Five EXTREME PRINCIPLES Of High-Performance People...

...And How To Apply Them To Your Professional Life

INTRODUCTION

Success does not come by accident.

Instead, it is a TEDIOUS EXERCISE planned well ahead.

Kobe Bryant was a top NBA player in the post-Michael Jordan era, beating records after records.

He died in 2020 on a tragic accident.

I’ve come across this interview with him, done a few months before his death.

He describes how he reached success, after deciding to be an NBA player at age 13.

What is incredible and very transparent from the interview is that he had a STRATEGY, METHOD & COMMITMENT following Principles that are transversal to other competitive environments such as the Finance Industry.

"Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses" —Kobe Bryant

Get inside Kobe's mindset by watching the video and learn from him the five Extreme Principles:

#1. EXTREMELY FOCUS

He decided to become an NBA player at age 13. It did become is main PURPOSE since then. Not just the main purpose but the ONLY PURPOSE.

“Trivial things weren’t gonna pull my attention (...) it had to be things that where I had a purpose, to be one of the best basketball players ever play, and anything else that was outside of that lane, I didn’t have time for” (min 6:15).

Because he was so focused on that goal, "you have that point of view, then literally the world becomes your library to help you to become better at your craft (...) Because you know what you’re looking for" (min 6:55). 

That included choosing the right ROLE MODELS to follow and learn from, “what I’ve referred to as goat mountain (...) I talked to Magic, Michael, Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell (...) to understand the ins and outs of the game.” (min 14:50). 

And because he developed such a strong, focused mindset, Michael Jordan become is “old brother” as he saw something special about him.

#2. EXTREMELY STRATEGIC

At age 13, he was far from being a top player when compared to his peers. But he had a strategy. He had a “kill list” with all the players above him and studied them one-by-one on their strengths & weaknesses. His high school mission was to “hunt them down and knock them down” — methodical & straightforward.

And he saw a pattern that most players were just using their strengths but not improving their weakness. Therefore, at 13 years old, he started a 4-years strategy to strengthen his weakness to become a complete player by the time it matters the most to win a place in the NBA. 

Why? 

Because “when I’m 17, and my game is completely well-rounded, and that player that I saw at 13 is still doing the same game as 17, now you got a problem”. (min 11:30). 

What is incredible is the DISCIPLINE & SELF-DETERMINATION he already had from such a young age of 13 to follow a strategy that would only pay the dividends later. 

“Quick gratification” was not in Kobe’s dictionary!

#3. EXTREMELY CURIOUS

He describes how his high school teacher sparked his CURIOSITY on writing skills - not for the purpose of storytelling - but “for the things inherently in stories that could help me be a better basketball player, be a better teammate, a better leader and to understand emotions better” (min 5:30).

His curiosity led him to want to become a top player like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, the curiosity on the POSSIBILITY to become like them. “Can I get to that level? I don’t know but let’s find out” (min 6:50).

Later in his NBA career, he continued using his insane curiosity to improve the game in every single detail. For example, by “looking at different industries, looking at conductors, looking at riders, looking at actors (...) looking at nature itself, learning from that and how you can incorporate into the game” (min 29:00). 

This insane curiosity means that there was A LOT OF STUDYING.

#4. EXTREMELY COMMITTED

Once he joined the NBA, he realised that it would be easier to climb the league to become the best player than before. 

Why? 

Because “what I found in NBA is a lot of guys played for financial stability, and when they come to the NBA they got that financial stability so therefore the passion and the work ethic and the obsessiveness was gone”. 

Then, we had those other players who still had the passion for the game, “but weren’t willing to commit their entire lives to do that. It is a CHOICE” (min 12:00).

And what ‘choice’ means is a ‘trade-off’ — one simply cannot have everything and be everywhere. And that has obviously an impact in your relationships, so it was clear to Kobe what the trade-off was, but “the people that love you like friends and family they know that about you, so they let you be YOU” (min 13:25).

A choice for commitment to the work you love doing, especially after achieving that financial stability. Because “when I retire, I don’t want to have to say ‘I wish I would have done more’, I don’t want that” (min 14:00).

Profound!

#5. EXTREMELY COURAGEOUS

When Kobe started playing at the NBA, Michael Jordan was the number one and everyone had fear and too much respect for him. But to Kobe, Jordan was a player to level up.

“I would tell myself ‘when I face him we’re gonna go at it’ (...), so when we matched up, I think he understood that. He was the same way at 18 years old, and that common bond is what I think our connection was built” (min 16:30).

Since then, they become incredibly close as brothers.

But the start of his NBA career was far from a smooth path. When Kobe was started to get the coach’s trust and played more often, he had a terrible game missing, to the point that his teammate Shaq O'Neal started to encourage Kobe. And although he was being humiliated as he “shot five airballs on national TV in front of millions of people that cost us the series and I’m 18... and I’m fine!”(min 19:40).

What was the secret for such a strong mindset?

Dealing with his Ego!

“You kind of got to get over yourself. I think ‘It’s not about you. Ok, you feel embarrassed, but you’re not that important’" (min 20:15). 

The secret of Kobe’s strong mindset is to remove his Ego and not allow to take over yourself.

Contextualise the situation and don’t make yourself more important than what your Ego makes you believe. It allows you to move on with life and have clarity in your mind to access the REASONS for your mistakes.

And how to address them from the point of RATIONALITY by setting a PROCESS to follow.

CONCLUSION

What is fascinating is that these Principles do not apply solely to becoming a successful NBA player, but in any profession in highly competitive environments such as the Finance industry.

Back to my original point that “success does not come by accident, but is rather a tedious exercise planned well ahead”…. I have a question for you.

? Question: On a scale of 1 to 10, how often do you follow these Principles every single day? And how is that number related to your current level of success?

Don’t despair :)

I’m happy to inform you that I offer a COACHING PROGRAM delivering the same Principles described here and applied to the Finance industry.

Feel free to direct message me here on LinkedIn if you want to know more about applying these Principles in your life and becoming a HIGH-PERFORMANCE PERSON.

SIDE NOTES ON BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR

After his career at NBA ended, Kobe decided to become an entrepreneur, as a film producer. Here some additional quotes by Kobe worth considering, describing his life when he runs a business, culminating with an Academy Award!

DECISION MAKING

“If we have and you’re saying ‘okay, I can do that’ that’s not the project that we want. The projects that you say ‘I don’t know if I can do that’, those are the things we want because through CURIOSITY we reach a level that you didn’t think it was possible” (min 57:45)

LEARNING PROCESS

He watches multiple times, each time wearing a different hat:

• As a Fan’s perspective, for pure entertainment value.
• As a Director’s perspective, to understand the decisions done.
• Watch the Lighting, extremely important in the visual.
• Listen to Music and understand the impact on the movie.

Most impressive is the methodology that Kobe did follow is very similar to the five thinking hats by Ed de Bono. A proven method to solve complex problems used in boardrooms of top institutions.

MANAGING PEOPLE

Kobe had a simple methodology when hiring people to his business:

• Look for a person who is obsessive with the job.
• Needs to have a historical knowledge base on their craft.
• Knows all details inside out of the industry.

...and then he allows the person to do the job they were brought to do, because “I’m not going to hire you to tell you how to do your job”.

FINAL NOTE

If you want to improve your decision making and thinking process such as Lateral & Strategic thinking, feel free to direct message me, and I’ll share more insights!

(Disclaimer: This article and the information thereon are Nuno Reis’s property and cannot be reproduced without previous consent. All working material and opinion presented here is independent of Nuno Reis’s current employer.)