Tweet

Success Lessons from Serena’s Meltdown

Written by: Bud Bilanich

Article Overview: As you go through life you will encounter many problems and setbacks. You need to react positively to the negative stuff and move forward toward your goals. Serena Williams lost in the semi finals to Kim Clijsters, who went on to win the championship. Serena not only lost, she lost in a bizarre manner that could have been avoided had she chosen to react positively to an unfair setback she encountered during the match. To use a term we seem to hear a lot these days, there is a “teachable moment” here. Successful people commit to taking personal responsibility for their lives and careers. Choosing to react positively to people and events is a good way to take responsibility for yourself.

Success Lessons from Serena’s Meltdown

Competence is one of the keys topics to career and life success that I discuss in my books and training programs. If you want to succeed, you must commit to three things. First, you must take personal responsibility for your success. Only you can make you a success. You need to be willing to do the things necessary to succeed. Second, you must set high goals - and then do whatever it takes to achieve them. Third, stuff happens; as you go through life you will encounter many problems and setbacks. You need to react positively to the negative stuff and move forward toward your goals.

In this article, I'd like to address the third point above. I'm a tennis fan. I also a big Serena Williams fan. I think that she is the best female tennis player in the world. I was really looking forward to seeing her repeat as the US Open champion this year.

Unfortunately, on Saturday night, she lost in the semi finals to Kim Clijsters, who went on to win the championship. Serena not only lost, she lost in a bizarre manner that could have been avoided had she chosen to react positively to an unfair setback she encountered during the match.

Serena was down one set to none and serving to stay in the match at 5 - 6, 15 - 30 in the second set. She unleashed a massive serve - as only Serena can. Unfortunately, the lines person called her for a foot fault on her second serve - stepping on the line as she served. I watched the replay of the serve and it did not appear to me that Serena foot faulted. Also, a foot fault is a rare call to begin with, and one that is very seldom called late in a match in a grand slam semi final. It was a very bad break for Serena, and something that could not be reversed. It made the score 15 - 40.

At first, she took a couple of deep breaths, and walked up to the service line to serve for the next point. At this point I was thinking, "Good for you Serena, you're not going to let this bad call kill your chances of winning this point and the match." It appeared that she was going to suck it up, react positively to the bad call, and do whatever she could do to win the match.

Then she melted down completely. Instead of serving, she walked toward the lines judge with a ball in her hand and said something like, "I'm going to take this f'ing ball and f'ing shove it down your f'ing throat. She also shook her racquet at the lines judge in a threatening manner.

The umpire called the lines judge over to ask what was said, and then called the tournament referee out on to the court. The tournament referee ruled that Serena's actions constituted a code violation. Serena had received another code violation in the first set when she broke her racquet in frustration. The rules say that the first code violation results in a warning - many players get them in the course of a match - and that a second code violation results in a point being awarded to the opponent.

But, because of the foot fault on the second serve, Serena was at match point. The one point penalty gave the game, set and match to Kim Clijsters. Serena lost her chance to defend her US Open title.

I wish I was writing a different post, saying that Serena managed to shake off the bad call and use it to turn around the match. Unfortunately, this is not the case. But, to use a term we seem to hear a lot these days, there is a "teachable moment" here.

Serena was angry over the call. And, from what I can tell she had a right to be as it was a bad call. On the other hand, she is an adult human being, capable of making decisions for herself. While it may not have seemed like it in the heat of the moment, she chose to confront the lines judge in a most inappropriate manner. She could have made the choice to gather herself and continue the match.

We're all faced with choices like this every day - usually with much less at stake. Ironically, as I was getting ready to post this article, I hit a wrong key and completely lost everything I had written. I had to smile to myself because I was faced with a choice just like Serena. I had a bad break and lost an entire article. I could do any of a number of things - pout, curse my bad luck or carelessness, not do a post today, or rewrite the article making it better than the previous one. I chose to rewrite, and I think this version is better than the one I accidentally deleted.

I'm not equating my little problem with the one Serena faced on Saturday. She had a lot more at stake than me. I lost about 45 minutes of my day rewriting this article. She lost the US Open semi final. However, I do want to point out that as you go through life, stuff happens - good stuff, bad stuff, stupid stuff, unfair stuff. What's important is that you react to the stuff that happens in a positive manner.

You get to choose how you react to the people and events around you. I suggest that you choose to react positively to whatever happens. If you do, you'll be on your way to creating a successful life and career.

The common sense point here is simple. Successful people commit to taking personal responsibility for their lives and careers. Choosing to react positively to people and events is a good way to take responsibility for yourself. In the US Open semifinal, Serena Williams had a choice to make. Unfortunately for her, she made a poor one. She let a bad call by a lines judge get the best of her. As a result, she lost the match and the chance to defend her title. This was a dramatic and very public display of what not to do when things go against you. The next time you find yourself giving in to your anger over something unfair remember Serena, and choose to react positively to the situation.

Related Articles
  Managing Through the Power of Paradox
  Message from the Meltdown
  It Takes Teamwork to Make a Company Dream Work
  Learn from Golf... Create More Revenue
  Meltdowns

Article Tags: champions, Positive, Serena, setbacks, success, taking personal responsibility, teachable moment
Referred by: http://www.jimbouchard.org



Related Forum Posts
300 rules! - 300 was my favorite movie of 2007 and Kevin you did a great job in highlighting the Business Lessons from the Movie.
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
Napoleon on Project Management - Why do I include this in a list of books aimed at female entrepreneurs? Well...in the expectation that there are as many female history buffs as male ones, and in the belief that anyone interested in history will find this book fascinating, while those interested in project management will learn a thing or two. I think this was the first "gimmick" book - an author using a historical figure (usually a male, military figure, it must be admitted) to talk about modern day business management. I refuse to read any of the kind that advocates - even obliquely - the techniques of the Sopranos or the Mossad - but these military ones are pretty fun. Anyway: Only in the understanding of history, Napoleon might say, do we gain an understanding of strategy in the present. In the same spirit, Napoleon on Project Management offers the recipe for successfully managing your commitments using the strategies, tactics and priorities that propelled Napoleon himself to victory. [The book doesn't gloss over how Napolean eventually fell in defeat, of course, and there's lessons to be learned there as well. TOC Foreword by Douglas James Allan (Napoleanic Society of America) 1. The Rise to Power -The Skills to Succeed -A Compelling Vision -Diplomacy and Networking -Lessons from the Great Campaigns 2. Napoleon's 6 Winning Principles -Introduction -Exactitude -Speed -Flexibility -Simplicity -Character -Moral Force 3. The Downfall -What Went Wrong -Lessons from the Russian Invasion and Waterloo -The Four Critical Warning Signs -Napoleon's Legacy
Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women
Re: Success - I study success intently, and would like to share: Here's two excellent and nearly identical success-formulas from a couple of the world's masters. FIRST FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Clear, Definite Purpose 3. Committed Decision 4. Take Action In Faith (Bonus Secret Sauce: 5. Repeat Consistently) I made a video about this, but am not allowed to link it yet. Google "Ryze Success Steps" for it. Oh, and this is Napoleon Hill's (Master Of Success Laws)'s Formula. SECOND FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Understand It Is Already Done (Faith) 3. Relax & Allow It To Unfold (Go about your life calmly) This one is courtesy of Abraham-Hicks (inspiration for the movie The Secret). Hope that helps!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Is the iPad useful? One CEO tells all ....

Your Local Small Business Online Marketing Funnel

Igniting Your Unstoppable Business Destiny

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.