What You Can Learn from Michael Jordan About Business and Motivation

Michael Jordan is the man. When it comes to winners, there are a few that have not only elevated their team but elevated the sport. Wilt Chamberlain, retired-NBA superstar, said that everyone playing in the NBA should have paid 10% of their salary to MJ because he had elevated the attention that the sport had gotten. He left with 6-rings, something that no one’s done in modern competitive history, and he’s become one of the biggest brands in the world – with the Jordan brand being a premier partner in apparel and lifestyle.

MJ is highly competitive. Everybody knows that. He can party till 6am and go to practice at 8. He had no problem being the alpha-player in the league and his buzzer-beaters have become memorable. No player has been called the best in the world at anything, except Michael. His will, talent and pure adrenaline fuelled play has made highlight reel, after highlight reel.

While most players are experts at one skill – scoring, 3PTs or dunks – he was great at all of them. He was a high-quality defender as well as an offensive force. To him, the rules of delegation and specialization didn’t matter. He had a goal in mind and he wanted to achieve it. He knew that he had the right set of guys to get him there and he didn’t waver. He became the MJ that he knew he always was.

Facing adversity

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

This MJ quote is something that all entrepreneurs need to read again and again. He was cut from his high-school team because he wasn’t good enough, which made him drive himself towards excellence. He knew that he wanted to be a basketball player for the rest of his life and he didn’t let one rejection stop him. In fact, it made him want it even more. He wanted to show his coaches and the people that didn’t believe in him – that he was the best that ever played the game.

Back in the 90s, it was hard for someone to claim the top spot, because the rules against hard fouls weren’t as strict as they are now. But Michael fought team after team, even when he was sick to the point of hospitalization. He knew what he wanted to do and understood the laws of hard work. Unless you put in the effort, you won’t get anything in life.

In fact, he worked so hard, that he inspired his younger counterpart Kobe Bryant (5-time NBA Champion and Oscar Winner) to do just that. Kobe saw Michael as a mentor and understood the value of adversities. They shape you and define you as a person. You can either flop or do what MJ does – which is to get up and focus on the next play. You shouldn’t fall down and complain about why bad things happen, instead you should focus on the next play.

Focus on a goal

He had a single goal in his mind – to win championships. In a short career span, he won 6-titles, 3 of which were back to back. He battled flues and injuries to make sure that he could focus on a single goal – a championship. It wasn’t like there was nobody like him.

There were plenty of people who were just like him. There was Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and a host of unbelievable players that were his competitors. His dunk contest with Dominique Wilkins is still considered the best matchup in basketball history. He had a focus that was undeterred. He wanted to win a championship.

This focus on a goal made him loyal to a quality organization. He wanted to win it all with the Chicago Bulls, and so he worked with all parts of the organization to ensure that they were in the best position to deliver the rings that he promised the city. Michael wanted to become the best, and he knew that it would require a lot of sacrifices and time that others spent on distractions. He was obsessed with winning and he wanted to be the best athlete in the world.

He became so popular that everyone in China knew who he was. There were brand deals, speaking arrangements and a host of multiple opportunities that came ahead of him. Even after 2 decades, everyone talks about MJ as if he was the best player in the world.

The added bonus of being focused on a goal was that he was ‘clutch’. He knew what he needed to do and did it. He didn’t hesitate, or stutter and knew that his focus was going to be unchanged. So when the time came, he took the big shots and won the titles.

He made others better around him

One of the most underrated things about Michael was that he made others better around him. Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and others become better at basketball watching him play. Since he was considered to be the best, his team members were perfectly fine being 60-70% of his greatness. This made them better players than the rest of the league and became a champion who was undisputed. In fact, when he left, the NBA had a sharp decline in ratings, because everyone wanted to watch Michael.

Even Steve Kerr, a team mate of Michael, learned from how he played and became a better coach. So much so that he’s now the coach of one of the best teams in the NBA in 2018 – Golden State Warriors. Steve understood the importance of making others better and is now using that philosophy to make his team that much better than the rest of the league.

Conclusion

Michael was many things to many people, but entrepreneurs will learn more about him after understanding that he was goal-oriented and focused on one thing – excellence.