Michael Redd

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When you’ve played on teams with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and for coaches like George Karl and Mike Krzyzewski, you know how to contribute to a team made up of talented people. Olympic gold medalist and former NBA All-Star Michael Redd applied the lessons he learned from basketball to business as the founder of Twenty-Two Ventures, an angel investment company that has mentored and invested in 85 technology and media companies around the world.

In a post-game interview, Michael was asked by a reporter how he felt about his failure after he missed the game-winning shot. His response took everybody by surprise.

“Did I really fail?”

“What do you mean?” the reporter countered.

“Well, I have the opportunity to be an NBA player,” Michael began. “I have the opportunity to be a starter in the NBA. I won the trust of my coaches and teammates to have the basketball at the end of the game. I actually got the ball where I wanted to shoot it, and I was able to shoot the basketball. Did I really fail?”

Had he wanted to drive the point home, Michael might have mentioned that in addition to playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, he was a member of one of the greatest collections of talent ever assembled in basketball as a member of the Team USA squad that won gold in 2008. But he’d made his point. In basketball, life, and business, “You will make some shots. You will miss some shots,” noted Michael. “There may be a moment of failure, but that does not equate to you being a failure.” The sooner we can naturalize that broader perspective into our identity, argued Michael, the more successful we can be.

Michael once scored 57 points in a professional basketball game, but the number he is most proud of is the 85 companies Twenty-Two Ventures has invested in and mentored. As a mentor, Michael leverages an athlete’s deep knowledge of controlling the controllables.

“Whether we know it or not, we exude what we expect,” he offered. “If you are spiritually, physically, or emotionally fatigued, it will show in your business.”

You will learn:

•  3:00   How Team USA went from a collection of talent to a band of brothers.
• 10:30  Why understanding character builds culture.
• 12:00  Why your most important investment is in a leader rather than a product.
• 14:00  Why autonomy is superior to empowerment.
• 16:00  How your physical and emotional fatigue will show up in your business.
• 17:30  The real problem with the “lone genius” syndrome in tech startups.
• 20:30  Mentoring can also teach you what you do NOT want to do.
• 22:30  How to change your perspective of failure.
• 31:00  How to exude what you expect.

Resources:

• Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.
• Follow Michael on Twitter.
• Listen to Michael’s podcast Betting on Yourself.