201. Ballpark to the Boardroom: How Alex Rodriguez Hits a Communication Home Run

Summary

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
Episode 201. Ballpark to the Boardroom: How Alex Rodriguez Hits a Communication Home Run
Release Date: May 6, 2025

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Introduction

In episode 201 of Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques, host Matt Abrahams teams up with Stanford Graduate School of Business colleague Jeffrey Pfeffer to engage in a dynamic interview with Alex Rodriguez. Known for his illustrious career in Major League Baseball (MLB) and his successful transition into entrepreneurship, Alex Rodriguez shares invaluable insights on effective communication, leadership, resilience, and strategic pivoting. This summary delves into the rich discussion between the hosts and Alex, highlighting key points, memorable quotes, and actionable strategies for listeners seeking to enhance their communication skills in various aspects of life and business.

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Meet Alex Rodriguez: From the Ballpark to Entrepreneurship

Alex Rodriguez, widely recognized as one of the greatest athletes in baseball history, transitions seamlessly into his role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AROD Corp., as well as an owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx. Rodriguez brings a wealth of experience from his 25-year MLB career, including being a 14-time All-Star and a 2009 World Series champion with the New York Yankees. His journey from the sports field to the boardroom provides a unique perspective on communication and leadership.

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Teaching Strategic Pivoting at Stanford

Rodriguez co-teaches a class titled Strategic Pivoting at Stanford GSB, alongside Alison Kluger. The course, now in its seventh year, focuses on helping students navigate career transitions and strategic changes. Rodriguez explains the framework used in the class:

1. Planting: Identifying competitive advantages and understanding one's circle of competence.
2. Scanning: Evaluating opportunities for scalability and collaboration.
3. Piloting: Implementing small-scale tests to refine strategies before full-scale execution.

Notable Quote:
"When you think about planting, you start thinking about what are your competitive advantages and how can you offer in this particular space."
— Alex Rodriguez [03:05]

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Preparing for Life After Athletics

Rodriguez emphasizes the importance of preparing for life beyond a sports career, a lesson he learned firsthand following his suspension for banned substances. He advises athletes and professionals alike to:

• Plan Early: Begin contemplating post-career opportunities well before retirement.
• Educate Yourself: Continuously learn and surround yourself with knowledgeable individuals.
• Start Small: Approach new ventures cautiously before making significant investments.

Notable Quote:
"I have a master's in getting back up. And I think that's the key to remember. It's how you get back up with the same energy and enthusiasm."
— Alex Rodriguez [17:06]

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Effective Communication Under Stress

Rodriguez shares strategies for maintaining composure and clear communication in high-pressure situations, drawing parallels between the intensity of the baseball field and the boardroom:

• Experience and Pattern Recognition: Leveraging years of experience to anticipate and navigate stressful scenarios.
• Routine and Self-Care: Establishing a daily routine that includes training, meditation, and personal time to stay grounded.
• Delegation: Trusting team members to handle responsibilities, allowing leaders to focus on critical decisions.

Notable Quote:
"The most important part of the game... the clutch time. And those who are great... have this rare ability to keep a very slow heartbeat when the stakes are highest."
— Alex Rodriguez [07:05]

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Building a Media Presence with Authenticity

Rodriguez discusses the strategic approach to building and maintaining a strong media presence:

• Consistency: Regularly engaging with media platforms to ensure visibility.
• Authenticity: Being genuine and controlling one's own message without relying solely on traditional media outlets.
• Supporting Others: Highlighting and uplifting stories of others within the community.

Notable Quote:
"I think it's important to be consistent with whatever you're doing. I also think it's important to be genuine and authentic."
— Alex Rodriguez [09:35]

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Leadership and Team Building

Emphasizing the significance of diversity and collaboration, Rodriguez offers advice on assembling effective teams:

• Diversity: Bringing together individuals with varied backgrounds and perspectives to foster innovative thinking.
• Listening: Prioritizing intentional listening to understand and integrate team members' insights.
• Trust and Delegation: Building trust within the team to empower members and facilitate smooth delegation.

Notable Quote:
"We come from similar backgrounds from media. We're both bridge builders. We both like to inspire, teach and learn."
— Alex Rodriguez [11:33]

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Feedback and Continuous Improvement

Rodriguez introduces the Green, Yellow, Red feedback system implemented at AROD Corp.:

• Green: Areas where team members are excelling.
• Yellow: Aspects that require attention but are not critical.
• Red: Immediate areas that need to be addressed.

