully, it was more like they were working with somebody. Everything was hand in hand.”
As such, considering that a leader must lead by example, it is important for a person in a leadership position to set the standard for everyone inside the organisation. As everyone will follow their lead, any single action they make as a leader will be projected as the standard required by the organisation whether it is a basketball team or a multibillionaire business.
“They [leaders] set a standard, and everyone has to live up to that standard if it's a good standard. It's the same in every great organization.”
— Michael Jordan
“My practice habits were great. I forced those other guys to improve their practice habits. I challenged them because [Bulls coach] Kevin Loughery challenged me. At the end of practice we would scrimmage, and the losers had to run. We'd be killing the second team, and Loughery would stop practice and put me on the second team. We'd still come back to win. Those were the things the other guys started to learn.”
— Michael Jordan
As we have learned from Lee Kwan Yew, a leader's most important role is to motivate others. Leading by action like Michael Jordan is a great way to influence others to follow you. As a matter of fact, it is human nature to follow leaders' actions rather than their words.
“My leadership came from action, all action.”
— Michael Jordan
“Leadership is the art of influencing others. It differs from giving a simple order or managing in that it shapes the longer-term attitudes and behavior of individuals and groups. George Washington’s tattered army persisted to ultimate victory. Those troops displayed the kind of effort that can never be ordered— only evoked. Effective leaders stir an intangible but very real desire inside people. That drive can be reflected in extraordinary courage, selfless sacrifice, and commitment.”
— General Stanley McChrystal
Committed to Hard Work
“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
— Michael Jordan
Kazuo Inamori once mentioned that “the most important thing in life is persistence, which means a continuous devotion to a single activity. To young people who are about to enter the work force and build their lives, I want to convey this: make continuous efforts, one step at a time.” This saying reminds of Michael Jordan's commitment to the game of basketball.
“But there's one thing I want them to understand: great achievements are born from steady effort on a road traveled one step at a time. Without that, big dreams, no matter how vividly imagined, remain nothing more than dreams.”
— Kazuo Inamori
“I focus on the little things. Little things add up to big things.”
— Michael Jordan
As a matter of fact, Jordan explains that people rarely pay attention to the effort that it took for people successful. Success comes from all the little efforts that were made to improve one step at the time, and people tend to forget that. When he moved to the world of business, he realised that great companies have a lot in common with basketball teams. Through reverse engineering, he figured out that players who practice hard when no one is paying attention are the ones that will play well when everyone is watching.
“No one saw all the work we were doing away from the game.“
— Michael Jordan
“They don't understand the foundation I had to create to support everything that came afterward. They don't know about lifting weights at 7 A.M., practicing hard every day, finding ways to motivate myself for every game, sitting up half the night with an ankle in a bucket of ice, or hooked up to an electronic stimulation machine. They don't know anything about those things.” — Michael Jordan
Furthermore, the most challenging thing about keeping a good work ethic is to do it for a long period of time. As Jordan would say, “commitment cannot be compromised by rewards.” In fact, while it is challenging to not give up and to persist with our good habits and efforts when things go wrong, it is even more mentally difficult to be consistent once we have a taste of success.
“Excellence isn't a one-week or one-year ideal. It's a constant. There will be days when you don't feel on top of your game, meetings in which you aren't at your best, but your commitment remains constant. No compromises.”
— Michael Jordan
In Jordan's opinion, this sense of commitment can be seen with just about anyone achieving at a high level; he gives the example of Tiger Woods who was back in the gym by 6:30 to work out the morning after he beat Phil Mickelson at the Ford Championship in 2005. Similarly, businesses must also stay focus and committed to what worked for it to continue to grow. Too many businesses have failed by resting on their laurels or by diversifying into worse businesses. As we have learned from Tom Monaghan, too many successful businessmen go into other worse businesses and completely forgets about the details that made them successful in the first place.
“The Jordan brand has continued to grow because we have remained uncompromised. It's easy to go the other way, though. It's easy to rest on your laurels, or to get fat on success. I don't ever want to get fat that way.”
— Michael Jordan
“It amazes me how often owners of a restaurant will fail to exploit a successful business in favor of something different. I’ve seen it happen many times: A business is built up over a period of years and becomes a great restaurant. Then, instead of paying attention to all the details that made that restaurant great and building on them, the owners begin to look for other things they can do. They go into sideline businesses or start building other restaurants that drain attention and energy away from the first one.”
— Tom Monaghan
This reminds me of the importance of temperance while investing. As Warren Buffett once mentioned, “Success in investing doesn’t correlate with IQ. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.” Similarly to entrepreneurship, it is very difficult for investors to stick to their investment philosophy or strategy for a long period of time. This could be due to various of reasons, notably:
Fear Of Missing Out: Also known as “FOMO”, this is the self-made urgency for investors to invest in a company that has increased in value. As a matter of fact, investors may be tempted into buying a company that doesn't meet their normal investment requirements due to the fear of missing out.
