Monthly Archives: January 2015

What do tennis players have in common with business sharks

What Do Tennis Players Have in Common with Business Sharks?

It is widely accepted that in order to become a successful tennis player, you must not only develop a strong athletic physique, outstanding technical proficiency and a sound theoretical knowledge of the game. There are a number of cognitive skills that are crucial when it comes to winning tournaments like the Australian Open.

Formerly ranked as the world’s number one tennis champion and a proud winner of seven Grand Slam titles in the singles category, Venus Williams attests that:

 “Tennis is mostly mental. Of course, you must have a lot of physical skill, but you can’t play tennis well and not be a good thinker. You win or lose the match before you even go out there.”

So what does it take to be a “good thinker” in tennis? Well, first and foremost you’ve got to be able to solve problems and make decisions; you need to be flexible and adaptable; but you also have to be confident, competitive, passionate and motivated.

Interestingly though, these sort of qualities transfer directly to a business context and are considered among the top desirable skills for recruitment in this field. Let’s take a look at some of these in a bit more detail and see how the attributes of a tennis player actually translate in business.

Problem-solving and decision-making

“It’s one-on-one out there, man. There ain’t no hiding. I can’t pass the ball.” (Pete Sampras)

Tennis is generally not a team sport. When you are out there on the court, you are completely alone. You are the sole controller of your fate and it is entirely up to you to solve each problem that arises without any coaching. You can’t pass the ball like in football, basketball or rugby, so you have to make complex judgement calls at every turn. You have to take risks and you have to learn very quickly from your successes and failures under immense pressure.

The ability to solve problems and make decisions is also an essential aspect of managing a business, because it is rarely a smooth running affair. Problems arise whether they are internal or external and it is up to the manager to resolve them before they get out of hand. Great business leaders always strive for improvement. They are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to bring their company to the next level, increase sales and revenue, and stay ahead of their competitors.  As in tennis, a business strategy often involves a trial-and-error approach. Some proposed solutions work, while others fail miserably. The point is that attention must be paid to what direction the business is moving in at all times, while simultaneously keeping a close watch on what the competition is up to, so that strategic adjustments can be made.

Flexibility and adaptability

“When you have beaten guys a few times, you don’t want them to think they know how you are going to play them. You have to try and find different ways of beating them. You have to do things they don’t expect sometimes, put something unpredictable into your game.” (Andy Murray)

 It is vital to adopt a flexible strategy at all times on the court. You can’t use the same tactics over and over again because your opponent will out-play you. You need to be able to adapt your game plan to changing circumstances as they arise.

Similarly, successful business models change and evolve over time. The Observer released an article in 2009 that analysed the mission statement of Facebook and how it has evolved since it was founded in 2004. From a social network reserved exclusively for Harvard students to a global platform that grants everyone “the power to share and make the world more open and connected”, it is clear that Facebook’s overwhelming success has relied on a highly flexible and adaptable business plan.

Confidence and competition

“In terms of playing ability there is nothing to choose between number 1 and 100. Instead, it’s a question of who believes and who wants it more? Which player is mentally stronger? Which player is going to fight the hardest? These are the things that determine who is the champion.” (Novak Djokovic)

To succeed at an international Grand Slam such as the Australian Open, it really comes down to who plays the hardest, fastest and strongest game all-round. If you aren’t mentally prepared to deliver your best performance and raise your game to the highest level imaginable, then you have already lost the fight before you’ve ever set foot on the court.

This equally applies to a business environment. The ambitious entrepreneurial spirit of Larry Page, CEO and co-founder of Google, offers an ideal example here. As Fortune Magazine points out, there were many who ridiculed Google’s initial venture to create a car that could drive around autonomously, without a human driver. In 2015, the prospect is verging on becoming a reality and the automotive industry is struggling to get up to speed in the technological race to the top.

Passion and motivation

“You always want to win. That is why you play tennis, because you love the sport and try to be the best you can at it.” (Roger Federer)

To become a star tennis player takes many years of hard work and dedication. Without a real passion and love of the game, it is unlikely that you will be motivated enough to succeed and improve your play. It takes many lessons, hard-core training sessions and endless practice, with lots of failures in between, which are all absolutely necessary to advance further and reach your full potential. A good tennis player will use his mistakes as a motivational exercise in improvement.

Nobody understands this better than billionaire Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. When Branson released his book in 2012, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School, his number one recommendation for anyone starting a business is: “If you don’t enjoy it don’t do it”.

Growing a successful company is an incredibly arduous and time-consuming process and things don’t always go to plan, so it is vital to keep that positive pep in your step.

How to fast-track your business career

It doesn’t have to be tennis, or even a sporting background. If you are considering a career in business and possess one or more of the above skills, you could be automatically entitled to a range of nationally recognised qualifications, from Certificate I right up to an Advanced Diploma. Take a free skills review today to determine your eligibility for a simple Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) assessment. It might be much easier than you realise to live life in the fast lane.