This gamified approach encourages a positive reception to constructive feedback and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.

Notable Quote:
"When you can shift the paradigm where people are actually looking forward to the constructive feedback, that's a winning formula."
— Alex Rodriguez [15:50]

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Resilience Through Setbacks

Discussing his suspension due to banned substances, Rodriguez highlights the path to resilience:

• Accountability: Taking full responsibility for mistakes without making excuses.
• Therapy and Self-Reflection: Engaging in therapy to enhance self-awareness and reduce ego.
• Learning from Failure: Viewing setbacks as opportunities for growth and educating others to avoid similar mistakes.

Notable Quote:
"I'm fifth all time in the history of the game, fifth in the history of strikeouts. That means there's only four people in the history of mankind that have ever failed more than me."
— Alex Rodriguez [17:36]

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Embracing Authenticity

Rodriguez admits to struggling with authenticity earlier in his career, influenced by cultural norms and personal experiences. Through therapy and intentional feedback, he learned to:

• Recognize Inauthenticity: Developing the ability to identify when he was being insincere.
• Seek Feedback: Encouraging friends and colleagues to provide honest assessments of his behavior.
• Continuous Self-Improvement: Committing to ongoing self-awareness and personal growth.

Notable Quote:
"I lead with a lot of listening, and I mean very intentional listening."
— Alex Rodriguez [12:48]

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Advice to Young Leaders

Rodriguez offers practical advice for aspiring leaders and professionals:

1. Have a Plan: Clearly outline career and life goals.
2. Take Your Time: Patience is essential, as success often comes with consistent effort over time.
3. Surround Yourself with Great People: Build a network of mentors and collaborators who can support and inspire you.

Notable Quote:
"Your age is never a limit, but your mindset's the limit."
— Alex Rodriguez [22:18]

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Successful Communication Recipe

Rodriguez outlines three key ingredients for effective communication:

1. Credibility: Possessing extensive knowledge and experience in the subject matter.
2. Passion and Clarity: Communicating with enthusiasm and simplicity, avoiding jargon and acronyms.
3. Engagement: Creating dialogue rather than monologues to foster interactive and dynamic conversations.

Notable Quote:
"Communication is an unselfish act. Focus on others."
— Alex Rodriguez [24:19]

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Conclusion

Episode 201 of Think Fast Talk Smart offers a compelling exploration of effective communication and leadership through the lens of Alex Rodriguez’s experiences. From strategic pivoting and building resilient teams to maintaining authenticity and handling setbacks, Rodriguez provides actionable insights that resonate beyond the realms of sports and into the broader business landscape. His emphasis on continuous learning, intentional listening, and fostering genuine connections serves as a valuable guide for anyone aiming to enhance their communication skills and leadership capabilities.

Listeners are encouraged to implement these strategies to elevate their personal and professional interactions, ultimately unlocking their potential as thoughtful, impactful communicators.

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Additional Resources:

• For more in-depth discussions with renowned athletes and coaches, check out Think Fast Talk Smart episodes 166 with Andrew Luck and 153 with Tara Vandiver.
• Subscribe to the Think Fast Talk Smart newsletter at fastersmarter.io for exclusive content and updates.

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This summary was crafted to provide a comprehensive overview of the podcast episode, capturing the essence of the discussions and the key takeaways shared by Alex Rodriguez. Whether you're a student, professional, or anyone interested in enhancing their communication skills, the insights from this episode are invaluable for personal and career development.

Transcript

[Matt Abrahams]

I have always been amazed by and a bit jealous of my friends, colleagues and students who can speak multiple languages. I regret that I did not keep up my foreign language that I learned in school. I'm happy to say that I am now working on this. To help me, I use the Babbel app. Babbel provides me with quick lessons, just 10 to 15 minutes per day and since Babbel is built with science backed cognitive tools that fit with all learning styles, it helps me stay motivated with real time feedback, handy visualizations and progress trackers. I'm learning and having fun. Babel is offering a special deal for Think Fast Talk Smart listeners so you can get started right now. Visit babel.com thinkfast and get up to 55% off your Babel subscription. That's babel.com thinkfast to start your language learning today.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

In many ways, communication is like baseball. You take some swings, sometimes you hit it out of the park and sometimes you strike out. But regardless, you learn something from that experience.

