Player Perspective – Brendan Lee

THE WAFL website will be publishing columns from players throughout the 2013 season taking a look at the lives of WAFL footballers, and what it takes on and off the field to be a successful player and also build a life outside the game. First up is East Perth co-captain Brendan Lee who looks at the ‘Five rituals for footy and business.’

Success in business requires the same strategies often used for success in playing footy. I would be lying if I said that the talk of girls or the next overseas trip didn’t still figure prominently, but over the years the coffee shop conversation has evolved to include serious discussion about success in both enterprises- the game on the field and the game of business.

Both seem to be staple conversation topics and great rapport builders across our country. However, many of us tend to treat the strategies and issues of both differently. I feel the underlying framework for success in both footy and business is not too dissimilar, both being driven by daily rituals.

1. Critical Drivers and Bottom Line Results

In footy, as in business, consider what rituals are going to have the biggest impact on reaching your goals. Once these become clear, you can focus on developing these into more than a habit, so that they become the standards by which you play, or by which you conduct business. These rituals are your critical drivers.

With footy your common rituals are training, weights, diet, game strategy and recovery. The large amount of time allocated to these is simply because these are the rituals that will create the greatest development in your game and for your team. Similarly, in business, the critical drivers could be hours spent developing new business, research on ideal client demographics or sales calls.

So what are your critical drivers? The difference between the commoner and the high achiever is the standards they hold themselves to. You either win or lose, you outperform your competitors or they dwarf you. The high achievers in their field have positive bottom line results because of their pigheaded discipline and determination to constantly deliver and meet their critical drivers.

2. Know your numbers