by Tony Chen

I've been watching the NBA Playoffs this year. Arguably the story has been LeBron James skillz & basketball IQ versus the Spurs talented (and equally intelligent) trio. While it doesn't hurt to have boatloads of talent, it is really the mental game that has set apart the good teams so far.

This year, I noticed a lot of commentary about LeBron James and other players working tremendously hard at getting better. More specifically, they work tirelessly at leveraging their physical advantages and their mental game. I found myself almost inspired by these players who realize that the physical gift they've been given can be amplified many times over through good ole fashion hard work & clarity of mind. This is the one chance they get and they're taking it head-on.

This got me thinking - if the world watched our work lives on TV, would they be inspired by how hard (and smart) we work? Do we realize that this is our one chance to make an impact on thousands of people's lives? Are we more concerned about our stat line or if our team wins?

Even the superstar players work out and relentlessly practice fundamentals - passing, dribbling, & free throws. How much emphasis do we spend on working on our fundamentals - communication, meeting management, delegation, and project management? And how much time do we spend working on our "mental game" - our leadership IQ?

By the way, here's an interesting post from FastCompany on what business leaders can learn from LeBron James.