[Matt Abrahams]

My name is Matt Abrahams and I.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Teach Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Welcome to Think Fast Talk Smart, the podcast. Today we're doing something a little different. I'm partnering with my Stanford GSB colleague Jeffrey Pfeffer to interview the athlete turned entrepreneur Alex Rodrigue A Rod.

[Matt Abrahams]

Jeff was a guest on Think Fast.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Talk smart in episode 34.

[Matt Abrahams]

He teaches the super popular course the.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Paths to Power and he's the author.

[Matt Abrahams]

Of many books including his latest which.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Is called Seven Rules of Power. Today we'll be taking turns interviewing Alex and you'll get to learn about him and from him from our two perspectives. Let's meet Alex. Alex Rodriguez is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AROD Corp.

[Matt Abrahams]

He is best known as one of.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

The world's greatest athletes, a 14 time Major League Baseball All Star and a 2009 World Series champion with the New York Yankees.

[Matt Abrahams]

Alex is now an owner of the.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx and leads a team of experts building high growth businesses. Welcome Alex. Thank you for joining both Jeff and me for this tag team interview. Thanks for being here.

[Alex Rodriguez]

Thank you. I'm very excited, a little intimidated by both of you.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

We are not very intimidating.

[Matt Abrahams]

Before we get started, I wanted to thank all of you for listening and supporting Think Fast Talk Smart. We know the content means so much to so many of you. We see it in your LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube posts. It takes a lot of work to bring the show to you and I invite you to consider joining Think Fast Talk Smart Premium to help Us continue creating useful content and to reach more listeners, check out Faster Smarter IO Premium.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Shall we get started?

[Alex Rodriguez]

Sure.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Okay.

[Matt Abrahams]

I'd love for you to talk a.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Little bit about what brings you to Stanford, brings you to campus. I know among your many jobs, you co teach a class at the gsb. Can you tell us a little bit about the class and what you hope the students learn from you?

[Alex Rodriguez]

Yeah. The class is called Strategic Pivoting. I co teach it with Alison Kluger. Believe it or not, it is our seventh year, and usually we have 25 to 30 students. And it's just been a marvelous experience. And like me, I'm sure like both of you, you've had some type of pivot, and we just try to make it strategic. And we use the framework of planting, scanning, and piloting, which I've done pretty much my whole life before coming to this class. So the fact that now I'm in class teaching our students and helping our students, it's been a lot of fun. I think when you think about planting, you start thinking about, what are your competitive advantages? What can you offer this particular space? How would my competitive powers or my even circle of competence be influenced in this particular place? And then you start scanning for opportunities. How scalable is it? Is this a good place for me to find the right people to collaborate with? And then pilots. I always feel pilots should be done small at the beginning. That way if you falter or if you struggle, you can always lean back and try again, edit, cut, and then move forward. But that framework has been very popular with our students.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Excellent. Thank you for giving us insight into what happens in the class. And I want to give a shout out to Alison. Both Jeff and I are friends with Allison. And those of you listening, Allison did a great episode with us on reputation and reputation management.

[Unknown]

So one of the things I try to teach in my past power class is to get ready for what's next. Because I always tell my students, if you're flying in an airplane, you need to know where the emergency exits are before you need them. You need to know where the oxygen masks are before you need them. One of the things that I really admire about you is that, in fact, you did get yourself ready. It's interesting. Some people will be fired unexpectedly, but if you're a professional athlete, you know that sooner or later, the athletic prowess will wane and you'll have to do something else. So talk to me about how you got ready for what came after your athletic career.

[Alex Rodriguez]

Yeah. Thank you. And maybe I'll start At the end, I mentor and spend a lot of time with tens and tens of athletes and former athletes. And they say that athletes die twice when you retire and real death. And I find that to be true. And I find a lot of athletes go through major depression, they go through divorces, and you can only play golf and fish so much. I think, luckily for me, ever Since I was 10 years old, I always thought about my two Bs, which were baseball and business. And I've always had a passion for baseball and a passion for numbers. So I've been thinking about life after baseball before my rookie year.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

And because of that you were able to see opportunities probably way before you were ready or others were thinking about it too.

