Prince's Diamonds & Pearls #176

Why Top Talent Still Fails

Larry Bird, also known as the “The Hick from French Lick” and “Larry Legend”, is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Larry is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. All this you probably already know. Yet did you know that Larry’s younger brother, Eddie, was also talented, if not even more talented than Larry?

Larry’s brother is Eddie, Eddie Bird. Have you ever heard of him? Most likely not. And this is because Talent Doesn’t Equal Success.

In 1986, Eddie broke the All-Time Scoring Record at Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Indiana which was previously set by Larry. Eddie broke Larry Legend’s record, proving that his talent was even more promising. At 6’ 6”, Eddie was an All-Star basketball player, averaging 20 points per game. He was set to play college ball at Indiana State, just like Larry did. As a freshman, he was academically ineligible to play, so Larry paid for his little brother’s tuition.

The next year when Eddie was playing, he was one of the leading scorers in the country, averaging over 15 point per game. Eddie was really, really good. He shot 45% from the 3-point line and when he graduated in 1991, he was #5 on the college’s all-time scoring list. In the summer, after college, Eddie was with the Sacramento Kings in their rookie free agent camp. However, Eddie didn’t make the team. He was told by scouts to go to Europe for a couple of years, make six figures, and then come back to play in the NBA. But we never saw that happened. Why, you ask? We know that Eddie had the talent to play in the league, but why didn’t he make it? Eddie’s older brother, explained:

“High School ball is like the lowest grade and if you were a good player then in high school, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be a great player in college. I think that with his work ethic, he’s got a lot to learn and he’s going to find out the hard way.”

Ouch! As Larry Legend said, it came down to work ethic. Larry became a Legend not because of his talent alone. There are numerous extremely talented people who never realize the potential of their talent because they didn’t back it with character and work ethic. Ever hear of Ronald Wayne. He was the co-founder of Apple, alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Despite his initial insight and talent, Ronald didn’t continue the hard work and perseverance required in the tech industry. Ronald sold his stake in the company early on for $800 in 1976, missing out on Apple’s monumental success and hundreds of billions of dollars!

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, Serena Williams, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Angela Merkel, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We know these names not because they were talented. They certainly were. But for every name stated there are hundreds if not thousands of others who were equally talented and capable whom we do not know. These nameless others did not realize the full extent of their gifts, talents, and capabilities.

While Larry’s talent, backed up by legendary discipline and work ethic made him one of the greatest basketball players in history, maybe Eddie’s legend in comparison is to be a warning. Don’t do what I did. Don’t squander your talent. Back it with relentless work ethic. Do all that you can do with all you have been given.

Do you hear mumblings around the workplace that you’re proficient in “chair engineering”, or do people repeatedly comment that they don’t see you in the field or that they weren’t aware that you were on the team? Do you treat a MOC evaluation with the same attention and care as you would a Process Design Document being presented in front of leadership? Do you work like eyes are on you, even though no one is around? Is integrity and work ethic evident in the results of your work? If you don’t like what your current reputation is, what are you going to do to change it? Share in the comments below.

We’ve been given different gifts for doing certain things well. We will be judged by what we do with what we have been given.

References: Why Top Talent Still Fails by Darren Hardy