Is it ultimately about balance in both tennis and finance?

WHAT TENNIS AND FINANCE HAVE IN COMMON

"Is the search for balance as decisive in tennis as in the world of finance?" Well, I'm a tennis fan,a tennis player, a tennis coach,I also hosted a tennis podcast for a long time.

So tennis plays an important role in my life,and without doubt, I've learnt many things as a tennis coach,which I've been able to apply in my work.

Definitely, in my work as a coach I've learnt to observe people,to listen to people,to discover what it is they really want.

And, well, if we also talk about finance or about our clients, generally the process is that we receive a briefing that outlines the work clearly and from it, we draw up the proposal.

And meanwhile, we need to discover whether what's in the briefing really...

is what the client needs to overcome the challenge.

And for that, the skills tennis has given me are useful,extremely useful, I must say.

And especially, the experiences I've had as a coach.

Could you expand a little on that? More precisely,in a tennis match, what did you have to do to read your opponent, for example?

Yes,in a tennis match, once again,I closely observe my opponent,so I can know where I should attack.

If it's a competition, clearly the point is to win it.

And I try to discover my opponent's weaknesses,the ones I can attack,and that, given my style of play, allow me to score points.

If we translate this into the client area,we obviously need to soften everything a little,since it isn't a competition.

When working with clients,what matters is that we commit to a shared vision of the goal,and create an environment together to determine how we'll achieve it.

Compared with tennis, working with clients is like a doubles match.

And in good doubles you need to move in parallel,organically.

Now I'm getting a bit into tennis nerd mode.When the person at the net steps towards the centre,the player at the back has to do the same.

It's as if an invisible rope connected the two players so that they always keep the same distance between them,making their movements very similar.

That's what makes a successful doubles pair stand out:that it isn't two players playing, but one pair.

And that characterises our way of dealing with clients.

And it's good to try...as a pair, where trust is also needed,space is needed to be able to move,the playing style must be clear, the goal must be clear.

And when all that is defined, they can, together,combine their strengths to achieve the best possible outcome.