#82 - Mark Messier: Leadership, personal growth, and performing under pressure

In this episode, Mark Messier, six-time Stanley Cup champion, shares the most valuable lessons he picked up over 25+ years of professional hockey resulting in one of the longest and most decorated careers in hockey history. Mark shares what lead to his unique brand of humble leadership, how he was able to get talented individuals to effectively work as a team, the importance of maturing and evolving as a person, and how he was able to stay calm and perform at his best under enormous amounts of pressure. Additionally, we go through his favorite moments as a player, what it was like playing with and learning from The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, and much more.

We discuss:

• Overview of Mark’s extraordinary 25+ year professional hockey career [7:15];
• The trend towards kids focusing on one sport earlier and earlier—A good or bad thing? [12:00];
• Mark’s early passion for hockey, and when he realized it could be his “job” [14:15];
• Going pro at age 17 [19:30];
• Mark’s favorite experience playing professional hockey [25:45];
• Playing with (and learning from) the great Wayne Gretzky [26:40];
• A hard lesson learned in his first year as a pro [32:00];
• Lessons learned from losing his first Stanley Cup Finals [35:45];
• Redemption—Winning his first Stanley Cup and the beginning of a dynasty in Edmonton [41:15];
• Importance of team character [54:00];
• The shocking trade of Wayne Gretzky, and Mark stepping up as the new leader and team captain [59:30];
• Playing for the New York Rangers—the lure of the city and the pressure to perform [1:07:00];
• Ending the 54-year championship drought for the New York Rangers [1:13:30];
• Becoming a great leader [1:16:30];
• How to win the mental war against your opponent [1:20:30];
• Opposing players for which Mark had great respect [1:22:00];
• Retiring after an unbelievably long and lustrous career [1:27:00];
• How to leverage stress and nervousness into a positive force [1:32:45];
• The most important quality—A willingness to learn, improve, and evolve [1:36:00];
• What does Mark do today for exercise to stay in great shape? [1:44:30];
• Why playing sports is such a great thing for kids [1:49:30];
• The Mark Messier Foundation [1:53:00];
• How has Mark avoided the “loss of identity” feeling which plagues many retired athletes? [1:56:15];
• Does Mark think it’s possible to reproduce a team as good as his Oilers teams of the 80s? [1:59:30];
• Would Mark ever want to coach in the NHL? [2:03:00];
• Will the Toronto Maple Leafs ever win the Stanley cup? [2:04:00]; and
• More.

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