Fear of Inactivity: As Blaise Pascal once said “All human unhappiness comes from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.” In fact, it is quite common for investors to be become impatient and to buy or sell stocks due to the market volatility and due to the difficulties of controlling one's emotions. However, it is important to remember this saying of Charlie Munger: “the big money is not in the buying or selling, but in the waiting.”
Focus on What You Can Control
“The only way to happiness is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”
— Epictetus
As we have learned through the various entrepreneurs, having a stoic mindset is a necessity to succeed. As a matter of fact, it is easy to be let down when the hard work we've put into a business or a project doesn't pan out. However, successful entrepreneurs are able to turn this failure into an opportunity. A reminder that Bernie Marcus was only able to create The Home Depot after being laid off by his previous employer.
Similarly, Michael Jordan also faced various failure during his career in basketball. However, he was able to move on and succeed by understanding that some things are outside of his control. In fact, he learned to focus on things he could control which was to give it his best and to make all the work necessary to put himself in a position to succeed.
“I had put in all the work, not only in that particular game, but in practice every day. If I missed, then it wasn't meant to be. That simple. It wasn't because the effort wasn't there. It wasn't because I couldn't make the shot, because I had taken the same shot many times in every situation. As soon as the ball went up, there weren't any nerves because I had trained myself for that situation.
I was as prepared as I could possibly have been for that moment. I couldn't go back and practice a little harder. I knew I had done the right things to prepare myself for that situation. One way or another, I knew I was prepared to be successful. Now, if you know you haven't prepared correctly, or you know you haven't worked hard enough, that's when other thoughts and emotions creep into your mind. That's stress. That's fear.
It's the same process for doing anything, anywhere in life no matter how big or small the stage. Whether it's running a corporation, taking a test in second grade or taking a shot to win a game, at that moment you are the sum total of all the work you have put in, nothing more and nothing less. If you are confident you have done everything possible to prepare yourself, then there is nothing to fear.”
— Michael Jordan
Furthermore, Jordan mentions that if you give it your best, all the other things will come to you. Similar to Kazuo Inamori, he believes that anything can happen if you are willing to work and remain open to the possibility. He says that “dreams are realized by effort, determination, passion and staying connected to that sense of who you are.”
“I think many young people feel it's very hard to achieve success even when they grapple with problems before them and put in their best effort. To them I say, try taking your efforts to the point where you truly can do no more. If you work that hard, God will surely give you a wonderful hint to guide your way. You are bound to encounter a person who appreciates your efforts and gives you help.”
— Kazuo Inamori
Be Yourself
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Michael Jordan mentions in his book that one of the most important things he learned at an early age is to follow his own instincts. As such, he was the one creating his own standard and never tried to be like somebody else or to live up to the expectations of others. In fact, Jordan is a true believer that part of his success comes from his authenticity.
“Authenticity is about being true to who you are, even when everyone else wants you to be someone else.”
— Michael Jordan
“I've never been worried about anyone's perception one way or another. I've never allowed anyone's opinion to define me. I'm comfortable with who I am. I trust myself.”
— Michael Jordan
As a matter of fact, Jordan believes that it is difficult to become the best you can be when you are focused on trying to be the best version of someone else. Without authenticity, you are not going to last long. He explains that “the products, companies and people who stay true to who they are usually end up being around for a long time.”Furthermore, he elaborates that companies that jump into trends or try to be something other than what or who they are, generally, don't last very long.
“If you are trying to make your way through a maze, and your decisions come from the inside, from your gut, nine times out of ten you won't find yourself running into a wall. But if you rush into something, make decisions to appease somebody else, or chase the easy dollar, then you are going to find that wall.”
— Michael Jordan
Following one's instinct may seems scary at first, but as we have learned previously, if you follow your instincts and put in the work necessary, you are bound to encounter success. It is only a a question of when. As Naval Ravikant would say, “great people have great outcomes. You just have to be patient.”
“All you should do is what you want to do. If you stop trying to figure out how to do things the way other people want you to do them, then you get to listen to that little voice inside of your head that wants to do things a certain way and then you get to be you.
No one in the world is going to beat you at being you. You're never going to be as good at being me as I am. I'm never going to be as good at being you as you are.”
— Naval Ravikant
“Every person that I met at the beginning of my career 20 years ago, where I looked at them and said, “Wow, that guy or that gal is super capable. They’re so smart and dedicated and blah, blah, blah. Now we’ll just be friends or hang out or whatever”, and then I kind of forgot about them, all of them, almost without exception, became extremely successful. You just had to give them a long enough timescale. It never happens in the timescale you want or they want, but it does happen.”
— Naval Ravikant
Beyond the Book
Read "16 Leadership Lessons from a Four Star General" by Farnam Street
Read "Temperament Matters" by Farnam Street
Listen to "Diana Chapman: Trusting Your Instincts [The Knowledge Project Ep. #130]" by Farnam Street