I was crazy about sports when I was growing up as a child. As a result, they had a big influence on me. Looking back there’s actually quite a bit that can be learned that can be applied to adulthood, whether in life in general or in careers.

Hockey

I never played but was a die hard New York Ranger fan leading up and following the Stanley Cup win in 1994 — which may actually be the only Stanley Cup I see the Rangers win in my lifetime, You can’t of course talk about hockey without bringing up the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, who dominated the sport to a level we had never seen prior or since. And I was lucky enough to watch him play for the Rangers for a few years too…

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” - Wayne Gretzky

I love this quote because it really goes to show that taking action or doing things without demonstrative downside never hurts. I always bring this up to people when they are debating telling someone how they really feel about someone or applying to a job they are afraid will reject them. When the only downside is to your own ego, always shoot.

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.” - Wayne Gretzky

This is one of my favorite business terms. In the military they often talk about not preparing to win the last war which is similar. But in life and in business, it’s always important to think more about the challenges ahead of you than those behind you and to focus your efforts on being at the right place at the right time,. This is especially useful in business where it’s critical to never let your skills erode and to continue to maintain a learning mindset toward managing new and exciting challenges.

Football

I never played football and rarely had any delusions that I would want to do so. Maybe if I had the body I would have been tempted but I was always too lanky to dream of ever doing anything other than placekicking — though the thought of being a kickoff specialist in college did cross my mind (scholarship, get to be the the team but don’t have to worry about getting hit).

Though football has a bit of a reputation for being a sport of unintelligent people — based on how crazy you’d have to be to play the sport over the long-term — there’s a lot to learn about team work. Many say it’s the ultimate team game because on every play, all 11 players on the field have to execute their role and work together or else the play will fail. In any other sport, it’s either about taking turns (Baseball, Hockey, Track & Field) or you can take time off during the action to take a rest (Basketball, Soccer). Not in football. All 11 have to be focused and working together at all times.

“Do your job!” - Bill Belichick

As a New York Giants fan (and New York Jets frequent watcher), I always have mixed feelings about Belichick but his coaching greatness cannot be denied. This quote became the rallying cry for the New England Patriots in recent years but it’s been a key tenant of Belichick’s philosophy all along. It’s really quite simple: you can easily get carried away with the bigger picture or distractions, but in the end, the success of a team comes from each participant understanding his/her role and executing it to the best of his/her ability. Trying to worry about others or cover for the faults of others generally doesn’t work. As a parent of two boys, I often tell my older son “just worry about you” when he has a gripe about the behavior of his little brother. And in business, it’s often tempting to get wrapped up in office gossip or peacocking for the next thing. But simply putting your head down and doing a good job at whatever you’re asked to do is always the best path to success.

“The bigger they are, they harder they hit” - Bill Parcells

This quote came from a book I read by Ernie Acorsi who was a general manager with Parcells & Belichick for many years and was said by both. But ‘the Tuna’ is always been a guy I loved so I’m attributing it to him.

This a pretty simple concept in football. Bigger players are good to have because it’s a contact game and they’re likely to be more durable & win the physical battles of each play. Outside of football, it makes a lot of sense. It’s important to be prepared with the best people, resources and tools. Sure, the ‘David & Goliath’ story is always the best, but if I’m picking a company to work for, a team to pick or a bet to take, I’m always going to go with the best, well-resourced path.

“You play to win the game” - Coach Herman Edwards

Coach Herm was prime viewing for any press conference and I would have loved to have played for him. Just watching his Hard Knocks series fired me up. During a heated moment with the New York media he busted out this quote and said it over and over again. It was kind of awkward and funny at the time but it makes a lot of sense. Too often in organizations, people focus on the wrong things and fight battles based upon team or personal priorities instead of that of the business, or they think that the organization should be focused on something other than its mission. Businesses exist to make money (and not act badly in the process). If you find yourself in a business and you’re not working toward the goal of making money (responsibly), it’s a problem. The same is true in government where you’re providing a public good at a reasonable value to taxpayers or universities where you’re providing education & conducting research. When you lose sight of these goals, problems arise.

