BUSINESS CORNER
PERFORMING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
BY HUGHES AGENCY
In closing the Varnex Spring Conference
General Session, sports agent Molly Fletcher
described the characteristics of athletes who
perform on a world stage at the highest levels.
She spoke to the distinctions between athletes
who compete in the minor leagues and those
who compete in the majors, and the difference
between PGA golfers at the bottom of the money
list and those who win majors.
They have, she said, many things in common.
One of them is that they aren’t afraid of adapting.
She told the story of Hall of Fame pitcher John
Smoltz, who gave up his starting role to become
the Atlanta Braves’ closer and then led the
National League in saves the following season. “It
starts truly with believing in our ability to evolve,”
she said.
“They leaned into change. They leaned into
the discomfort that comes with change,” she
said. “Stepping into the pit in our stomach equals
an opportunity to grow.”
Like resellers who identify problems their
customers face and solve them, the highest
performing athletes identify the gaps in their skills
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and fill them. “Our ability to discover the gaps,”
she said, “is integral to our ability to continue
to evolve.”
Like Arthur Blank, who ate, showered, and slept
at the Atlanta Falcon’s training facilities to learn
what needed to be done to make them better
for the players. Or NBA player Kevin Durant, who
hired a personal statistician to track and analyze
the statistics that revealed opportunities for him
to get better.
Durant would pore over the numbers in his
hotel room after the game and then “take that,
roll it up and show up a little better for the next
game,” she said.
And, significantly, “they recover from adversity
faster than everybody else.” Like the pro golfers
who tee it up after bogeying a hole confident
they can birdie the next one. “For us as business
people, we need a little of that too,” she said.
“It’s about what we tell ourselves, but it takes
discipline to be intentional about it.”
For more information about Molly and her
book, Fearless at Work, visit mollyfletcher.com.