“What are you talking about? Why does it matter if it is a spring training game?” asked one of the greatest closers of all time. “I pitch the same way in spring training as I would in game seven of the World Series, the same way I’d pitch in a game that’s a blowout or a close one. The way I see it, there is no such thing as a big game or big inning.”
We hear of greatness when it shows itself at seminal moments like championship games, but Brandon, who built the largest sports marketing and memorabilia company in the country, learned an important lesson on that day. “One of the most important sports lessons I’ve learned is that consistency over time equals credibility,” said Brandon, founder of Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia. “Anybody can be great on any given day. I’ve seen a lot of players have one great season or a great month, or a great game. But when you can do it over a long period of time, you become someone who has more credibility.”
Brandon has proven himself to be not only a good learner but also a great teacher, one credible enough to earn invitations to speak on marketing strategy at some of the top business schools in the country, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Northwestern. At such gatherings of future business leaders, he says that one of his mantras focuses on mastering the basics, day after day. “When you look at the great ones, the ones that did extraordinarily, they were all about fundamentals,” he insists. “They were masterful at it and always looked to do the extra.”
In this episode, Brandon shares the fundamentals he mastered in learning how to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
“Nobody is dying to do business with you because you’re good,” Brandon noted. “Good doesn’t get you to extraordinary. People are uniquely suited to be able to constantly learn what it takes to separate them and make them stand out. How to be amazing. How to be different.”
6:00 Discover what it is like to work for you.
Connect with Brandon on LinkedIn.
Brandon’s TEDx Syracuse University referenced.
Buy and sell memorabilia on Brandon’s CollectibleXchange.
Book by Herb Cohen that Brandon recommended: You Can Negotiate Anything: The World’s Best Negotiator Tells You How To Get What You Want.
"Don is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met. I’ve known him for a long time and every time we talk I walk away wiser and more inspired. He is the best in the business at teaching you a skill – storytelling – that will last you a lifetime.”
“The ability for athletes to get hired is carried on through you because you are putting out the message that lessons learned from sports are important in life. It is embedded in this podcast, what you’re doing is significant.”
We speak the same language. I am inspired by the stories you tell, the people you have met, and the things you’ve done. Those of us that are competitors like to follow others that have been down that journey, so it is always fun talking to you!”
“Many of the leaders I have worked with were excellent athletes, and I think there is a direct correlation. You’re one of the few people that really has pursued this study, Don. Keep up the great work. What you are doing really makes a difference.”
“Don, you have mastered the skill of interviewing and asking great questions. That is a great skill all leaders need in order to understand their team members’ thought processes.”
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