A colleague of mine once said to me that “if you aren’t pissing people off, then you aren’t doing a good job.” Pissing people off comes with being successful. Jealousy is rampant in this business whether it’s spoken or acted upon, or not. Haters are going to hate anyone who is doing things differently, especially when they are having success doing it.
Players have haters. Some you will hear their voices, but most you will not because they only have the balls to talk behind your back.
They don’t like you, but they can not keep themselves from watching everything you do.
Parents can be haters, and often feed into their children’s hateful mindset. Coaches, scouts and some advisers are haters too when their peers are having success, and they are not.
Haters are usually those people who claim or once claimed to be friends. When you continue your forward momentum though and leave them behind, they feel as though you should have stayed on their level instead of raising your own level.
Every successful person, in hockey or any other life path, is going to have haters. McDavid has them, Ovi has them, Eichel has them. Scotty Bowman has them too. Jealousy.
Haters can also be people who don’t even know you at all. These are the best kind. They think they know you by reputation, or because they met you briefly, and somehow you are supposed to care that they are doing something, or trying to do something that could compete with you.
When you pay attention to those people who hate on you, you give them fuel to continue hating and talking. When you pay attention, or try to argue a point with someone like this, it only takes away from the time and energy you could be putting into your plan and working your plan.
It is not only ok to be different to succeed, it is a requirement. Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Auston Matthews, and every other high performing hockey player do things differently from the rest. They chart their own path, and work their own plan. All of them have their haters.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, and all the other successful business people have charted their own course on the way to becoming as successful as they are. None of them followed what every other person was doing. They would not be the innovators that they are if they had become followers.
Uncommon results require uncommon action. What every player is trying to achieve successfully is uncommon. Common is that among the group of players you are in, is the bulk of players are going to do exactly the same things, the same way, and get the same, non accomplished results. Within that group of non accomplished players is where you will find a lot of haters.
The things all haters have in common?
A lack of success. A path forward, and a plan to accomplish the uncommon.
Pay no attention to the haters. When you are making progress, you are going to create haters whether you want to or not. They mean nothing, and their opinions mean nothing.
Remember, the people who talk behind your back are there for a reason. They are behind you.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
