What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn from Derek Jeter
posted October 6th, 2009 @ 16:19 — 11 comments
It is playoff time and soon all teams – from young hustlers from Colorado to the Bronx Bombers are going to start competing for the championships. It is my favorite part of the year for I get to watch my beloved New York Yankees play for another few weeks. It is also the time of the year when Derek Jeter, the face of the New York Yankees takes on a whole new aura. Diving into stands, making unbelievable plays and coming up with hits when there are none.
About two years ago, I wrote a post DJ as a good role model for start-up guys. The comments to that post weren’t all that kind, but I have not changed my opinion. Earlier this week, I read an excellent profile of Jeter in the New York Magazine, which essentially said what I really wanted to say two years ago:
He has become the hero of the Bronx because he effortlessly exudes the qualities we wish we had ourselves: He is always confident, always composed, always in control. Baseball is an unpredictable game; failure is a constant. But Jeter doesn’t allow himself to absorb it, or even really acknowledge it. He just keeps cruising along, as if playing shortstop for the most scrutinized, glorified sports franchise in the world every day for the past fourteen years is the most natural thing on earth.
As a start-up founder, one lives with threat of failure. As a leader, one needs to stay confident confident, composed and in control. You just have to assume the hits are going to come, and the win is only around the corner.
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What a great analogy! At QuotaCrush, I’m constantly talking about how you need to just keep going in the face of failure… its the life of a salesperson – especially in a start-up.
Here is what I often say… in baseball, if you get a hit 3 out of 10 times, you are probably a hall of famer. Saying that another way… if you fail 70% of the time, you are one of the best!
Start-up entrepreneurs should live by those rules as they go out and try to sell their products.
Mark
What a great name. Almost like that awesome player who is on the Cardinals squad.
Actually you do make a great point, one has to have the right perspective.
let’s go yankees !
Listening to the best of athletes, those who take the time to reflect not only on their particular sport; but, the life that is the context for endeavor, has always been valuable.
I won’t bust your chops about the Yankees – sitting here with the autographed photo of Ted Williams I got from him in 1951.
But, I will note that I try to enjoy each day’s processes as unique events – an outlook I learned from another sports great, Stirling Moss.
You seriously have a picture of Ted Williams that is autographed? Wow… amazing.
Om, thanks for the photo credit. Great article!
No thank you for giving me a chance to use your awesome photo. It is quintessential Jeter image.
I wish i could be in the park. I miss the bleachers.
I hate the Yankees with every fiber of my being, and always have.
That being said, I have always admired Jeter. His coolness under fire, his class after defeat, the utter confidence that leads him to being dangerous at the plate whether he’s batting .100 or .400, and the preternatural knowledge that leads him to almost always make the RIGHT play at the right time. (That bunt in the World Series? I still don’t get that.)
But your point is well taken-the man wins. Calmly, resolutely, implacably, he wants to beat you, from the moment he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night, he wants to win. That deodorant commercial where he faces the jeering Fenway fans? That says it all.
[...] Serving: What every entrepreneur can learn from Derek Jeter & What makes DJ [...]
[...] “What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From Derek Jeter” and “What Makes DJ [...]