Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim S Grover

Author:Tim S Grover [Grover, Tim S]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2013-04-15T14:00:00+00:00

#1. WHEN YOU’RE A CLEANER . . .

. . . You don’t compete with anyone, you find your opponent’s weakness and you attack.

A Cooler does a good job and waits for a pat on the back.

A Closer does a good job and pats himself on the back.

A Cleaner just does a good job, that’s his job.

When you’re a Cleaner, there’s no such thing as a meaningless game. Doesn’t matter if it’s the first preseason event or a midseason All-Star Game or the last game in a losing season, a Cleaner shows up to play.

During the 2012 All-Star Game, things got a little intense: Dwyane fouled Kobe, gave him a concussion, and broke his nose. Even for a regular-season game that would have been a lot of damage, but this was the All-Star Game, and a lot of people thought Dwyane was out of line.

That’s a Cleaner. He sees a situation, his killer instinct kicks in, and he attacks. I own this. This is what I do. No hard feelings.

But this story is about two Cleaners, and after the game, there was Kobe, surrounded by an army of doctors and league officials and team personnel trying to examine him and get him to the hospital. He can barely move, nose busted, head ringing, and he’s refusing to go. Why? He wanted to see Dwyane and address the situation.

Eventually, though, we got him to leave, Dwyane apologized the next day, Kobe refused to miss a game, and the story faded away. No hard feelings.

But believe this: When you get two relentless individuals going against each other, that situation can play out for years. They can still be cool with each other, hang out, get along . . . but the Cleaner inside never forgives and never, ever, forgets.

That’s how Cleaners compete. They dish it out, they take it, and they make sure everyone else does too.

But not everyone can take it. I have this theory, yet to be disproven, that any player 6'10" or over cannot handle harsh, confrontational criticism. With someone 6'9" or under, you can get in his face and just blast him. But any taller, he’ll just lose it and go right into a shell. I think it comes from a lifetime of being stared at and gawked at for being so much bigger than the rest of the population, people pointing and making height jokes, so the tall guys become more sensitive and self-conscious. They’re just emotional softies. They can be complete killers in competition, but they’re also the guys you have to pat on the back, boost their confidence, and make them feel good about what they’re doing. The little guys? You can call them every name imaginable and they keep right on going.

I bring this up to give you an example of how different people respond to competitive smackdowns.

This was back during one of the Bulls’ championship runs, and Scottie Pippen was trying to get Luc Longley fired up during the Finals. All the players were together before the game, and Scottie was talking to Luc, who stands 7'2".

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