Molly Fletcher - The Business of Being the Best: Inside the World of Go-Getters and Game Changers

Praise for The Business of Being the Best

The Business of Being the Best unlocks valuable traits for the go-getters and change agents. The stories are compelling, the messages are clear, and passion for business and life comes through in every story. I hope millions read and get inspired!

Edie Fraser , senior consultant, Diversified Search

The Business of Being the Best is a diamond mine of insight. Filled with gems from the world's most successful leaders, this invaluable guide will make your business glitter and your career shine.

Joey Reiman , CEO, BrightHouse; author, Thinking for a Living

Copyright 2012 by Molly Fletcher. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fletcher, Molly.

The business of being the best : inside the world of go-getters and game changers / Molly Fletcher.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-06010-0 (hardback); ISBN 978-1-118-15089-4 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-15090-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-15091-7 (ebk)

1. Success. I. Title.

BF637.S8F5915 2011

650.1dc23

2011034060

To our daughters, Emma, Meg, and Kate

May you always be your best

Preface

For almost two decades, I have been a sports agent and worked with many of the biggestmake that legendarynames in sports. I didn't play professional baseball, or coach college ball, or even compete in a PGA Tour event, but even without those personal accomplishments on my rsum, I've succeeded at becoming America's leading and most recognized female sports agent in a male-dominated field.

Throughout my successful twenty-year career, I have worked with some of the most outstanding talents in the sports world. From baseball to basketball to golf and broadcasting where the elite play, I have been. I have helped lead my clients to success, and along the way, we've shared special moments on and off the field. They have become my friends, we've attended each other's weddings, many visited me in the hospital when my daughters were born, and we have shared our lives with one another. Having the opportunity to call world champions, future Hall of Famers, and headlining All-Stars my coworkers and friends has provided me with insight into the business of being the best.

I've had a successful career thus far, and CNN has even called me the female Jerry McGuire, but I still feel I have much more to learn and achieveand even more to give. I have never rested on my laurels. I take the same advice I give to my players every day: No deposit, no return, just as it says on soft drink cans. What this phrase means is that you will get out of it what you put into it: make a big deposit, and you get a big return. Put in little effort, and you will find yourself with nothing. My clients have made huge sacrifices and deposits into their work to ensure that they achieve the best that they can. And I work hard to maintain the competitive edge that has allowed me to build a client base of over 150 clients and a team of agents.

For more than two decades, I have negotiated, directly and indirectly, over $500 million worth of contracts and pushed my clients to reach peaks even they could not have imagined. Working with the best day in and day out has helped me understand how they reach their full potential and maintain their place at the top of their respective arenas of business. I have shared the journeys of developing athletes, young coaches, rookie broadcasters, championship coaches, and prominent commentators. I have been exposed to a world of uniquely wonderful situations and have had a platform to connect with the world's best brands, best companies, best CEOs, and most successful executives on the planetboth in and out of the world of sports and the sports business.

The best can be any age and work in any profession. Certainly they are all very different, but they nevertheless carry a similar set of characteristics that push them to be top in their fields. By no means am I implying that any one of them is perfector even close to it. But they do share a common denominator that we can use to measure success: they measure their success by looking at their peers and their competitors. They work diligently to ensure that they are at the top of their respective industries. When it comes down to it, the go-getters and the game changers work to be considered one of the best by their peers and society at large.

At the heart of this book lies the fundamental idea that the best share a common set of traits and qualities that can be studied, copied, and instilled into your own life. There are individuals in our own lives whom we might call the best. The best teacher. The best boss. The best parent. Clearly, that is subjective. Some would argue that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player ever, but that also is subjective. So my goal is to share with you the less subjective side of what makes someone the best. In this book, I explain why the best do what they do, how they do it, and how you can learn from them, in the process transforming your professional life and joining the business of being the best. From the locker room to the boardroom, the playing field to the field of dreams, there are important lessons to learn.