Page 114 - How We Lead Matters

Taking a Tumble

My daughter, Wendy, is full of fun and a gifted athlete—good enough at ten-
nis to play on the pro circuit after graduating from Northwestern. At one
time, she was paired with an aspiring Monica Seles. Nick Bollettieri, the
girls’ coach, who also coached Andre Agassi, thought that Wendy’s outgoing
personality would bring out the champion in the young Seles. Well, some-
thing certainly did.
Wendy was progressing so well in tennis, it’s hard to fathom why she
would risk it all. One year, she made the decision to break the tennis camp
rules and enrolled in a downhill skiing race camp in Jackson Hole. She was
emboldened by her instructor’s appreciation for her athletic agility. “Perhaps
skiing should have been her chosen sport rather than tennis. How impressive
she’d be if only she accelerated her speed through the gates.”
Rehabilitation for tearing your ACL ligament and taking a chunk out
of your tibia is long. Sidelined, Wendy fell into a depression. Instead of aban-
doning his wayward pupil, Nick stayed with her, as he has ever since. He gave
her an assignment to focus on. “Help me open a restaurant,” he said. “Your
family owns T.G.I. Friday’s—you must have a few insights.”
Wendy researched sites, requested variances from the city council,
worked with the architects on the design, hired the staff, marketed the
restaurant, and orchestrated the grand opening. She loved it. No longer
focused on tennis, she was surprised to learn that she had inherited the dom-
inant gene in our family—the entrepreneurial spirit—and she is now an
executive in the family business.
I did love to watch Wendy move on the court. But I admire even more
how she moved forward and never looked back.

Marilyn Carlson Nelson 97