My good friend, AI genius (he’s not a Bot!), investment guru and huge sports fan, Howard Getson, shared something in his weekly blog that made me think about levels of excellence.
It’s a fascinating topic…and Howard expressed it like this as it pertains to professional athletes:
It should be self-explanatory, but it seems to be a concept many people struggle with.
Any given pro player has been the best of the best throughout their journey.
They’re the 1% of the 1%.
But that is probably true for you too.
If you’re reading this article, you’re likely killing it compared to the average Joe [in your own area of expertise which probably has little to do with sports].
Many of us are in rooms with phenomenal business owners and operators regularly.
When you meet people [who are at the top of the pyramid…Howard’s examples were Peter Diamandis, Ray Dalio and Richard Branson…mine would be Gene Schwartz, Gary Bencivenga and Dan Sullivan] it’s easy to focus on the distance between you and them.
Note that I shared Howard’s examples who are super well-known, with examples of my own who are far less known.
I did this to illustrate two points:
- Levels of excellence are relative to your individual experience.
- Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes.
And while comparisons are useful, they are not the final word on the excellence you provide to the world.
It’s important to focus on looking at where you are in relation to everyone else (including people who want to be with and meet YOU) …while looking at the people you feel so far away from what they have achieved.
Take everything in as useful information with no judgments.
Howard cites a journeyman basketball player, Brian Scalabrine, who was far from a household name despite being a star in college…and then played 11 years in the NBA, the elite league for basketball in the world.
However, because of his lack of star power, he was often the butt of jokes about being an “inferior player” when compared with the likes of megastars Lebron James and Kobe Bryant.
Howard shared it this way:
As a result, many unprofessional (weekend warrior) athletes thought he was an easy target.
One day, Brian was playing a rec league game where he dropped 60 points.
He tweeted about it, and a bunch of people started tweeting back to the now 40+ years old former NBA player that they could beat him.
Scalabrine appropriately responded:
Listen. I may suck for a NBA player.
Those guys are pretty good.
But I don’t suck compared to you.
You suck compared to me.
And I’m way closer to Lebron (James) than you are to me.
Brian took on all the comers and beat them all handily.
And so, it goes…
I learned firsthand about “levels of excellence” by watching ultimate mediocrity…through the experience of my dad being the men’s varsity tennis coach at New York University (NYU) for over 20 years.
My dad was far from mediocre…but his teams were another story.
While NYU is an academically sound place to go to college, varsity sports are just not a “thing” there.
They did have an excellent fencing team at one time, however. 🙂
The fact that the campus is in the middle of Greenwich Village, a densely populated area of New York City, meant that there was no real estate allocated for tennis courts when my dad coached…so every match had to be played “on the road” at campuses which had tennis courts.
Strike one on having a decent tennis team at NYU.
Then there was “recruiting” and scholarships, neither of which were happening for tennis players at NYU.
Strike two.
The resulting talent were “guys who played tennis who wanted to go to one of the most exciting universities in the greatest city on earth” (yes, I’m biased).
I guess we can call that strike three.
NYU tennis lost many more matches than they won during my dad’s tenure…but I learned a valuable lesson about excellence…by embracing mediocrity.
When NYU played another inner-city rival who had home courts, with some players on modest scholarships (e.g., St. John’s University located in Queens, an outer borough of New York City), NYU would lose 9-0 most of the time.
On a good day, we’d lose 8-1, or 7-2 (there were 9 individual matches, 6 singles and 3 doubles at that time) …but we never won the overall match.
[Note: We had one player who was actually really good in the early 1970’s…he played doubles with professional tour player Vitas Gerulaitis…and he would have accounted for an occasional “point” against the likes of St. John’s…I guess that was NYU’s brush with greatness :-)]
I was shocked when I heard that “powerhouse” St. John’s went down to Princeton University in neighboring New Jersey to play a match, a suburban campus with amazing facilities, and an endowment to enable some of the most prolific tennis players (who were also top students) to receive financial aid …and they lost 9-0.
Then it would be Princeton’s turn to take a road trip to the south or the west…to play schools like the University of Miami or Stanford University…and Princeton would get outclassed by those “tennis factories” (and lose 9-0 themselves).
These are schools who give hefty scholarships to potential professional players.
Plus, those schools had weather working in their favor with their players playing all year round.
However, even at this lofty level, and going back to the previous basketball example, the best players at Miami or Stanford might have gotten on the pro tour…but most would never sniff a meaningful match with the likes of Rafael Nadal or Novac Djokovic.
The reasons for the various levels of excellence can be explained…and it’s not surprising that this is the case in every profession or endeavor, not just sports.
A Broadway star beats out a Broadway understudy for a lead role…but that understudy is a superior talent compared to tens of thousands of actors and actresses throughout the world.
A 4-star restaurant in a city known for multiple 5-star restaurants beats every Diner, Drive-In and Dive on the planet (with no offense to Guy Fieri).
And so it goes some more…
I’m sure this is not some amazing epiphany for you…but it was for me in my youth watching men’s varsity tennis at NYU.
I thought the guys playing for my dad were actually good.
And this idea of paying attention to levels of excellence has stayed with me my entire life (and career).
There’s always another level to attain (or not attain) …but that shouldn’t stop you from achieving excellence within your own little slice of the world.
What I learned from my experience being a “fan” of NYU Tennis (and from Howard’s example of Brian Scalabrine):
- “Looking up” at greatness (i.e., excellence) is merely information to take in…not to envy…and not to put yourself down in contrast. Use it for inspiration…and never for self-destruction.
- “Looking down” at those less fortunate or less adept (i.e., mediocrity) is something to embrace…not to “look down” with disdain or mockery…and to help those who are behind you to achieve a new level of excellence. While it may be more advantageous to “play up” to improve your own skills, it is equally important to “play down” (as a teacher, coach or mentor).
- Looking straight ahead—all the time—is the winning ticket (while looking up and looking down for general guidance). Staying on course. Be in the present and control what is in your control. Always strive for the best outcomes. Maybe you will never be the world’s best in everything you take on (there are so few who achieve that level of excellence) … but always be the best in the endeavors you choose. And celebrate your successes regularly.
I learned all of this being a “fan” of my dad, the “architect” of those underachieving and overachieving tennis teams.
They underachieved by any competitive measure…they lost more than they won…they were humiliated by the talent of the teams they played…and they couldn’t receive scholarships or play on home courts.
Not to mention the weather in New York can be cold in the spring and fall 🙂
But they overachieved, following my dad’s lead, by always looking at what was in front of them at any moment, not worrying about feeling jealousy or feeling sorry for themselves about what other teams “had” …and always knowing their place in the world.
Not a bad way to compete.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. My dad passed away 19 years ago this past August…but honoring him for his ability to be the “world’s best in his world” is what I wanted to accomplish today.
Two years ago, I wrote “The pink tie that keeps on giving” as a tribute to my dad, a lifelong teacher (and now you know he was a coach as well).
Well, if you can call coaching NYU Tennis a real coaching gig. 🙂
P.P.S Also, I encourage you to read “White glove service from the locker room,” which was my exposure to Howard Getson on a different level, when he exposed me to what world class customer service looks like.
Marketing isn’t everything…it’s the only thing…and that includes taking care of your customers.
It’s all here.