Business Identity - Lessons from the Tennis Court

Tennis Wisdom Anyone?  -- A Personal Story…..Business Lessons come from Everywhere.

I bumped into an old friend at the National Bank Open (Canadian Open Tennis Tournament) who is a top internationally recognized high performance coach (a Grand Slam level coach) or as he would say ‘I am not a coach, but someone who helps dreams come true for Top Ranked tennis professionals.’

4 key business lessons from my chat:

Lesson 1 – Build a Vision for who you want to become – Your Identity

As we got caught up and chatted, I was so engaged in one area he talked about on how he helps his players envision the kind of player and performer they want to become (their “Tennis Identity”) and how he helps them work daily to transform themselves until.…. they are that person.   

Lesson 2: Challenge Limiting Thoughts

Further, he talked about how he pushes his players to challenge assumptions or reality to knock down thoughts that are limiting.    

Lesson 3:  You Can’t Guarantee an outcome, BUT you can Control your Actions to give you the Best Shot

He went on to say, his players can’t guarantee a win, but they can guarantee how they act in certain circumstances to put them in the best possible position to win. 

So, if I am a tennis player and my opponent is winning on my backhand, I can’t stop them from continuing to hit to my backhand, but I can control not getting mad and moving my feet and increasing my focus. 

And – loved this example he shared……when you are in a tie break situation for the set or match don’t think of the outcome, think how you will raise your intensity and focus for 7-10 mins and play each shot with grit and determination.   

You can’t control the outcome, but you can control how you respond and act.

Lesson 4: Always Finish on a Positive

Final thought he shared, I get my players (especially when they are exhausted) to finish every practice, with a commanding shot.  I want them to leave the court on a positive note and with an action that supports their vision for their aspirational tennis identity.

This entire conversation I was thinking how all this applied to business and that I could hardly wait to use this analogy in future presentations on building confidence.   

I hope I summarized a longer conversation with some insights for you to take away.    Let me know!

Net Net:

Envision Future You - Who you’ll be and How you’ll Act and then Keep Working at Improving until you Transform into that Person.