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MESSAGE #999 LEADERSHIP (and failure)

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Today I’m going back to where I failed out twice, Rider University, while studying computers.

No, I’m not going back to get my degree (I have a degree from Ferris State University’s Marketing/Professional Tennis Management program).

I’m going back to Rider to be the opening speaker for their Team Leadership Challenge. This is my second time speaking at this great event and this year’s theme is  “Navigating Your Way to Success.”

That’s funny to me.

When I started college it was as if I needed a map, but after failing out twice, I CHOSE to follow my passion (sports) and transferred to Ferris State. My grades skyrocketed. I graduated in 1997 and was named Pro of the Year for the USTA in 2005. After that, I started my own business, wrote a book and became a motivational speaker.

So what is leadership?

I think a big part of leadership is being brave enough to follow your passion. It’s about helping others. Leaders do things because it is the right thing to do, regardless of what others may think. That’s when people will follow. But it’s not about having followers…

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. -RALPH NADER

If you look at all of the great leaders in history, they all made everyone else better, whether it is Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King or Henry Ford. Focusing on yourself is weak. Focusing on others is powerful.

So today I hope to motivate, energize, and inspire the students at Rider, but more importantly, I hope to produce more leaders.

MESSAGE #825 HAVE YOU EVER FAILED?

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“It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.”
-HAVELOCK ELLIS

I’m very excited about today.

I’m going back to Rider University, where I started college, to speak to Professor Cordonnier’s Sport and Gender class.

I really like going back to Rider to speak to the current students and help out the professors, but what I like most about going back to Rider is the fact that I failed out of there…twice!

Yes, you heard that correctly.

I failed out of Rider twice and then went back and was MC of their Leadership Day, was a facilitator for an athlete-musician workshop and spoke to another Sport and Gender class.

So what happened?

It turns out that failing out of Rider was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had a choice whether to continue with computers, which was my father’s field, or follow my passion. I did some soul searching and decided that if I didn’t follow my passion, I would regret it.

So I “transferred” to Ferris State University and their Marketing/Professional Tennis Management program. The funny thing is that once I started that program, my grades skyrocketed.

Did I get a brain transplant?

No, I became “into” school. Then I graduated and was named the USTA Pro of the Year in 2005.

Most people are just in their sport or job.

But the great ones are “into” their sport or job.

Do what you love, love what you do.

Then you’ll work harder.

Then you’ll get better results.

Then you’ll have more fun and reach peak performance.

Everyone fails, but not everyone gets back on the horse.

Thanks for reading.