Look at that. Straight in. 😅⚽
Of course, there was no goalkeeper standing in front of me.
No crowd in the stands.
No pressure to perform.
No responsibility towards a team, a country or thousands of supporters.
I could just step up and take the shot.
No years of training.
No pressure.
And most importantly: nothing was really at stake.
And that’s exactly where the difference lies.
From the outside, something can often look incredibly easy.
You see someone take a penalty, build a company, close a deal or become successful and think:
I could do that too.
But you don’t see what came before it.
The years of training.
The mistakes.
The stress.
The sacrifices.
The doubt.
Starting over.
And continuing when nobody is watching.
It’s exactly the same in business.
When things are going well, everyone cheers and success suddenly looks obvious.
When things go wrong, you often hear very little from anyone.
Even though that’s often where the real work happens.
I was at the KNVB for a recording of PODCAST FRANNEMAR with Annemieke Hebenaar, Frank Karsten and Marja Olff, where we talked about AI, adoption, technology and, most importantly, people.
I may or may not have secretly run onto the pitch to take a penalty.
And yes…
Straight in. 😉
But more than anything, I came away with even more respect for the players who have to take that shot when it actually matters.
Marja, Frank and Annemieke, thank you so much for the invitation, the great conversations and once again for such a special afternoon.
Sometimes success looks simple, until you understand what it took to get there.
Stay tuned for the podcast 🙂