[Alex Rodriguez]

I think I was fortunate that because I was thinking about it so early on and I had a great passion for it, that I came at it from a prism of looking at opportunities different than perhaps other athletes.

[Unknown]

What did you do to get yourself ready?

[Alex Rodriguez]

So I've been a lifelong student, even though I didn't go the traditional college route, because I was in the major leagues from Miami, drafted by Seattle in 1993 as the number one pick overall, and I was in the major leagues at 18. And I've always thought about opportunities to invest, opportunities to learn, to surround myself with much smarter people. I always saw it as an opportunity that was exciting. And I think a lot of athletes looked at opportunities as fear and they ran the other way. And I think the best way you can do is educate yourself as much as possible. Learn it, understand it, and start small. I didn't want to come out of the gates investing millions of dollars. A, I didn't have it, and B, I just thought it was imprudent.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Many of your roles have found you in really high pressure, high stakes situations. In a boardroom, on a baseball field. How do you work to stay calm and collected and communicate clearly when you're under that high stress?

[Alex Rodriguez]

I've been lucky because I played almost 25 years of Major League Baseball. I played seven in Seattle, three in Texas, and then finally I landed in New York for about 12 or 13 years and I've had over 10,000 at bats. And I'm a big believer in experience and pattern recognition and what I've learned from watching a lot of athletes, they say when you come play for the Yankees, the pinstripes are heavy. And what they mean by that is the kitchen sometimes is too hot. And what I sensed was that a lot of people when the kitchen got hot, so did their temperature, and they weren't able to control their emotions and they weren't able to stay calm, and therefore they would make a lot of silly mistakes. What we call clutch time, the most important part of the game. And those who are great, like Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettit and many others, they have this rare ability to keep a very slow heartbeat when the stakes are highest. And I found the same thing is true with the Bob Igers of the world or the Warren Buffetts or the Jamie Dimons. They have the same ability. They're just not wearing pinstripes, they're wearing suits.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Right. Do you consciously do deep breathing or something to help slow that heart rate so you can be very present? Is there something physical you do or do you just. You're just at a place where you can think it and it happens?

[Alex Rodriguez]

Yeah. You know, post the pandemic, I came out of it and I lost my ways. I got a little bit out of shape. I was working around the clock. So coming out of it, I focus basically from 8 o'clock in the morning. I changed my routine from 8 to noon. I was going to say that's my me time. That's the time where I train, I meditate, I do yoga, I may read a book, do some podcasting, and then I'm in the office every day from 12 to 6 when I'm home in Miami. And that's been a really wonderful formula. The reason why it's allowed me to focus on the most important things at our company, and then it allowed me to delegate to the five senior members that report to me and really trust my team exactly what I wanted to do with the Yankees. We call it pass the baton to the next guy. I'm doing the same thing as the leader of our company today.

[Unknown]

So one of the things that I've noticed about you, and I noticed about some other athletes in football as well, is that you have built an enormous and very effective presence on media, both tv, but also social media. How have you thought about doing that? What have you done strategically to make sure that everybody knows who Alex Rodriguez is?

[Alex Rodriguez]

I think it's important to be consistent with whatever you're doing. I also think it's important to be genuine and authentic. If you look at whether it's Joe Rogan or whoever platforms are winning today, they're ones that they're taking the broker out of the way, meaning the news, the media, they're going direct to the consumer. So I think that's really important that you can control your own message. And then two, I also think it allows you. I recently posted A Young lady who Was out of a Job and Won a Grammy the Other Day and it was a beautiful story. So you're able to highlight others that are doing beautiful things in the community, whether it's business, sports or entertainment.

[Unknown]

What did you do to make sure that you got. You're on a bunch of baseball talk shows and all. How early did you begin and what did you do to make sure that people would give you that kind of visibility?

