15 Ways of the Champion

 This is a wonderful topic that I am really excited to explore. I have been a student of success in sports like tennis and cricket. Over the past 14 years, I have also studied the success secrets of business superstars like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Andy Grove, and others from the sports arena. At the outset, I don’t mean to say that you have to be a CEO to be successful, but understanding what makes these people superstars is well worth examining. If we can incorporate some of those qualities, we can reach our personal summits. If we reach the maximum of our capability—whatever that is—it is a victory worth celebrating.

I also wrote (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-ways-awaken-olympian-within-shyam-ramanathan-pmp-cssgb-ains-au-3e/) during the previous Olympic edition that I truly appreciate Simone Biles's resilience, determination and her example of supporting her team mates even when she was going through something. It was not easy but she is still a shining embodiment of the true Olympian spirit. She has already won 3 Gold medals in this edition. It was also great to see Novak Djokovic win his first gold in the Olympics showing the true champion spirit which is what I am aim to share with this article.

Here are the 15 qualities of champions that I have identified:

Discipline Nothing is more important to being a winner than developing discipline. If you want to be a winner, you need to do what winners do. My favorite role model is Rahul Dravid. He may not have had the natural talent of a Laxman or Tendulkar, but he made up for that with sheer discipline and tenacity. Jim Rohn said, "The price of self-discipline is always lesser than the pain of regret." You can develop discipline if you have a burning desire to achieve something with your life, but you can’t develop it without a clear blueprint of what you want your future to look like.

Dreams and Goals Being absolutely clear about what you want to achieve is a critical quality of a champion. When Federer started playing tennis, he had one goal: to win six Grand Slams, just like his childhood heroes, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker. He surpassed that goal by more than three times. The key was his clarity about what he wanted to achieve. The only way to stay motivated to achieve consistently is to set goals for every area of your life, including personal, career, family, and financial. Once you ignite the flames of your potential, you can blast through any setbacks. Goals work, provided they are ones you truly want for your situation and your life. It requires some alone time to really think about what you want in life. As mentioned in the book CEO Excellence, every successful CEO had a game-changing vision. Setting those dreams for yourself is one of the keys to personal success. These great leaders understood where the market needs and their business intersect. For your personal life as well you can project forward 10 years and define how you want your life to look. That is a powerful way to ignite the flames of your potential.

Belief You get exactly what you believe. In other words, your beliefs play a large part in what you achieve. This doesn’t mean we can dream of becoming a tennis superstar and become one at the age of 40. It means identifying your area of strength, working on it ceaselessly, and believing you will succeed big time in that area of endeavor. For example, Sachin Tendulkar faced criticism, especially at the start of his one-day career when he was not performing well. There were even calls for him to be dropped. His first century came after nearly 70 games. However, he got an opportunity to open the innings in a match against New Zealand, and he blasted through with great success. The rest is history. This is self-belief in action. Of course, self-belief has to be married to your area of competency, but if you believe big in your potential, results will follow—provided you put in the necessary practice.

Liking Yourself This is the cornerstone of a healthy personality. Irrespective of where you are in life, understand that your life matters and you are here for a specific reason. As Victor Frankl said in his amazing book Man’s Search for Meaning, we shouldn’t ask what we want out of life; instead, we should explore what life is asking of us. This requires thorough soul searching, but once you discover your life purpose, your self-esteem soars. A healthy inner confidence allows you to take setbacks in stride and keep looking at the big picture. Everyone, including superstars like Federer, has issues, but they never allow those to bring them down. Federer has his critics, but what I like about him is that he goes for his goals and doesn’t get sidetracked. That is the only way to be a winner in any field of endeavor.

Confidence I have written in detail about confidence, which you can find in my article https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/18-keys-your-self-confident-best-2023-ramanathan-pmp-cssgb-ains-au/ "18 Keys to Self-confidence." The keys are appreciating yourself, writing down all your accomplishments, going the extra mile, staying healthy, being comfortable in your own skin, having a positive personality, and learning everything you can about your field. Confidence is a quality that can be developed, and it can help us get the most out of ourselves. Being clear about your values also helps in raising your self-confidence. You may have heard the story Acres of Diamonds, popularized by Russell Conwell. The main thesis is that your greatest opportunities in life lie right where you are, but most people miss them, thinking they have to go far to discover them. The key is to discover your strengths from where you are; if you can’t find them, keep looking, as you will eventually find them.

Improvement At the height of his prowess, Tiger Woods changed his golf swing because he wanted the extra edge. Another great example is the double century Tendulkar scored in Sydney against Australia during the 2003-2004 test series, where he completely played on one side of the wicket. He had only 82 runs from five prior innings, and he didn’t play one drive through the offside in more than 10 hours of batting. It wasn’t pretty, but he overcame his form slump with tremendous self-restraint. The key to being a champion is to address your shortcomings by constantly working on your technique or changing what wasn’t working earlier. Irrespective of where you are in your career or life, you should not get complacent with your current success. Another example is Bill Gates, who used to have "think weeks" where all he did was read and get up to speed on developments in his industry. There is no substitute for learning, and this is an absolute must if you want to enter the winner’s circle. As Peter Drucker said, “The only skill that will not be obsolete in the future is the ability to learn new skills.” No one could have said it better.

Responsibility Andy Grove once said that you are the CEO of your career. This is a great attitude of a champion, especially in business. You have to think of yourself as running a company with one employee—yourself. This means taking complete responsibility for where your career is, upgrading your skills, building your brand (there are more avenues than ever to achieve this), and networking relentlessly. You should also develop the habit of asking for what you want. Only if you ask can you get. My rules for winning are to identify the experts in your field, connect with them, read their books, listen to their podcasts, document what you learn, and share what you learn.

