Tag Archives: michael jordan
Inspiration has no price
“Great work is done by people who are not afraid to be great.” – Fernando Flores
This post was inspired by an interaction I had with a fellow down in Mexico and it reminded me that inspiration really has a price down here. Damn we have so much room for breakthrough!
My approach to everything is: You’re either great or your not. Period.
I have a poster in my room that reminds me of the importance of inspiration and delivering your best everyday. I also have a poster of a person whom I think embodies greatness in his craft and that man is Michael Jordan. Yet as powerful as inspiration is, a question I have trouble digesting is: Why is it that most people/businesses put inspiration in the backseat?
Commodities = no inspiration
Does doing your best work depend on the number on the check? Are you inspired more by a bigger number than the possibility of doing something unique? If it does then you’re a commodity my friend, it’s that simple, because anybody can do what you do and the only difference between you and someone else is your first and last name.
Being great means a lot of things but it doesn’t mean that ‘numbers’ determine your overall attitude. There’s no ‘if-then’ to do your best!
Labor has a price but inspiration? Please!
Do you think Picasso’s most famous paintings came from the thought that he might make more ‘numbers’ for it? Do you think Walt Disney was thinking about how much money he was going to make when he dreamed up Disneyland? Do you think Michael Jackson put a price on his songs before he produced them?
Don’t get me wrong getting paid your worth is important but there’s a BIG difference between ‘commodity thinking’ and ‘innovative thinking’ and that’s pure motivation, passion, inspiration. You don’t need to be pushed because you’re already pushing for something better!
Inspiration in a few places. Commodities everywhere.
Just like the offline world the web is full of commodities, how do we de-commoditize it? Here are some questions that may ring a bell!
- Why is it that most products that are pushed to us through advertising are seen as irrelevant? Oh here’s a reason: Push = commodities.
- Why is it that only a handful of products and services get our attention and we get pulled to them like a magnet? Oh here’s a reason: Pull = great stuff.
Conclusion: We pay attention to great stuff and usually it comes charged with an emotional appeal. It provokes!
Here then lies our challenge: How do we inspire greatness? How do we get people to think passion first numbers second? How do we create great stuff that provokes?
Closing thoughts…
Wooo! I needed to get that one off my chest and if you stuck around and made it all the way down here, I thank you!
You know we probably have better things to think about than this but I think most of the problems we encounter in the biz world (and everything else) have to do with lack of passion for what one does and more focus on the numbers. We’ve been programmed to think in terms of ‘make your numbers and thou shall be rewarded’ (how inspiring!) that passion gets flushed down the toilet!
Passion can’t be fabricated, it can’t be faked, it can’t be bought because it’s not a commodity. When one is inspired by what he does it shows, you attract attention, you provoke action, you bring out the best in others and all this turns into a virtuous cycle that keeps going and going and going and…
In writing this post I wrote down some questions that I ask myself unconsciously just like when I get a stomach ache when I encounter commodity behavior, without thinking. Feel free to add your own in the comments!
- Do you bring your best everyday no matter what?
- Do you make an impact?
- Do you contribute to the bigger picture not just yourself?
- Do you change the dynamics of the situation for the better?
- Do you make others care?
Thanks for reading 
Make recombination part of your business strategy
“Everything we create is just a product of recombination.”
What’s the inspiration behind the Air Jordan 2010?
The ability to see through your opponents and keep your intentions hidden. Just like in the world of design, in the world of Air Jordan’s the word inspiration comes up a lot. It’s safe to say that every single new Air Jordan has a distinct feature that borrowed from previous models to create the new one, and that is a key to their business strategy:
They’ve mastered the art of recombination.
Not only do they do it with the newer models but also with all the other extensions they’ve build around the Air Jordan’s such as the retro’s, TEAM and individual player models. I think the Jordan Brand is to the sneakers industry what Apple is to the tech industry mainly because both companies set out to reinvent whatever they do. Jordan’s reinvent the basketball shoe and Apple reinvents mmm well everything it comes into contact with.
Jordan’s are also about performance and with every new model there’s some innovation in that department but this focus on recombination has made Michael Jordan the first athlete to $1 Billion dlls. If you don’t believe me check out the history of the Air Jordan’s and you’ll see what I mean, a lot of transformational inspiration.
If there’s one thing you can learn from Air Jordan is they borrow ideas from themselves and from other sources and then combine them to come up with something entirely new all while maintaining a focus on style and performance.
Ask yourself: How can I make recombination part of my business strategy? Who can I borrow ideas from that can help me reach x objective?
Michael Jordan being MJ one last time
Michael Jordan is yet again being criticized, this time for his Hall of Fame induction speech!
Someone Like You… trailer I think the people who are taking his ‘talk’ the wrong way don’t really know who MJ the person really is. If you’ve ever read any of his books or watched any of his interviews from his multiple Home videos you’ll understand why this ‘talk’ was typical MJ.
There’s nothing new in the speech that true Michael Jordan fans Palo Pinto Gold move didn’t already know about!
People have this expectation that these speeches should done in a certain way, thanking your mom, dad, kids, coaches, etc you get the point. We already know what to expect!
I do think he over talked on a few things such as the Jerry Krause stuff but I think he spoke from the heart and there’s nothing wrong with that, people should do it more often!
