I do love my sports and the events that unfold as I watch my favorite athletes and teams compete. I guess I always see an underlying storyline. I see an individual or a team full of individuals and can’t help but focus on the path that got each of them to this point.
Most of my favorite athletes started their path with a dedication to their craft from a very young age. Tennis star Andre Agassi, for example, was hitting 2,500 balls a day from the time he was a child. As a young adolescent, Agassi left his home and his family in Las Vegas to move to Florida and commit his life to the game of tennis. This dedication paid off as he turned pro at age 16, and within two years of turning pro, broke into the top 25 players in the industry and reached $1 million in career prize money, faster than anyone in history! At age 22, Andre Agassi won his first Major Slam Victory at Wimbledon.
To list these accomplishments just in the “good” category would seem ridiculous—these seemed like rare and incredible feats. But, when I compare this period of his career with what occurred when Agassi connected and partnered with coach Brad Gilbert, it seems accurate.
You see, Agassi was searching for the magic ingredient to get him to the next level professionally, as well as personally. So he formed a partnership with coach Brad Gilbert that would help him produce six Grand Slam Titles, an Olympic Gold Medal, and the accomplishment of having reached the #1 ranking in the world for the first time. During his coaching, Agassi also found the love of his life, Steffi Graf, who he eventually married. His professional and personal life was changed forever, for the better.
An executive coach can take his clients to places they have never been and to places they often can’t get to by themselves. Brad Gilbert’s coaching was honest, truthful, decisive and powerful, and created a transformation that, in my opinion, took Agassi from good to one of the greats.