I am a big sports fan. I grew up in Northwest Indiana; about 45 minutes from Chicago. I followed the Cubs, Bears, and Bulls on a regular basis (Still waiting on that World Series for the Cubbies). When I was in college at Ball State University, the Bulls were winning NBA championships led by the great Michael Jordan. I once read something back then that fascinated me about MJ. Jordan’s competitiveness was always a hot topic. He wanted to win at everything and hated to lose. This was no secret. It was also reported that Jordan worked just as hard in practice as he did in games. Admirable, but not surprising. The comment that struck me was this: Michael Jordan always gave his best effort regardless of the opponent – whether he was at home or on the road, whether the Bulls were playing the best team or the worst team – he always gave his best. Always. Why? Before you read on, what do you think the answer is?
He said simply that he knew there were fans (including kids) in the stadium that night who would only see him play that one time, and he had a responsibility to them to give his best effort. Wow! While the Bulls did not win every game, Michael Jordan always worked toward excellence and never took a night off. I would say that approach worked out pretty well for him.