I’m convinced that one of the reasons Michael Jordan was so successful was his view of failure.
In one of his Nike commercials, he vocalises some inspiring advertising copy. Please see below:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six 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”
It’s a very simple ad, it only takes 30 seconds and yet I find it extremely inspiring.
Let’s talk about the game winning shots first.
A game winning shot comes with immense pressure. It is a huge responsibility to shoulder. The game is on the line and all of the stakeholders, everyone associated with your team, looks to you to deliver in the space of just a few seconds.
A lot of players would shy away from the challenge, shirk the responsibility, pass the ball to someone else so they can take the shot.
But not Michael, he relished the challenge. He relished it even after failing at it. You read the quote, he failed 26 times!
Then there’s the baseball.
He was at the peak of his basketball career and decided to try his hand at baseball. Even though it meant starting from scratch, even though it meant being ridiculed, even though it meant missing out on dominating the NBA, he tried it.
A lot of people wouldn’t do that mainly because there is a huge risk of being ridiculed, of being laughed at and considered a failure. Which did happen. But that risk didn’t bother Michael and it didn’t stop him from doing it.
He wasn’t great because he never failed, he was great because he leant in when the risk of failure was at it’s highest.
PS – For anyone wondering what the craic is with all this MJ material, I’m currently in the middle of ‘The Last Dance’ documentary – would highly recommend
Thomas Duggan 