Worthy rivals in sports & business

Recently I got triggered by the true greatness of the current tennis ERA, which immediately threw me back to one of the last books that I read "The Infinite Mindset" by Simon Sinek. In this article, I want to express my insights into the behaviour of the current leaders in tennis and inspire business leaders to apply the infinite mindset.

First of all: what makes the current tennis ERA so special?

By winning the Roland Garros 2020 title, Rafael Nadal has caught up with Federer's record of winning 20 grand slams. Novak Djokovic is trailing them with 17, already 3 more than number four in the list, Pistol Pete. Furthermore, the Djoker is the only player holding the "Career Golden Masters", by the way winning them in the same era as Federer and Nadal.

Why are these three currently active players stacking up their titles and surpassing everyone from previous era's? Are we near the tipping point yet? And will we live to see this remarkable performance once again in the future?

After Rafa's latest Roland Garros title, I truly admired Federer's reaction in praising his "worthy rival". This is one of the five essential skills to develop an infinite mindset.

Federer was honoured to congratulate his friend after tying his own Grand Slam record. This is not only a token of true sportsmanship, but also one of an infinite leader. If you have seen any of the interviews after one of their finals, you could not miss the respect they have for each other. They both consider the other as a worthy rival, lifting the other to a level they could not reach without each other. And they are both aware of that. Instead of a traditional competition, which creates the attitude of winning, a worthy rival inspired them to take on an attitude of improvement. This attitude is key to the growth mindset as well. If you want another book tip for the holidays: Dr. Carol S. Dweck's "Growth Mindset" is a must read as well.

To anyone who has spent time watching or playing sports, the notion of a finite competition is familiar. One player or one side beats the other to earn the win or a title. By applying this finite mindset, we automatically adopt a We vs. Them attitude whenever there are other players. But if we stop thinking of other players as competitors and start thinking of them as worthy rivals who can help us become better players, then we are shifting towards an infinite mindset.

A worthy rival can be another player in the game who is worthy of comparison. Worthy rivals may be players in our sports or business, inside or outside our industry: e.g. sworn enemies, partners, collaborators, colleagues. Key is that they do something (or multiple things) as well as or better than us and that they inspire or even force us to improve. We don’t need to admire everything about them, agree with them, or like them. We simply acknowledge that they have strengths and abilities from which we could learn. Who we choose to be our worthy rivals is entirely up to us. And it is in the best interest of the infinite game to keep our options open.

“An excessive focus on beating our competition not only gets exhausting over time, it can actually stifle innovation.”

Since we get to choose our own Worthy Rivals, we should select them strategically.?There is no value in picking other players whom we constantly outflank simply to make ourselves feel superior. That has little to no value to our own growth and it can actually suppress innovation. We choose them to be our worthy rivals because there is something about them that reveals our weaknesses and pushes us to constantly improve… which is essential if we want to be strong enough to stay in the game.

A worthy rival can push us in a way that few others can, not even our coaches, mentors or advisors.?The impact of this subtle mind shift can be profound in how we make decisions and prioritize resources. The focus will be on the process of continuous improvement, not on the results. I use this strategy on my kids to keep them motivated and learning, so why shouldn't we use it in our own personal and professional life.

In an infinite game, we accept that “being the best” is a fool’s errand and that multiple players can do well at the same time.

When we look at other players as worthy rivals, it also removes the pressure of chasing a win-at-any-cost. It keeps you honest, humble and agile, which I personally encountered when entering the sport of CrossFit. You perform workouts and compare your score to others in your affiliate, or even beyond that. If you count your own amount of repetitions, all you need to do is skip some repetitions or increase your score to be higher in the list. But in the end you remain the same average Joe as you were when entering the sport. By cheering for others and by acknowledging that others are better in a specific game, your mind immediately tells you that you want to improve your skills to be more like your worthy rival. And more importantly: you can both be successful at the same time. Without having a worthy rival, the risk increases for a once-mighty infinite player to slide into becoming just another finite player looking to rack up wins.

Simon Sinek?believes that many of the struggles faced by organizations exist because their leaders are playing an infinite game with a finite mindset. While a win-lose mode can sometimes work for the short term, it has grave consequences over the longer term. Leaders who embrace an infinite mindset have the resilience to thrive in a changing world.

So, which game do you play?

And who is your worthy rival?

And how about MVDP and WVA? Do you think they would be as good without their rivalry?