Michael’s stands out because he didn’t make a speech, he talked. He talked about why he feels he got to the HOF, his competitive drive got him there.
He said thanks as Michael Jordan…
GOAT
The Story of Anyburg U.S.A. movie
The GOAT: Michael Jordan
The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.
His Airness, Michael Jordan, will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday.
Michael Jordan has been and still is the biggest influence in my life, having said that Michael’s biggest inspiration was David Thompson whom he picked to induct him into the HOF.
I love this quote from MJ on being influenced by others:
“I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent,” Jordan wrote in his 1998 autobiography, “For the Love of the Game.” “I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era. Without Julius Erving, David Thompson, Walter Davis, and Elgin Baylor, there would never have been a Michael Jordan. I evolved from them.”
How good was he?
Hoopsencyclopedia has created the ultimate Michael Jordan remix, no really they’re the best compilations of highlights of Michael Jordan I’ve ever seen! Watch. Bask the greatness that is Michael Air Jordan.
If you don’t make others better, you’re not a leader
Are you making others better?
The NBA season is over and the Los Angeles Lakers are the Champions.
The big talk is all about how Kobe Bryant finally got a ring without Shaquille O’Neal. But the story that is without a doubt the most important for leaders is Phil Jackson surpassing Red Auerbach as the coach with the most championships won and undeniably being recognized as the best coach ever by his peers.
I’ve learned much about leadership from watching the Chicago Bulls teams of the 90’s with Michael Jordan.
Heck I started getting interested in this whole leadership thing when Michael Jordan came back from baseball and helped the Bulls to the best regular season ever and championship, so I’ve been curiously watching how Phil Jackson has continued to be a great coach by consistently by bringing out the best in his players.
After game 5 of the Finals, Phil Jackson was asked what he thought of Kobe Bryant’s growth as a leader. He recounted an interesting story of back when Kobe was 22 years old the Lakers lost a game, afterwards Phil sat down with Kobe to talk to him about his impact on the game and how him taking over/dominating the ball put the Lakers in a difficult position. After pointing out to Kobe how he could improve and could become co-captain, Kobe said he was ready to be captain but Phil said “Yeah, but others are not ready to follow you”.
You might have great skill and talent but if others are not willing to follow you’re not making a difference.
Early in his career Michael Jordan was criticized for being a great player but not making his teammates better, it was only when he started trusting his teammates that the Bulls started winning championships. He started noticing a difference in his career when his teammates where confident in themselves.
The word empower is commonly associated with making others better. Empowering others can be summed up this way:
Exemplary leaders make other people feel strong. They enable others to take ownership of and the responsibility for their group’s success by enhancing their competence and their confidence in their abilities, by listening to their ideas and acting upon them, by involving them in important decisions, and by acknowledging and giving credit for their contributions.
When Lakers players were asked about what they thought set Phil Jackson apart from other coaches the same idea always came up: he brings out the best in his players and empowers them to make the right decisions.
Phil Jackson brought out the best in Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant (big egos) by encouraging them to embrace team ball and in return they became leaders themselves.
So why is Phil Jackson the best coach ever then?
According to Kobe Bryant:
“It’s his ability to bring people together,” Bryant said when asked what makes Jackson such a great coach. “That’s the biggest thing that he does so well — he continues to coach the group, continues to coach unity and chemistry and togetherness. Because when you’re together, you can withstand adversity. If you’re not, you can easily break apart and become a team of individuals. That’s his biggest characteristic and what he does so well.”
Conclusion: focus on bringing out the best in others and you shall become a leader of leaders.
How Michael Jordan influenced me
Michael Jordan, “The Greates Ever” will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in September.
I remember watching Michael Jordan for the first time when I was 15 years old, watching the Bulls lose against the Orlando Magic in the playoffs when he had just come back from playing baseball. The hype of his comeback was in full force and I was taken by it.
Because of Michael Jordan I started studying and playing basketball. I became so obsessed that I started reading playbooks and more importantly I started to dig deep into Michael Jordan’s thinking.
I wanted to know what made him great. Why was he considered the “Greatest” to ever lace them up.
I was a 15 year old kid and had found a perfect role model to look up to.
10 ways Michael Jordan has influenced me
I found the following things to be key in his thinking and that have influenced me:
- On earning respect and being a leader:
Nothing of value comes without being earned. That’s why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can’t demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see.
- On making your rise to the top easier and then being able to maintain your edge:
We Are Marshall movie download
“I practice so hard because that makes the game easy for me.”
“I focus on the little things. Little things add up to big things.”
- On having the will to succeed:
“I can accept failure but I can’t accept not trying.”
- On accepting that some things happen for a reason. You have to move forward:
The Last Word hd “Only be accountable for what you can control.”
- On setting high expectations for yourself and being consistent on meeting them:
“My expectation was excellence each and every time I stepped on the court. Whether is was practice or game, I was there to win.”
- On thriving in pressure situations:
“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.”
- On being yourself everyday:
“Michael Jordan isn’t afraid of being Michael Jordan everyday. He never takes a day off.” – Bill Russell
“If others had a negative opinion about something I said or something I did, then that was their opinion. It wasn’t going to affect me.”
- On motivating yourself:
“It was the idea somebody might be sitting there who had never seen Michael Jordan play.”
Thanks Michael!
