Quickthink

A lot of business trainers talk about motivation. But their talk is cheap compared to the words of the master of motivation — Michael Jordan.

Jordan may have been the greatest basketball player who ever ran the court. It was not because of his individual awards - five times most valuable player, and ten scoring titles. It was because of the consistent effect he had on the big games he played — both on his team and on his opponents. With Jordan, the Chicago Bulls won six championships in eight years — missing out in the two years when Jordan had temporarily retired. He brought an intensity to these games and he dominated the best players in the game. I have never seen this matched. Not by Byrd. Not by Johnson. Not by Jabar. Not by Russell. And they were great players.

So, what gave Jordan this intensity? To find out, consider the remarks he made on his induction into the basketball hall of fame. Jordan was very open about it and he focused on it. He said that nurtured the intensity from the slights and taunts of others. He used negative emotions to egg him on to prove that he was the best. And he did proved it — again, and again, and again, and again.

It is unfashionable these days to promote competitive intensity. People prefer to talk about nurturing creativity. But we might remember that creativity comes from immersion in an activity. We need intensity to get immersed. Jordan can teach us where that comes from.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Professional Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.