When Inc, magazine compiled its latest list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in America, they discovered that the founders of these businesses usually needed a few tries to get it right. Many had started out in different enterprises, and of those initial start-ups, one-third died untimely deaths. One-half were sold. The founders didn't hit on the right formulas immediately, but they lived (nonetheless) to sell another day.
Sometimes, inexperience is a simple consequence of youth - especially in fields such as sports and entertainment where children can become overnight stars.
When Bjorn Borg was only 12 years old, his temper had already earned him a reputation as the "bad boy" of Swedish tennis. When he didn't like a call, he was known to throw his racket down on the court or hit a ball over the fence. However, his ill humor soon earned him a five-month suspension. The young Borg found this punishment so humiliating that he changed his ways. Forever after, he was known for his professional and sportsmanlike conduct on the court. Even when provoked, he never resorted to such childish behavior again.
It takes a core of inner resiliency to concentrate when the world is watching your every move. No one does that better than the Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan, who many believe is the greatest basketball player in the history of the game. After leading his team to a trilogy of NBA championships, Jordan made an unpopular decision to trade in his basketball jersey and pursue a career with the Chicago White Sox baseball team.
He may be one of the most celebrated athletes in the world, but basketball and baseball are very different sports. While fans and sportscasters alike initially assumed he'd be able to waltz into a professional baseball career without the rigors of training, it was not to be. In his first official season, he batted an embarrassing.
That performance brought the critics out in full regalia. They scrutinized every detail of his playing style and declared that he'd never have the bat speed to hit major league pitches.
Fortunately, he vowed not to let a world of second-guessers predict either his potential or his future. Although the baseball strike prevented Jordan from going forward with his dreams in that sport, he'd already improved his bat speed drastically by the time he decided to return to the Bulls.
While others may hold him to a higher standard, Jordan made a conscious decision to be patient with himself and not expect miracles overnight. He let himself be a novice at the game of baseball.
"I'm not afraid to fail," he says. "As long as I have a challenge, I'm going to have a good time doing it."
He displays the same spirit as the actors as Dustin Hoff man and Robin Williams, who consciously choose roles that en able them to develop their acting skills, and Henry Winkler, Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, who have crossed the line over to the director's chair. Once you've developed a skill (or set of skills) that the marketplace values, it can be difficult to relinquish that territory in order to learn new things. But doing so is often essential to career and personal growth.
Perhaps Michael Jordan's greatest skill isn't sports, but his ability to learn and persevere. After all, he was hardly a candidate for the fast track to stardom as a youngster. He was a funny-looking kid who avoided girls. Nor was school his forte. Skipping classes and avoiding homework were prime motivations,
He found salvation in basketball. He felt the game was his destiny and played constantly until he was cut from the varsity team his sophomore year in high school. That failure only fueled his hunger to achieve.
During his first six years as an NBA player (a time he refers to as "my learning tree"), he studied the leadership style of such players as Julius Erving, Larry Bird and Magic John son. His focus on developing his skills - one by one - has always been an important key to his success. He knows how to build an intimate knowledge of his subject matter. Mastering the activity is its own reward. This is something we know as children but often forget as adults.
The experience of one very determined five-year-old reminds us of this statement's truth. In a valiant effort to learn how to ride a bike, the girl would get on, go forward for a few seconds and fall off. Then, she would try again. And again. And again. And again.
Long after she'd exhausted her poor father's physical and emotional energy, she was still trying. Finally, he went inside the house to read the newspaper and refresh himself while she kept practicing.
Sometime later, a remarkably dirty (but clearly happy) child tugged at her father's arm until she had his whole attention, and then said:
"You ride and you fall off. You ride and you fall off. You ride and you fall off.
