Elite Performance - The Power of Persistence and Finishing Strong

I am sure most of you have heard by now that Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters Golf Tournament. It was one of the greatest sporting events I have ever watched. You know me, I just had to put some words to it…

Disclaimer, this is not a commentary to justify or minimize personal conduct off the golf course for which Tiger Woods and his family were publicly humiliated and devastated. 

What impressed me the most about this weekend’s story was the power of persistence and finishing strong. Woods has been a physical train wreck for several years. He has had four back surgeries, a broken leg and 5 knee operations. If you look at those injuries you would think we were talking about a football or rugby player not a golfer. The amount of effort it takes to recover from any ONE of those injuries is significant let alone a world class athlete trying to become elite again.

Most stories like this highlight a comeback from one season to another but rarely do we see a comeback that has been in the making for this long. The statistics around this comeback are amazing. Tiger won his first and last Major Championship 22 years apart (ironically his first was at The Masters). There were 14 years between his first Masters win and his win yesterday. 

This really made me think about the concept of a career. It is really uncommon for someone to acheive Elite performance at the “bookends” of a career. Most historic careers either start out strong or finish strong. Another great example is the career of Major League Baseball’s Ted Williams. Williams is arguably the greatest baseball player of all time. He played in every All-Star game from 1940 to 1960 (except for 43, 44, 45 where he served in the military). In 1941 he was MLB Player of the Year (voted the best player in the league). Remarkably, in 1957 he was, again, voted MLB Player of the Year! The in between years were no less spectacular with multiple MLB Player of the Year honors along with several Triple Crowns (Batting Average, Home Runs and Runs Batted In). The ultimate in sustained performance with Williams is a lifetime batting average of .344.

The uncommon person watches these stories and tries to figure out what they can learn. We might not be elite athletes but all of us have the opportunity to be elite in our own way. What I learned from this weekend is the power of experience. My dad used to say, “All experiences, good or bad, can ultimately be good as long as you learn from them”. I watched a veteran yesterday use his experience. In fact, I thought the turning point of the entire tournament was Tiger’s putt on hole #12. It was a mile away from the cup and all down hill. The commentators stated that this was the worst possible place to be on that green. Not for Tiger, he used his experience. In a post tournament interview, he stated that the putt was a difficult one, but that he had been in that spot on that green many times before and he knew exactly what to do. Yesterday, he stroked the ball brilliantly and lagged it right next to the hole to save a critical par.

2019 has been The Year of Experience in the sports world. The year began with 41 year old, Tom Brady winning his 6th Super Bowl. Next was the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that featured only 2 starting freshman for the Final Four teams. This, in an era of One and Done.

Besides being incredibly entertained, what can you and I take from these stories? No matter where we are in our careers, we are either building our experience or using it. If you are closer to the beginning of your career, you should be using every experience to build yourself into an elite performer. Always keep perspective. We should be inspired by the peaks and matured by the valleys. There is also incredible power in persistence. In all of these great stories, there is an underlying theme of persistence. Author, James Watkins said it best, “A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”

What if you are closer to the end of your career than to the beginning? For Woods, Brady, Williams and other greats, it is about finishing strong. Coming out of the gates strong in your career is great, finishing your career strong is epic…

No matter where you are in your career, may you take the opportunity today to be persistent and finish strong.

Have a great week being UNCOMMON!