Pat Williams is a basketball Hall-of-Famer, co-founder of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, and former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers. Also one of America’s top motivational and inspirational corporate speakers, Pat has addressed employees from many Fortune 500 companies. Pat is also the author of over 100 books, his most recent title is REVOLUTIONARY LEADERSHIP.
What we discuss in this episode:
- Pat shares the story about how his father introduced him to the game of baseball in June of 1947 and how the sites immediately struck him, the sounds, smells, and color of baseball. At seven years old, he remembers deciding that he wanted to play baseball for the rest of his life.
- He admits that those were big dreams, but he made it to the minor leagues playing for the Phillies organization with enough determination.
"But I had a better future in the front office than I did on the field in the Phillies, and they noticed that. They gave me an opportunity to learn the ropes as a minor league operator for different teams in their farm system. That paved the way to my switch to the NBA in 1968 where I enjoyed a 51 year run."
- Being a perpetual student is something that Pat Williams offers as advice to anyone seeking to grow.
"I encourage young people where they are in their careers to find mentors, find life coaches, find sages, that you can pick their brains and you can learn from them and you can stay in touch with them. When you have questions that seem to be perplexing you, go to those people and learn and pull from them. In my profession, whenever I found someone that I could learn from or benefit from, I would pepper them with questions, and seek them out, and try to spend as much time with them as possible."
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