Awards With Due Cause

Honorary Awards with Due Cause: Recognising Achievements Around the World

All over the world, there are countless examples of honorary awards and accolades of the highest order being dished out to celebrities, distinguished individuals and some of the most talented men and women that have ever graced the planet with their presence. They haven’t had to study in a university. Instead they have been rewarded simply for their valuable, real-life experience.

Special persons of interest make the honorary cut these days in a myriad of fields and forms, such as making a recognisable contribution to a worthy cause, conducting ground-breaking research on a particular topic, or excelling in a specific industry. It all comes down to an accumulation of evidence that proves he or she, whoever it may be, has become an exemplary contender for endeavour, by succeeding in learning something that is considered important on a local, national or even global level.

The story of Helen Keller

It’s no secret that times have dramatically changed since Oxford University awarded the first ever recorded honorary degree in Europe during the late 15th century. In America, it wasn’t until 1692, when Harvard granted similar academic entitlements to an exclusively gentlemen-only club of gifted, yet undoubtedly privileged individuals. For women, the wait felt much longer. Helen Keller became the first female to receive an honorary award from Harvard in 1955 at the age of 75, after an incredible lifetime of achievement.

According to Harvard Magazine, Keller was diagnosed as deaf and blind in early infancy, but she gained worldwide recognition when she was only 7 years old for her outstanding ability to communicate using the finger alphabet. She later became accepted at Radcliffe College, where she excelled at writing and even published her famous autobiography The Story of My Life before she graduated in 1904, which also made her the first deaf and blind woman to successfully complete a Bachelor of Arts degree. Five years later, she brought out a series of personal essays collectivelyentitled The World I Live In. Among many other achievements to come, these two titles were cherished by some of the most prominent literary critics and scientists of the day for their powerful and insightful portrayal of humanity.

Not only did Keller become an esteemed writer, she was a keen socialist, an ardent feminist and a dedicated philanthropist for the deaf and blind throughout the remainder of her life. When she became the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate of laws, it couldn’t have been accompanied by a more apt citation:

 “From a still, dark world she has brought us light and sound; our lives are richer for her faith and her example.”

The fact that such a woman’s accomplishments became recognised in the eyes of academia, however, proved beyond any doubt that the advances which had reshaped the honorary degree system since its inauguration were altogether undeniable.

In 1959, The Harvard Crimson reflected that the honorary doctorate system had indeed experienced a radical change in terms of the calibre of awards and the broad variety of qualifications that were now being issued to recipients. No longer was it a limited domain for strictly theological occupations, it encompassed an open platform that invited philosophical, historical, scientific, poetic and literary achievement of all kinds.

A qualification for every walk of life

This is even more pertinent today as we see no clear line of resemblance between who and what manner of honorary awards are granted in the modern world. Vocations range far and wide, from Nelson Mandela, a globally revered political figure who vehemently fought against the apartheid regime in South Africa, to Muhammad Ali who literally battled his way to becoming the greatest heavyweight boxing champion in the world, while at the same time, undertook his own metaphorical fight for morality by becoming an admirable advocate of freedom, equal rights and justice for all mankind.

From powerful industry tycoons as dissimilar as Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates to those amazing individuals who went from “rags to riches”, such as Oprah Winfrey or J.K. Rowling, and ultimately became household names.

Legendary acting performances as disparate in kind as Meryl Streep is from Kermit the Frog, the latter of which was the first recipient to ever obtain an Honorary Doctorate of Amphibious Letters.

From the inspiring generational impact of ex-Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney who was awarded an honorary doctorate in music for his song writing contributions to one of the most popular and revolutionary bands the world has ever seen, to Kylie Minogue, who became an important instigator in promoting breast cancer awareness after she was diagnosed with the disease in 2005.

And the list goes on and on….

Life experience is a valuable asset

So whether it’s somebody who has become a leading pioneer in their field. Whether they have been working for decades behind the scenes, in their spare time, or on the public stage, using their celebrity status to raise awareness among their fans on key issues in society. It’s the experience that they have gained along the way, through their own merit, that truly counts, especially when it comes to determining the criteria for deserving an honorary academic award in the first place.

But what about you and me? Surely we have developed some real skills over the course of our lives that might warrant some official recognition. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

For example, you could be an experienced gardener, mechanic or baker. It may have started out as just a hobby, but over time your expertise has evolved and expanded into something much more useful than you realise.

Perhaps you have already acquired the skills of a make-up artist, nail technician, hairdresser or masseuse. All those times practising on your friends may have actually paid off.

Maybe you are a natural computer whizz. You’ve spent long hours self-learning computer codes, or building your own website or blog.  Now you are that go-to person whenever someone you know has a problem that they can’t fix.

If you have been running a family business for a while, it is also possible that you already have a good working knowledge of what a managerial role entails, which could easily be applied to other organisations.

Did you know that since the 90s, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) has been an established academic assessment procedure that analyses all of the real-life experience that you have gained, regardless of when, where and how, and converts what you have previously learned into a formal qualification?

Visit Get Qualified Australia, the leading national experts in RPL and Skills Recognition for a free skills review to see what qualifications you may be eligible for and get the recognition you deserve.