This time around our guest speaker was internationally-renowned Andrew Lewandowski, former Head of Talent Management of LTA British Tennis.
For over 25 years, Andrew has led and directed national programmes at the Lawn Tennis Association, and was instrumental in the early-stage development of many international tennis players and coaches, including Andy and Jamie Murray and members of the GB Davis-Cup-winning team.
During his speech to our current MBA in International Management students and guests, Andrew focused on sharing his lifelong passion and experience in sport in the light of making it a successful business.
Passion is the key factor in achieving success
Andrew made it clear from the start that a career in sport, just as in business, is a constant rollercoaster of success and failures. He shared his perspective on the key factors for becoming truly successful in your professional life:
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Let the activities you enjoy develop naturally until something becomes your passion and main focus; success is hard to achieve without true passion. If later you are able to align passion and purpose, then you are really onto something.
- Coaching and mentorship also plays an important role in becoming successful. However, true opportunities will come when finding guidance from an advisor, and you will only find this person by showing your passion day in and day out, and working hard.
'The more I practise, the luckier I get'
Andrew quoted Gary Player to emphasise the importance of hard work on the way to becoming successful – not only in sport, but in any work environment. It is a combination of talent, deliberate practice, and a supportive environment that allows an expert performance.
The Roadmap for Success:
During the lecture Andrew shared many inspiring stories of famous tennis players, including Mark Cox and Olga Moracova, and talked about his own work since 1992 in the Talent Identification and ‘Mini Tennis’ programmes. His personal pride during his career has been that he could play an important part in the formation and development of the young players from those teams.
In his career, Andrew took a leap of faith to challenge himself in sports leadership and business when he joined the P3 Dream Team in 2015. When it comes to a roadmap for success, clear vision and purpose are key elements followed by a philosophy and good development model. This is followed by growing the culture, which inspires success.
To conclude, Andrew had a bold message for the students: “Passion drives success – ride the wave! Discover, develop and refine your success road map. Have great fun – it’s a long road!”
ESCP’s MBA in International Management is a one-year, two-country, full-time programme which provides young professionals with the business skills and mindset for a successful international career. The MBA covers all the functional areas of management and provides a multicultural hands-on experience. To join the next intake in September, please visit escpeurope.eu/mba.
The C-Suite Lecture Series provides an opportunity to hear directly from successful executives and business leaders. Each shares lessons learned throughout their distinguished careers, and provides insight into complex business worlds. The event is open to all current ESCP students, members of our Alumni community, staff and faculty.
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