[Alex Rodriguez]

I never really thought about life after baseball in media. That was one thing that I never thought about. But the one thing that I did have was I basically felt like I had my PhD in baseball because I've been watching three, four games per night ever since I was like 10 years old. So I've been playing or watching or studying of some sort. And then the question becomes is okay, you have the knowledge, but can you actually articulate it in a platform and say it in a concise, understandable, digestible entertainment way where you're speaking to. I always think my target audience is a fourth or fifth grader that has never played baseball and just make it very simple. And that's so far, so good.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

I love hearing a few things that you've shared about you target an audience specifically. You think about that. You think about your message going back to your previous answer about how you calm down. I like that you have routine and there's a practice. And you also talked about delegating. And it seems to me that you have a really interesting perspective on teaming and building teams. What advice would you have to a young leader or somebody who's new to the leadership role about what to look for and how to build a team, how to communicate within that team.

[Alex Rodriguez]

We have a great partnership right here. The three of us will be great partners because A, you guys are way smarter than me. You have a lot more experience than me, but we all bring something a little bit different to the party and we can all learn from each other. I just think sometimes it's a mistake. If you get two scientists and there's only two in the room, they're only going to think one way. That's why I do believe that diversity is so important in how we select teams or board of advisors, board of governors. And that's why I think Alison Kluger and I are such great partners. Because again, we come from, in a weird way, similar backgrounds from media. We're both bridge builders. We both like to inspire, teach and learn. It's just wonderful when you can surround yourself with great people, there's no better gift.

[Unknown]

But one of the things you have to do if you're going to be able to do that is you have to let go of some of your ego. Because one of the things that I've seen among people is they think that they're better than anybody else at everything. And in order to do what you just described, which I think is amazing, you have to be willing to let go and to say there are other people who know things that I don't know. And I'm sure you've seen some of your colleagues in baseball and outside of baseball who aren't able to do that. So what has permitted you to have what I would call appropriate modesty?

[Alex Rodriguez]

Well, Jeffrey, it would be silly for me to have you and Matt come to Yankee Stadium and teach me how to hit a breaking ball, as smart as you guys are and athletic as you guys are. And it would be silly for me to come to GSB and try to teach you guys something. So I lead with a lot of listening, and I mean very intentional listening. There's a lot of great talkers, There's a lot of great starters, not a lot of great listeners or closers. And if you're a real intentional listener, I think you become a better communicator and the conversation becomes more fun when that person that's delivering an important message that he has a captive audience. So I think one you say ego, I think is more insecurity. Right. So I actually love throwing myself in a room where everyone else is smarter, and I just get to go out and have great conversations and continue to in my educational journey.

[Unknown]

I think intellectual curiosity is a key to success. And you seem to have a lot of intellectual curiosity.

[Alex Rodriguez]

Is that fair? Much. As a matter of fact, I have two prayers I say every morning before my feet hit the ground, I say a prayer and usually about 30 seconds. And it revolves around two things. One is diminishing your ego and enhancing self awareness. So you want the ego to come down and self awareness to go up. What I found is when you win the World Series in 2009, like we did with the Yankees and we beat the Phillies, those two kind of work backwards, right? Self awareness goes down, ego goes up. That's a formula for failure. So as a reminder, just really important to check the self awareness and the ego.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

I love that you're talking about self awareness and that you lead with listening, and I think that's really powerful. I can imagine you're in situations either in the mentoring, you do with athletes or the entrepreneurial businesses you run that you have to give feedback and you have to give sometimes constructive, critical feedback. Do you have a philosophy or approach that you see working for you when you give that kind of feedback?

[Alex Rodriguez]

I think first, Matt, you have to have trust. Because if you don't have trust, forget what the messenger's saying. It doesn't matter how good the message is. If I feel like you're going to do it in a demeaning matter or not coming from love or a place to really help me, then the message is lost, no matter how great the message is. I actually introduced this in my early days. I call it green, yellow, red. And we do this with all our team members at a Rod Corp. And we do this either weekly or once per month, monthly. And basically what it is, you gamify the feedback, which means greens are all the things you're doing well, yellow are all the things you got to watch. And not quite red, but they're not quite green. Be careful. And then red is things you should stop immediately. And what's fascinating is when members now almost to every person, you know what they start with, Give me the red. It's more of a game and you're doing it from love, you gamify it a little bit. And when you can shift the paradigm on that, where people are actually looking forward to the constructive feedback, that's a winning formula.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Let me do a follow up. Do you set an environment where they can give you that type of feedback as well?

[Alex Rodriguez]

Oh, my gosh. All the time. All the time.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

How does that look?