“I don’t fear failure, I fear being unprepared” - Russell Wilson

I’m not a Seahawks fan and Wilson can be a little nauseating with his endless quotes and positive thinking but philosophically it’s great to listen to him talk. I heard this quote once and it really stuck with me. I’ll get into it more in baseball and it relates somewhat to Belichick’s “Do your job” philosophy but too often we get wrapped up in the outcome rather than the process. Whether in sports, life, business or everything in between, there is so much that you can’t control. Sometimes you get things you really don’t deserve. Other times you do your best and you come up short. Usually you get what you deserve but in the immortal words of my mother “life’s not fair,” But you can control your preparation and what’s within your control. So adopting this mindset has changed my outlook at work. I am not afraid of giving a pitch and having it go badly any longer or not getting a job I want. But what does keep me up at night often is the fear that there’s something I should have done to prepare or do to be ready. And by focusing on what you can control it can become incredibly empowering.

Baseball

This has always been my true love. Of all the sports I played, I was probably best at soccer but baseball always did it for me, even if I hit under .100 in little league and got cut from my JV team in high school. That’s why I still play now.

I don’t have many great quotes to offer (I’ll sprinkle some in because I can’t resist it) but I recently read a book by Harvey Dorfman, who is considered the psychological father of the thinking that goes into the modern game. As the great Yogi Berra said, “Baseball is 90% half mental.” It is a game that requires intense preparation and repetition to prepare for very short bursts of action. You don’t have time to think in a live play of baseball. You need to know the pitch that’s coming your way can be hit and you just swing. When the ball is coming your way, you just move to where you need to be to catch and throw. In a 3 hour game, unless you’re pitching or catching you’ll probably participate in about 10 plays total for a matter of moments.

For the purposes of discussing baseball I’ll exclude fielding — which is still very important — and isolate on hitting & pitching.

Hitting is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. Even the best in are only successful 30% of the time so hitting is an art with the knowledge that you will likely fail. As a result, it’s very easy to fall into two failing strategies:

1. Putting pressure on yourself in big moments to succeed and changing your approach

2. Accepting that you will likely fail

But the reality is even as a hitter there’s a lot you can control:

• You can develop the discipline to hit good pitches

• You can study pitchers — particularly at the higher levels when video, scouting and other tools are available

• You can hone your craft in the batting cage with a variety of different skills to develop a good swing

• You can make sure you’re in the right shape and taking care of yourself to be prepared for each game

• You can mentally be in each game and disciplined at never giving up on each at-bat

As a result of this practice, you’ll put the ball in play more often, get on base via walks and hit the ball harder. And by approaching each at-bat with the right mental approach you’ll be ready for the big moments. I often relate hitting to interviewing. When interviewing for jobs, the same is true. You have to accept that there will always be multiple candidates interviewed for each opening so for each opportunity, you have to accept that the odds are never in your favor however:

• You can prepare by knowing the company, your interviewer and everything to know about the job that you can find on the internet

• No matter how you feel about the job and if it’s really what you want, you bring your best effort so you are well-practiced for the “dream interview”

• You can be well-dressed, on-time & rested (or at least go to bed early and try)

• You can believe that if anyone deserves the job, it’s you and bring a positive mindset

Pitching is the complete opposite. Because hitters are expected to succeed no more than 30% of the time, as a pitcher, you’re supposed to succeed more than 70% of the time. And that means there is a belief that you should always be successful. While success is generally expected, perfection is a never ending, yet nearly unattainable goal. There have only been 23 perfect games in the major leagues where a pitcher got an out from each of the 27 batters faced in a game. It’s very hard. Even if you make the perfect pitch, the hitter may be ready at get a hit or the umpire may call a ball. Even if you fool the hitter, they could hit a dribbler that no one can field in time or a ground ball that takes a bad hop. Just as a hitter has to focus on the process and making good contact as a pitcher you have to follow many of the same processes by:

• Focusing on every aspect of your game until you release the pitch

• Practicing as much as your arm allows

• Studying scouting reports and video of your opponents and yourself

• Consistently holding yourself to good habits to remain in shape for the season and each game

If hitting is interviewing, pitching is like working the job. Once you find your bearings, you’re generally expected to be successful almost all of the time. After a while, you expect to always have your way and never make a mistake, but no one is perfect. You’re always going to screw up. As a pitcher, your failures are there for all to see but in business that may not always be the case. But just as in pitching where you have to study your mistakes, learn and evolve you have to do so in business. You have to constantly gain new skills, adapt your habits and maintain your detail orientation.