As I’ve shared many times on the #ELBlog, I enjoy watching documentaries on the elliptical in the morning. I find them inspiring and enjoy learning about others’ journeys. I recently watched the Michael Chang story, American Son.
Growing up, I used to play tennis with my best friend Francis, who is Filipino. He admired Michael Chang, and I was a fan of Andre Agassi, so we both pretended to be those players as we played against one another many times.
The documentary was fantastic, chronicling Michael Chang’s rise to stardom as a Chinese American. A parallel to some of the political struggles that China had in the 90s as well.
Michael Chang made the finals of the French Open in 1989. He was facing Ivan Lendl (the world #1) in an early round. No one expected Chang to win, but in the fifth set, they were tied, and Michael was cramping terribly. He was down on his luck. No one thought he could finish with the win.
Then out of nowhere, he throws a curveball. It was actually a quick hit serve. He did not throw the ball over his head, but rather almost slapped at it and punched it across the net as his serve. This rattled Lendl, causing him to mis-hit the return. Point for Chang. The match was close at hand for Chang, and he did another unconventional move.
Both men were exhausted, and it was late in the fifth set. Chang, instead of moving back to receive the serve approached the interior line, moving much closer to the net than normal. This was also not the norm and caused Lendl to overthink, which eventually caused a second fault. This allowed Michael to advance and eventually win the match.
After thousands of hits in the same manner and repetition in those difficult moments, Chang mixed it up. He tried something different. He offered a different strategy.
Think about the work that we do as leaders and the many, many decisions that we have to make. These two moves by Chang reminded me that it’s ok to do things differently every once in a while. It is ok to mix things up. Don’t be afraid to step out of the norm and step out of your lane to make something happen, especially when you are down on your luck.
What’s a documentary that you would recommend? Keep rolling on your journey, friends, and keep surviving and thriving.
