Leaving College Early? Too Many Athletes Listen to the Wrong People
“In some South Pacific cultures, a speaker holds a conch shell as a symbol of temporary position of authority. Leaders must understand who holds the conch—that is, who should be listened to and when.” – Max De Pree
More often than not, athletes who are coming out of college with the expectation of being drafted, or who declare for the draft before completing their eligibility, are listening to too many of the wrong people. When you are a successful athlete at any level, you tend to be surrounded by people who want to be close to you for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately the type of people you tend to attract, are the ones who tell you how great you are and all of the other things you want to hear.
It is human nature to like hearing these things, but one thing that separates the great athlete from the really good ones is that they keep people around them that are not afraid to tell them what they NEED to hear. The “exceptional” athletes in sports separate themselves even further by not only surrounding themselves with these types of people, but at the same time are also searching out what they need to hear so they can continue to make improvements in their performance.
Sadly, most athletes as well as many of their parents do not have the maturity level necessary to separate the wheat from the chafe. The most common mistake they make is listening to people who are operating in their own self-interest, like agents and their runners.
A good rule of thumb for anyone to use (not just athletes), is to ask yourself if the person talking to you has something to gain from telling you whatever they are saying to you? If the answer is no, there’s a good chance that what they are telling you may be of some value to you. If the person is telling you something you don’t like hearing, the odds jump up dramatically that what they are telling you is important. As Dick Cavett said “It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.”
It takes great mental discipline to hear things about yourself that are unpleasant. It’s much easier to be dismissive and focus on all the smoke people are blowing up your ass. While this may feel good and make your chest puff out a little extra in the short-run, it’s likely to catch up with you eventually and undermine all you hope to achieve.
I’m not against players leaving college early to play professionally (it’s the right decision for many players), but I am against players being sold a bill of goods that encourages them to leave. For this reason, my advice to clients who are considering leaving early for the draft in any sport is to not only be careful who you listen to, but to also pay extra attention to the things they don’t like hearing. These are likely to be the things that will need to be dealt with if you want to have a career and not just a payday.
Follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
