Playing To Your Strengths – Lessons From My Weekend Tennis Match
by Juarez Lowe in People+Organizations | 3 Comments | Add your comment

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For many years my backhand has been the glaring weakness in my game. It’s the Father Christmas on court, giving my opponents countless free points (regardless of the season).

Eventually, I got fed up losing those points. I took a few hours of instruction on my backhand – tweaking the stroke. During my friendly games, I hit with abandon, often sending balls out of the court across state lines. It took a while and a lot of practice, but over the last year, my backhand steadily improved.

Lesson : Dare to fail.
Daring to fail is an essential part of improving yourself. Yes it isn’t easy. You will slip up on the long road. But it is essential that you try. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”.

Had my weakness turned into a Federer-esque backhand hit with the precision of a Rolex? Absolutely not. Was it now no longer an error prone stroke? I still hit errors but a lot fewer than before. The backhand is now a shot that I can get back consistently and occasionally hit a winner or two.

Lesson – bring your weaknesses up to an acceptable level.
Sometimes you just can’t turn a weakness into strength. You just take it up to an acceptable level.

For a week or so, I played under the delusion that I now had a weapon in my backhand. My weekly tennis partners soon convinced me otherwise as did the score-line.

Lesson – Be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses.
Yes, you can ask your wife, dog, cat or other confidante to give their honest opinion. Apply this to your job and business and any other part of life. (The English football supporters in the recent world cup could learn this lesson).

When I worked with my coach he told me to run round my backhand and hit my forehand. This tactic is used by the pros. He told me I needed to get fit to do this. I worked on my fitness trying to cross train.

Lesson. Run round your backhand in work.
Don’t do something that you aren’t good at. Get your skills in this area up to an acceptable level and then work with someone who excels in this area. For this very reason, I hire lawyers, accountants, tax consultants, IT consultants and a detail-oriented PA. This allows me to focus on the growing the business.

Play to your strengths at work (and on the tennis court if you want) and you will find success more often.

The Federer backhand I wish I had

ABOUT THE COLUMNIST

Juarez is the CEO and founder of juarezlowe Sdn Bhd (juarezlowe.com). As a lawyer, he has conducted negotiations for the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, Securities Commission, Nestle, Petronas, Boustead, Fima and RHB. In 2002, he received the prestigious Fulbright grant to pursue an MBA at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management where he also became a certified mediator. During his spare time he plays and watches tennis. He also enjoys cooking and eating the results of his cooking (which he shares with his family).

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