Great Service!

Just because you are Number 1 in the world doesn’t mean that everyone loves you. Novak Djokovic knows what it’s like to play against the favourite and how difficult it is when the crowd is willing you to lose. On Sunday, 13 September, Djokovic experienced it once again in the final of the US Open when he found himself up against the extremely popular Roger Federer… and over 22,000 tennis fans wanting Federer to win.

Did that put him off? Well, it certainly didn’t show as Djokovic went on to win his third Grand Slam title of the season (it would have been four out of four had he not been beaten in the final of the French Open). So how did he deal with being the player that the crowd wanted to lose? By playing a mind game with himself, he revealed in a post-match interview.

“They would scream, ‘Roger!’ and I would imagine they were screaming, ‘Novak!’,” he said.

“I came out on the court knowing what to expect,” he explained. “I was ready for it mentally, and I think that has helped me keep my cool in the toughest moments.”

As I have written before, many of the qualities that make a champion athlete or sportsperson are equally applicable to the world of business and commerce. What can we learn from Novak Djokovic?

5 steps to become a winner 

1. Keep your mind intact: The top players in the world have created a remarkable mental toughness which enables them to get out of a tight situation or rebound from a slump. Tennis has been described as “a game of emergencies” because things happen that you don’t expect. People who get upset when such things happen tend not to do very well in tournaments. Just like in the business world, you have to adjust and adapt in order to survive at the top.
2. Keep your body in shape: It goes without saying that winners in any sport have to be in fantastic physical shape so lifestyle plays a major part. Tennis great Andre Agassi put it humorously in his autobiography “Open” when he said, ““Sex doesn’t interfere with your tennis; it’s staying out all night trying to find it that affects your tennis.”
3. Keep enduring: Many of the Top 250 tennis players can play at the same level as the Top 5 or 10, but the thing that separates them is their ability to endure through four or five sets. That is why some players can take a set off the top players, but they quickly lose steam.
4. Keep to a strategy: Strategy is the second most important requirement for playing good tennis after movement. In order to win, you must play to your strengths and to your opponent’s weaknesses. The Top 4 do this best, often replacing raw power with placement and sheer cunning.
5. Keep ‘hungry’: The difference between the Top 50 and the Top 250 is mental. As far as the Top 4 (Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Nadal) are concerned, they place a greater emphasis on keeping their mind-set intact because it is inevitable that eventually their game will suffer. They are in a different league from than the rest, thanks to their hunger to win.

In tennis, it’s recognised that the player who serves well has a great advantage. In the US Open Final, Roger Federer started with 82% accuracy of his first serves but by the second set the percentage was around 50% and he eventually lost.

In business, the company that serves its customers well has a similar advantage over its competitors. And the same tips to help a good tennis player become a champion can be applied to you and your business, helping it to become the leader in its sector.

1. Keep your mind intact: As in tennis, things happen that you don’t expect. You need to be able to react positively and not let things overwhelm you. Did someone cancel a major order? Use this setback as an opportunity to learn and grow. As the saying goes: “When you lose, don’t lose the lesson!”
2. Keep your company in shape: It may not matter if you are a few kilos overweight or not as physically fit as you would like to be, but your company’s health is of paramount importance. This means having committed employees, promoting constructive debate between employees and management, encouraging a good work/life balance and offering great rewards in return for great performance. Follow the mantra of the U.S. Marine Corps: “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome”.
3. Keep enduring: The flip side of prosperity is an economic downturn, the flip side of a monopoly is fierce competition and the flip side of loyalty is employee turnover and dissatisfied customers moving to your competitors. In business you are bound to experience some – or all – of these flip sides. When you do, you need to endure. In healthy companies you see happy employees and a lot of internal movement up through the ranks. This equates with company loyalty, which in turn means company longevity and endurance through the bad times. It is not by chance that some of the world’s best-known and most successful brands have decades of experience behind them when it comes to success through the avenue of endurance.
4. Keep to a strategy: A well-devised business strategy will be aligned with your company’s core business mission, purpose and values and at the same time act as a roadmap for sustained profitability, competitiveness and growth.Focus on your company’s strengths so as to find a way to differentiate from your competitors. A clear business strategy will not only help you to achieve your business but also your personal goals.
5. Keep ‘hungry’: As life coach Tony Robbins says, the single most important ingredient for success is hunger and not losing it. “The best entrepreneurs on earth never lose that hunger – they are hungry to grow, hungry to give, hungry to contribute,” he says. “It’s more important than intelligence. There’s nothing that will stop a person who is hungry enough.” So don’t give up!

Novak Djokovic is currently the world’s Number 1 tennis player but he is not yet Number 1 in the popularity stakes. Roger Federer still holds that particular title and Djokovic knows why. “True tennis fans respect somebody that shows commitment to the sport, shows his passion for tennis, and respects them, the tournaments, the opponents and the sport in general,” Djokovic says. “It’s about what you represent. Are you respecting true values? Are you a man of conscience who plays tennis but also gives back? I think the whole package is important.”

In business, especially in services, you also need to make your prospects and customers perceive that you are “the whole package”. It entails being excellent at what you do, always prompt, prepared and committed, showing respect and having principles. These qualities will help you reach the top and stay there. And you’ll most probably be popular with everyone you work with too!

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As a trainer, speaker and best-selling author on customer care , Michael Virardi, helps individuals and organisations to exceed their self limiting beliefs and apply the "5 steps to become a winner!"

Contact Michael Virardi directly on +357-99-612532 or email him at [email protected]. 

PS: Feel free to also visit: https://michaelvirardi.com/services/