Reflection Aristotle said, “Wisdom is an equal measure of experience plus reflection.” It is imperative to have strategic time-outs in your life, perhaps once a quarter or once a month, where you step back and evaluate where you are going, what is going well, and what can be improved. What works for me is writing in a journal once a week about what’s going well and what can be done better. This is a great way to know your strengths and shortcomings. The ability to keep getting better is the mantra of a true champion.

Honesty Only you know everything about yourself. No one else in the world knows you as well as you know yourself. The key is to be absolutely honest with yourself. For example, Rahul Dravid knew that he wasn’t doing well in One Day cricket. He was always hitting great strokes, but they were straight to the fielders. He didn’t sulk, as he understood his weakness, was honest about his abilities, and did everything to overcome his limitations. The results are there for everyone to see—he was the highest scorer in the 1999 World Cup held in England. He is a true inspiration, showing that when you are honest about your weakness, you can overcome it by developing yourself relentlessly. Self-awareness is the starting point of any form of success.

Visualization The ability to visualize a positive outcome well before the actual event absolutely separates champions from the rest. When Federer went into a match, he was always thinking of winning, no matter who the opponent was. Of course, he did lose, but it’s what he did after he loses that’s key—he looked to the future with great hope. He usually said, "I am already looking forward to the next tournament." The application for us is that before any event, we should visualize it going well and expect the exact result we want. Review your past victories in similar situations. If it is a victory, great; if not, look to the future with hope while making corrections for the next event. Visualization is key to passing an exam, completing a half marathon, nailing an interview, and many other important events. Visualize yourself succeeding all the time, while understanding where it could go wrong and addressing those shortcomings, and the results will be there for everyone to see. When you fail, assess it, conduct autopsies without blame(Jim Collins Good to Great), learn from the setback, look to the future with hope, and keep visualizing your next performance going better.

Resilience The ability to bounce back from temporary setbacks is a key quality of champions and winners alike. Some ways to develop resilience are to treat each setback as temporary, have a strong set of values to fall back on, have a strong mission statement for your life, don’t base your self-worth on external things, and many more. Federer, for example, was never initially fancied to win the French Open; in fact, he was beaten by Rafael Nadal in one of the finals. However, as destiny would have it, Robin Soderling beat Nadal in the 2009 French Open, and Federer then faced Soderling in the final. Federer beat him and won the coveted French Open, which he had never been expected to win. Can you see Federer’s resilience and his ability to never give in and seize whatever opportunities come his way? Another great example is Jimmy Connors in the 1991 US Open when he came back from two sets to love down twice in the early rounds and reached the semifinals at the ripe old age of 39. He had an indomitable spirit. Every adversity does indeed carry the seed of an equivalent benefit, but we have to look for it.

Respect Winners truly respect themselves for who they are, and they don’t compromise their inner attitude to any outside interference. A healthy self-respect creates an aura of invincibility and puts you firmly in control of your life. Only when you value yourself will others value you. When we value ourselves, we feel a lot better about life and anything that life throws at us. Self-respect can be developed only by internalizing all the other qualities mentioned here, as it is a result, not a cause. A healthy dose of self-respect can bring our best selves to every encounter in our lives. Nelson Mandela is a great example of this. He was in prison for 27 years, but despite all the hardships, he never lost his self-respect. He came out stronger and was able to forgive everyone who had hurt him as well. This is a remarkable example of a man with great self-respect.

Adaptability Champions are those who can adapt to changing circumstances and still come out on top. This quality was exemplified by Michael Jordan during his career. When Jordan returned to basketball after his first retirement, the game had changed, and he was no longer the young, athletic player he once was. Yet, he adapted by refining his post-up game and focusing on his mid-range shots, allowing him to continue dominating and leading the Chicago Bulls to three more championships. In business, adaptability means being open to new ideas, willing to change your approach when necessary, and not being afraid to pivot when the situation calls for it.

Grit Mental toughness is the ability to stay focused and maintain your composure under pressure. Tennis legend Serena Williams exemplifies this quality. She has faced immense pressure throughout her career, including playing through injuries, dealing with personal challenges, and competing in the high-stakes world of Grand Slam tennis. Yet, she has consistently shown the ability to perform at her best when it matters the most, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles. Mental toughness is not just about handling pressure but also about bouncing back after setbacks, staying positive in the face of adversity, and maintaining a strong mindset. As Angela Duckworth says Grit is passion and perseverance towards long-term goals.

Passion Passion is the driving force behind every champion's success. It’s what fuels them to wake up early, train hard, and push through the pain and challenges. Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest footballers of all time, is known for his incredible work ethic and dedication to the sport. His passion for football is evident in his relentless pursuit of excellence, whether it’s staying late after training to perfect his skills or maintaining peak physical condition well into his 30s. In any field, whether sports or business, passion gives you the energy and enthusiasm to keep striving for your goals, no matter how tough the journey becomes. The only caveat here is passion alone cannot determine your choice of career because it also has to be married with your area of competence. So where your passion intersects with your area of expertise is where you can find your true calling.

These 15 qualities, when developed and applied, can help anyone progress toward their personal or professional goals and help in reaching close to their potential. This is totally based on your talent and how far it takes you than a specific goal or destination. The views expressed here are my own and don't represent my organization.