Are You Ready to Play – Ready to Step Up – When It Counts?
I am not a sports writer. And, even worse, I am not even an attentive sports fan. I can give you the starting line-up of the 1961 Yankees, but not the current infield of the Texas Rangers. So – I admit I am out of my element for this post…
But – are you kidding me?
The Boston Celtics are ahead of the Orlando Magic 3-0 in their play-off series. The Celtics are basically humiliating the Magic. And then, look at this paragraph (from an article from the Huffington Post):
“The most disappointing to me was that I didn’t have our team better ready to play,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who was himself knocked over late in the game when Kevin Garnett was pushed into the Orlando bench going after a loose ball. “It starts with me. It’s my job. I’m the coach of this team. It starts with me and I’m not happy with where we had our team tonight or anything I did.”
I’ve got a question. Imagine that you are a basketball player. Imagine that you have dreamed your whole life of playing in the NBA, making it to the playoffs, making it to the finals, winning the championship. Do you think you would have trouble getting ready for the big play-off series? Can you imagine that you would not show up ready to play at that moment in your career?
I can’t either!
Which gives us one very simply business lesson – it is tough to show up ready to play every day. Even on the big days.
No wonder success is so elusive.
