From the CEO: Irony leads me to link Marnus Labuschagne and The Rolling Stones

By Peter McDonald

I love my cricket. Quite a fan of the Big Bash, I was fortunate to get along to a few of the Sydney Thunder matches at Sydney Showground – a MEA member and thanks again Andrew – over the summer.

In a cruel case of irony, the Thunder were eliminated from the finals when an actual storm washed the game out, their being behind on the benchmarking algorithm. They were done over by the Heat – as a few of us have been lately! But this particular game I watched on TV. As they must with no play happening, the broadcaster needed to fill the airtime. One of the fillers they used was a backstory on Australia and Brisbane player Marnus Labuschagne.

For the uninitiated, Marnus is a very talented batsman and has had a quite successful season. That doesn’t just happen. The reality is he is – like we are – a product of his past. I think if others of us applied ourselves the way he has, maybe we too could enjoy comparable standards of achievement – not necessarily as as an elite sportsperson – but in our own industry.

I’m talking about his philosophy, attitude, drive and commitment.

Marnus was born in South Africa. He emigrated here with his family when he was 10 years old. He grew up speaking Afrikaans, only becoming fluent in English after moving to Australia.

In the interview he talks about how he was never the best in his starting out years, but he just loved cricket and wanted to be better and better, and worked harder and harder in an effort to make that happen. He set up a training net system in his parents’ front yard. By the time he hit 19/20 he started catching up because of his appetite for training and focus on perfection.

He went on to talk about how he as good as forced his way into recognition. He would attend Queensland senior group training so much that some of the player group assumed he was a contracted player. He tells the story of one day going to leave said training after having done what he needed to, only to be called out by Usman Khawaja (a senior contracted player) and asked where he was going because the group still had more training to do. Marnus responded explaining that he wasn’t contracted. This led Khawaja to question the coaches as to why not. The rest is, as they say, now history.

He also told the story of how when his parents renovated the family home, he was allowed to choose how his room was decorated. He chose to have an inspirational quote affixed to a wall and another to his mirror.

What he would see everyday were the messages “Ongoing success is always a result of preparing well and focussing on the step immediately in front of you” – not too dissimilar to the Game of Inches message espoused by our sector’s Nigel Collin – and “Wake up with determination, go to bed with satisfaction”.

How could he not get a day off on the right foot, or his head be in a negative space when those messages are reinforced as he welcomed every new dawn? He left his bedroom with a strategy for success and a mindset that positioned him to realise that.

Look where it got him.

The Rolling Stones sang:

I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no

Whilst the lyrics might suggest otherwise, and in another case of irony, the ultimate success of that song implies that songwriters Richards and Jagger actually got out of bed heavily determined that day.

There may be a transferrable learning here for all of us.

Source:

Song – “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction”

Artist – The Rolling Stones

Album – “Out of Our Heads”