TOP 5 LESSONS FROM THE LAST DANCE

Thank you to Netflix and lockdown my wife, and I had the opportunity to binge on 10 Netflix docuseries straight 500 minutes of our lives gone, but we appreciate every second gave us a lesson to learn and reflect in our lives and business. As an entrepreneur and Property Investor, I love inspiring and motivational movies from The Pursuit of Happyness, The Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, The Blind Side, The Intouchables to Coach Carter. I can go on and name about 100, I have never been so motivated and inspired by something I watch on screen as “The Last Dance”.

The Last Dance is a 2020 American sports documentary miniseries co-produced by ESPN Films and Netflix. Directed by Jason Hehir, the series revolves around the career of Michael Jordan, with particular focus on his last season, of which it features exclusive footage from a film crew that had an all-access pass to the Chicago Bulls. It features interviews of many NBA personalities including Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson.

The docu-series gives a definitive account of Michael Jordan's career and the Chicago Bulls, unaired footage from the 1997-98 season. The dynasty won six championships in eight years; there are so many lessons to take away from this docuseries and apply it in our daily lives and businesses.

1.    Ego and Jealousy – The Last Dance implies that Jerry Krause was upset that all the credit of the team's dynasty went to Michael Jordan and the players, while he was not getting the attention for the team's success. Jerry Krause was a great general manager and excellent at his job, from trading players, hiring talent and firing. You don't have to understand the game of basket to know he was good for business. What went wrong his Ego and jealousy got the best of him; he wanted credit for all his efforts, he wanted the limelight, he was star struck. He single-handed built and destroyed a great team because of his Ego, the biggest take away from this is Ego let it GO it is terrible for business and our personal lives, don't expect a thank you every time you do something, know your role and do your job with passion and love. People are watching; people know who is behind the scenes. If your EGO gets in the way sometimes, try emotional intelligence courses because you could destroy your personal brand, business and a great team like Jerry Krause did.

2.    Teamwork Makes the Dream Work – Michael Jordan joked by saying “there is no I in TEAM, but there is I in WIN”. Jordan did whatever it took to win, but there was so much he could do on his own. The Chicago Bulls strategy was triangle offense, which is designed to allow every player on the court to contribute while leveraging each other player's strengths. The takeaway from this is a successful business requires a team of people from all areas, in property investing the industry I am in you require a team of Estate Agents, Lettings Agents, Mortgage Brokers, Solicitors, Architects, Accountants, Builders, Renovation Companies, Conveyancing Solicitor, Commercial Lawyers, Property Sourcers, Bank Managers, Private Investors, Joint Venture Partners, Mentors, Buddies, Marketing and Sales, the list can go on. All the disciplines mentioned could be in the house if you are a big organisation or they all could be outsourced. Regardless of the situation, they are part of your team and play a pivotal role at certain stages of your business. For the great teamwork, I personally give credit to Phil Jackson, the coach who knew how to bring out the best in each of his players. Even Michael Jordan mentioned "I didn't win without Scottie Pippen. And that's why I consider him my best teammate of all-time."

3.    Leadership – With the birth of social media, information is everywhere now, and I mean the reach is unbelievable. I was on twitter to see what the globe is saying about The Last Dance. I saw a tweet (follow me on twitter thabo_investor) which touched on leadership what drew my attention to this was that it mentioned GOALS. GOALS are the pinnacle of every great leader. Michael Jordan’s had one GOAL, MISSION, VISION, AGENDA or whatever you want to call it and that was to WIN, be it in golf, card games, gambling and betting to basketball he wanted to WIN. To me, that's authentic leadership he was more influential on the 'push' side than the 'pull' side, but who cares he got the job done. He understood the role of his teammates, gave them a hard time so they could enjoy the good times popping champagne in victory. As a leader in business, entrepreneurship, property investing, personal life, sports or whatever field you want to apply this to make sure you:- Understand your team's strengths and weaknesses, make sure your team members understand their roles and how critical they are to the team's success. Be emotionally intelligent to know that everyone is to be led differently. The Coach Phil Jackson demonstrated this well; he knew his team. Have a support system, whatever you do in life you will face periods of high and low moments, stress and emotions all over the place. By having a great support system around you can emotionally boost you, Michael Jordan had millions of fans, had a loving and caring family, great teammates and organisation behind him, I mean who didn't love him and want to support this great; he had ONE support system his father. I call it support system, but you get what I mean, his father was his best friend, mentor, his role model, this is very important because he was in the right environment for emotional and mental well-being. Reflecting this to what I do, as a property investor, the property can be a lonely journey, and I am very fortunate to be able to invest with my partner and to be in various mastermind groups, which boost you emotionally and physically to give you that reason to keep going. Leadership is broad, this docuseries gave us some valuable lessons on this to be strategic, set bigger goals, change, adapt, evolve, grow and most importantly WIN.

4.    Motivation – I believe motivation comes from within, I have tried all the tactics to motivate myself from getting angry, asking my wife to tell me I am not good enough so I could prove her wrong, watching motivational speakers on YouTube who made chicken from chicken feathers. Until I realised everyone has that fire within, motivation is inside; all these external factors are there to reignite the fire inside. Michael Jordan had the fire inside, if you pissed him off, told him he couldn't do something, trash-talked him, boy you just added more wood into the fire. He found ways, tricks, methods to keep the fire burning inside. The most significant business take away on motivation was customer loyalty. Michael Jordan said if people (family, fans, customers etc.) are going to take their time to buy tickets and come watch us, "we owe it to them, to give them the best show", he played every game as if it was his last dedicated, motivated to win. That's motivation now go out there and take action, be it in your career, business or personal life you have that fire in you if the fire is out, watch this docuseries it will reignite it and make you go out there and take action. It made me write my first ever LinkedIn article, I am burning inside, the fire is too much, that's only if you take your time and understand what I do in the property industry.

5.    Whatever it TAKES!!!

Success is your duty, obligation and responsibility (Grant Cardone), you have to do whatever it takes to WIN, we saw this when Michael Jordan played and won the game when he had food poisoning, the lesson there is don’t have takeaway pizza before a big game or deal. The man didn't care what was wrong (ill, broken or whatever); he was there; he showed up and gave his best performance. Scottie Pippen had a back injury he couldn't play, but he was there, he showed up played in pain. But many people now are snowflakes one small headache you are calling in sick for seven days, greatness never comes from weakness, you must do whatever it takes. (Dan Pena) calls people snowflakes, I agree with the man here many people are now weak physically and emotionally, one small glitch in the system you tap out, you give up, you call in sick. When I saw how Michael and Scottie played through pain, that strengthened me.

These are my top 5 takeaways from the Michael Jordan docuseries “The Last Dance”. Let me know your thoughts and takeaways if you have watched it, if you haven't watched and are interested in what I said I would urge you to watch it, you will get a better kick than my writing. Never wait for anyone to give you what you need or define you, GO OUT THERE AND DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MAKE YOU THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF!!!

Have also added Top 5 Michael Jordan Post as Bonus

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

“Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

“If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

“To be successful, you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate.”

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Thabo Nhlangano (Entrepreneur and Property Investor)