“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”—Ben Franklin
To be successful in tennis, athletes must be able be to play both offense and defense. The same principle applies to business leaders, sales teams, and organizations.
In a competitive marketplace where “experts” and “thought leaders” constantly advocate playing aggressive by building your “personal brand’ with a “go-go-go mentality,” it’s easy to lose sight of this little, yet highly effective strategy called defense and changing the pace of the game.
Let’s take an example from tennis: If I blast a 120 mph forehand into your backhand corner, you may be tempted to send it back with the same pace. The problem is you won’t have time to “recover” for the next shot and will likely not only lose the point but be exhausted in the process.
The better, smarter play would be for you to slice the ball back or simply hit it higher (aka lob) to “buy yourself time,” stay in the point, and eventually turn the momentum around in your favor.
The lesson for business leaders is clear:
When you feel pushed in a corner or face a real-time crisis, you may be seduced into “reactive mode”—trading offense with offense, trying to match your opponents’ game rather than staying true to your own.
Your wiser, stronger move is to play defense by:
🧠 Taking a metaphorical time-out
🧠 Pausing before responding
🧠 Asking for more time before you make a decision
🧠 Neutralizing chaos with a calm, steady hand
In his phenomenal bestselling book “Ego is the Enemy,” author Ryan Holiday writes, “Your worst enemy already lives inside you: your ego.”
No matter the sport or industry, we all do well to channel our ambition in a way that allows us to successfully play offense or defense when it matters most.
René Vidal
