How to Ace it in Work!

Career lessons from Nadal: Learning from tennis’ best

This weekend saw Rafa Nadal win his 21st Major trophy at the Australian Open, overtaking Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the most successful male tennis player in the Open era. Whether this makes him the GOAT is a debate for another day, but one thing that is beyond argument is that he will go down in history as one of the best to ever play the game. I thought I’d take a closer look at the secrets to his success and see what can translate into useful career advice.

?Don’t accept defeat – “I play each point like my life depends on it.”

At 35 years of age and two sets down against the current world number 2, Nadal dug deep and produced some of the tennis of his life to claw himself back into the match. His epic five set win against Federer in 2008 is widely seen as the greatest tennis match ever. Nadal doesn’t know when he’s beaten. This amply demonstrates that resilience and mental strength can play a key role in snatching victories from the jaws of defeats.

Keep Evolving – “Even if I have already peaked, I have to believe I can improve. I wake up every morning, and go to practice, with the illusion that I'm going to get better that day.”

Nadal won four Paris Opens before he’d even been in the final of the Australian. The “King of Clay” was seen as a one court player in his earlier career, but has evolved to win on every surface and is one of only two players to win twice on every surface. He’s developed his strengths and improved his weaknesses rather than being a one-dimensional specialist.

Celebrate the little wins – “It is important to recognize the small successes.”

It is easy to measure success by trophies, but Nadal has always broken his goals and victories down into achievable wins. Rather than measuring success as the destination like promotion, we should be setting and celebrating achieving smaller goals along our journey.

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Be Inspired by Others – “If somebody says I am better than Roger, I think this person doesn't know anything about tennis.”

It’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a tennis era like this again, where three players have been so ahead of the rest for so long. The rivalries on the court have been sensational, but the respect and friendship has been more inspiring. Look at the great people around you for inspiration, motivation and support rather than looking over your shoulder fearful of your rivals.

Stay Humble – “In your career you have a lot of good moments and bad ones. The important thing is to have enough motivation to keep working all the days with humility and trying to be a better player than before. I am going to try to continue doing this.”

If the world’s best can keep their feet on the ground, then the rest of us absolutely can. On the journey up, remember where you started, remember what good leaders looked like to you, then and strive to be better. Give back, be generous with your time and appreciate those around you who’ve helped you reach your goals.

Most importantly:

Be Happy – “Work hard, have fun and make it happen”

Here at Gleeson, we’re on a mission to make the world of work a happier place, one candidate at a time. If you’re a legal professional and you’d like to have a confidential discussion about your next career move, contact me on [email protected].