[Alex Rodriguez]

Kelly leferier from my team, who's my chief business officer, she spent a long time at Disney and espn. She's a wonderful woman. Went to Georgetown. She did a little audio where she teed off on me the other day. It was like five minutes of just like really tough love. And I loved her for it. And I said, you forgot the green and maybe the yellow. And she goes, no, the yellow's that part of that part. I'm like, okay, but absolutely. I think that's one of the main things I bring from sports. I've had some great managers. Joe Torre, many won four or five championships. Lou Piniella, these guys are great communicators, but they're also. They have an ability to inspire and motivate and their words are very powerful.

[Unknown]

And nobody actually needs to know what they're doing right. You actually need to know what you're doing wrong.

[Alex Rodriguez]

Right.

[Unknown]

So that's a good kind of feedback.

[Alex Rodriguez]

Yeah. And by the way, Jeffrey, I disagree with that a little bit. I do think that especially with highly talented people, they also need to know what they're doing right? Sometimes. Always say a player needs a pat, you know, on the back sometimes. Hey, come on, keep it moving. Because it can't always be red or yellow. Sometimes you got to tell them that something really good is jumping off the page and to keep that up.

[Unknown]

So you, of course, had a setback with the banned substances scandal. It's interesting. I tell my students all the time that in almost every career, bad things happen. And the issue is not are bad things going to happen? Because of course they will. The question is, how do you recover? How do you build resilience? So talk about that, how you came through that, how you've built resilience to survive setbacks, not only in that, but in your business career, et cetera. I think resilience is really the key to success.

[Alex Rodriguez]

Before I get into my low point, which was my darkest hour for sure, and an incredible learning experience for me, a little bit on failing, because one of the great advantages of being a former baseball player is that I live in an industry that if you fail 70% of the time, you end up going to Cooperstown, which is the hall of Fame. It's remarkable. Imagine if out of every seven, 10 classes you guys teach, three of them are good. You guys would be fired, right? But for us, it's celebrated. So what I mean by that, I always tell people that I'm fifth all time in the history of the game, fifth in the history of strikeouts. That means there's only four people in the history of mankind that have ever failed more than me. So I always tell my daughters that Daddy has a PhD in failing, but I have a master's in getting back up. And I think that's the key to remember. It's how you get back up with the same energy and enthusiasm. So if you put that framework with my suspension, my pds, which I served the longest suspension in Major League Baseball history for PD use, it took me a while to get here, but I think it was three things that I really. I'm thankful for. Number one is you got to take full accountability. And this falls into self awareness, full accountability. There's no excuses, there's no one to blame. There's only one person, and you're looking at them in the mirror, and that's me. That's number one. I think number two is that led me to, over the last 10, 11 years, being in therapy. And therapy was really Important because it allowed me to turn the lens inward. And you got to understand, ever since I was 15 years old when they said Alex is the best 15 year old in the country and is going to be the number one pick in two or three years, to the time I got suspended almost 40, I never heard the word no. So you build very little self awareness and the ego gets pretty inflated. So I think therapy has been an incredible byproduct, ironically, of my great mistake and then messaging, and this is what we do in strategic pivoting. But the messaging without the first two means very little. It's hollow. So I do think you gotta take accountability. You have to have whatever work you have to do in yourself. I did it via therapy, through a great therapist that saved my life. And lessons learned have been unbelievable, which has now put me in a position here where I'm able to talk to the next generation of young men and women about my mistakes and hopefully they can avoid my mistakes and then communication about what's next and. But you have to lead with the mistakes and just address it right off the bat.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Thank you, by the way, for opening up and being so candid and authentic. I'd like to talk a little bit about authenticity. You come off in a very authentic way. I believe it's very genuine. How do you think about authenticity in terms of the value it brings? And it requires self awareness, as you've mentioned. I'm just curious your perspective on authenticity.

