Lesson #5: Do What Cannot Be Done
Lesson #5: Do What Cannot Be Done
Being HIV-positive was only one of many obstacles that Johnson had to overcome on the road to success. Before that, there was a question of his race.
“When I was an NBA player, I was always dreaming of business plans,” he says. “As a black man you have to. Minorities make money, but we don't generate wealth. But a business generates wealth - it is power, it is something that you can pass on to the next generation.”
Johnson’s competence as a businessman was doubted early on because of the very fact that he was black. But Johnson, not one to buckle under pressure, turned that into an advantage.
“Yes, race matters. I've based my business on it,” he says. “I wanted to show the business world that you can be successful in minority communities. It was uncharted waters and took some convincing. I would drive companies through places like South Central and say, ‘I want to bring your business here,’ and they would look at me like I was crazy. I knew it would work, though.”
Such was the case with one of Johnson’s most ambitious business ventures – creating the Westland Plaza in 1994, the first development project in West Las Vegas in more than 30 years. After years of neglect, the neighbourhood welcomed the complex with open arms, and other retail giants quickly followed in Johnson’s steps.
Aside from being black, the business world largely ignored Johnson’s ambitions because of his past as an athlete. “It's that tag that's been put on athletes for a long time - that we're not serious about business,” he says. “So in the beginning, people didn't take me seriously, but they found out I was a persistent guy and that I really believed in my dreams. I believed I could make them money as well - it could be a viable business deal for both of us and be good for the community.”
Johnson’s career has been characterized by defying critics and doing the seemingly impossible. “I got turned on when people said it was all over for me,” he once said. “I wanted to show them I wasn't going away.”
That was an attitude he cultivated during his basketball years, and one he carried over with him into the business world. “It comes naturally. [In basketball,] under pressure, I wanted to take the big shot,” says Johnson. “And I think that pressure helps me with this pressure in business.”
“You have to be persistent in business, especially for me because, like I said, doors didn't just open right away,” recalls Johnson. “I almost had to kick them down. I had to keep coming back, coming back, because many corporations weren't going into the inner cities like they are now. The theaters were like a test model, and that's why I now have the other deals, because we've proved it can happen and it can work.”
Lesson 5 Do What Cannot Be Done
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In 1991, after Johnson revealed to the world that he was HIV-positive, it seemed as if his magic was gone. People thought it was the end for the once-unstoppable athlete. “People thought I was going to go away,” recalls Johnson. “But I never planned on going anywhere.”
Being HIV-positive was only one of many obstacles that Johnson had to overcome on the road to success. Before that, there was a question of his race.
“When I was an NBA player, I was always dreaming of business plans,” he says. “As a black man you have to. Minorities make money, but we don't generate wealth. But a business generates wealth - it is power, it is something that you can pass on to the next generation.”
Johnson’s competence as a businessman was doubted early on because of the very fact that he was black. But Johnson, not one to buckle under pressure, turned that into an advantage.
“Yes, race matters. I've based my business on it,” he says. “I wanted to show the business world that you can be successful in minority communities. It was uncharted waters and took some convincing. I would drive companies through places like South Central and say, ‘I want to bring your business here,’ and they would look at me like I was crazy. I knew it would work, though.”
Such was the case with one of Johnson’s most ambitious business ventures – creating the Westland Plaza in 1994, the first development project in West Las Vegas in more than 30 years. After years of neglect, the neighbourhood welcomed the complex with open arms, and other retail giants quickly followed in Johnson’s steps.
Aside from being black, the business world largely ignored Johnson’s ambitions because of his past as an athlete. “It's that tag that's been put on athletes for a long time - that we're not serious about business,” he says. “So in the beginning, people didn't take me seriously, but they found out I was a persistent guy and that I really believed in my dreams. I believed I could make them money as well - it could be a viable business deal for both of us and be good for the community.”
Johnson’s career has been characterized by defying critics and doing the seemingly impossible. “I got turned on when people said it was all over for me,” he once said. “I wanted to show them I wasn't going away.”
That was an attitude he cultivated during his basketball years, and one he carried over with him into the business world. “It comes naturally. [In basketball,] under pressure, I wanted to take the big shot,” says Johnson. “And I think that pressure helps me with this pressure in business.”
“You have to be persistent in business, especially for me because, like I said, doors didn't just open right away,” recalls Johnson. “I almost had to kick them down. I had to keep coming back, coming back, because many corporations weren't going into the inner cities like they are now. The theaters were like a test model, and that's why I now have the other deals, because we've proved it can happen and it can work.”
Lesson 5 Do What Cannot Be Done
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