[Alex Rodriguez]

You know, it's ironic, Matt, that you're asking me about this because this is something that I really struggled for. The first, I would say 25, 30 years of my life before therapy, because I came across as very slippery. And not to make any excuses, but I grew up with a bunch of slippery people. You know, in the Latin culture we say fake it till you make it. And my great mom, who's one of my Heroes, who's almost 90, I saw her working two jobs, getting up at 3 o'clock in the morning, working at General Motors in New York City, and then serving tables at night. And I saw this incredible work ethic. But that was the good. The bad is like, you never got a lot of the truth from anybody. Once I got through my therapy, I started developing an ear for saying, boy, that person is really full of it. I was never able to hear that before. It was like a watershed moment for me that I'm like, oh, this is an incredible thing. It's like not being able to see. And now I can see not being able to hear when somebody's full of it and now you hear it. Which also includes self awareness of how I sounded. So one of the things I do with a lot of my close friends is like watch me here, Matt. I can become, I can be slippery here. So watch me make sure that I'm good here. And that type of back and forth coaching and mentoring has been a great tool for me.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

I think that's wonderful that you actually one are aware, but you also ask others to give you that feedback so you can make those changes in the future. And the fact that you have a sensitivity to this might be a situation where I might have some inauthenticity. I think all of us can take a lesson from that to 1 raise our awareness, but 2 enlist the help of others to help us be better. Before we end, I ask all my guests three questions. One, I make up for you. And the rest are similar across everybody. You mentioned that you mentor athletes. I'm curious, what's the number one thing you tend to focus with them on to help them post playing?

[Alex Rodriguez]

I think the number one thing is to have a plan. I think second is take your time. You may be old for an athlete, maybe you're in your early 30s or mid-30s, but you're a child in business. And I always refer to two of my heroes, Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. Charlie almost went to 100 and Warren is well on his way. And to think about a guy like Warren Buffett, that he's made 99.5% of his net worth after his 50th birthday is never too late. Your age is never a limit, but your mindset's the limit. So I always encourage athletes to take your time, surround yourself with great people. If you're playing basketball, if you had a wand, who would be your top three? You'll probably say Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, LeBron James. Well, think about business the same exact way. Go find the best people in the world. And because you're an athlete, that's one of your competitive advantages. Go out there and ask questions and there's never a dumb question. Take a bunch of notes, review, follow up and get your reps in.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

So it's about mindset, really, in that focus. Question number two, who is a communicator that you admire and why?

[Alex Rodriguez]

A few in the business world, I would say I really enjoy the way Bob Iger communicates. Obviously, Warren's a legend. He's the smartest in every room he walks into, but yet you never hear him talking over anybody. Everyone's really understandable. Both my daughters can understand Warren really well. That's a testament to him and his simplicity. And then Mary Erdoz, who's the CEO at JP Morgan, reports up to Jamie Dimon. She's the asset wealth management leader there. She's another wonderful communicator who is a superstar, but is also very genuine and likable and believable in her communicating skills.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

So I hear you saying that being relatable and being connected are what things you admire in leaders. My final question for you is what are the first three ingredients that go into a successful communication recipe?

[Alex Rodriguez]

I think someone that I would say has their 10,000 hours in whatever they're talking about, right? Because you can't replace credibility. Someone who can speak passionately and clearly and don't speak in too many jargons and too many acronyms really give it to me as simple as possible and someone who can actually lead me to my next question. So there's a little bit of a revolver. Monologues are never fun. I much more have a dialogue, is more dynamic, is more commercial, it's more sellable. It's better for television. Keeping it tight, I also think is really important. I think a lot of communicators sometimes think about what do I have to do to be a great communicator to sound smart? I think you should be asking who am I talking to, who am I communicating with and what nuggets and value can I bring them because it's really about them is an unselfish act, is not a selfish act. And that's a big difference.

[Jeffrey Pfeffer]

Seeing communication is an unselfish act. Focus on others. Absolutely the bottom line. I appreciate you joining us and sharing those nuggets as well as all of the other information you've shared.

[Alex Rodriguez]

Thank you.

[Matt Abrahams]

Thank you for joining us for this special Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast episode with my colleague Jeffrey Pfeffer of Pfeffer on Power. Be sure to check it out. To learn more from famous athletes and coaches, please listen to episode 166 with Andrew Luck and episode 153 with Tara Vandiver. This episode was produced by Ryan Campos and me, Matt Abrahams. Our music is from Floyd Wonder. With special thanks to Podium podcast company. Please find us on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe and rate us. Also follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram and check out fastersmarterio for deep dive videos, English language learning content and our newsletter. Please consider our premium offering for extended deep thanks Episodes Ask Matt Anythings and more at fastersmarter IO Premium.