I watched "Coach Myself": From the court to the workplace, Zhang Sihan teaches you to be your own coach

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In the hot summer, people really want to have a basketball game to express their youth!

Speaking of the recently concluded [39th Jones Cup International Basketball Invitational Tournament] (http://jonescup.choxue.com/) (Editor’s note: this article was written in July 2017), I can’t help but think of the past when I used to stand in front of the TV to cheer for Chinese athletes when I was a child. At that time, China Stadium had not yet been demolished, and veteran sports broadcaster Fu Daren had not yet retired. As soon as the Jones Cup season came, everyone would cheer for the Chinese team together!

I still remember that year, the young Zhang Sihan came back from the United States to help out. At nearly two meters tall, he not only brought back the strong American basketball style, but also created a “[Zhang Sihan whirlwind]” in Taiwan’s basketball world (https://www.nextmag.com.tw/realtimenew s/news/25535288)” is no less impressive than Jeremy Lin, who joined the NBA a few years ago.

Like many outstanding NCAA players in the United States, Zhang Sihan also tried to enter the NBA after graduating from college. Unfortunately, he was not interested in the Golden State Warriors. He chose to quit the game and started working in the workplace, starting from scratch.

As Zhang Sihan returns to the United States for work, people rarely hear about him in the media. Later, when he appeared in front of everyone again, he was already the leading business person who entered the Taiwan market with Costco (COSTCO). Zhang Sihan introduced COSTCO, one of the top six retail companies in the United States, to Taiwan and initially settled in Kaohsiung. On the surface, it looked prosperous, but in fact, it struggled to survive five miserable years of operation.

What we care about most when we open our doors is not whether members like us, but whether members know that we are different from others?

Although Zhang Sihan was still a young boy in the shopping mall more than 20 years ago, he had the diligent characteristics of an athlete and was very willing to accept challenges and various trainings. He took Costco’s proud [membership system] (https://warehouses.costco.com.tw/overview_zh/overview.action) to the extreme, and his business gradually got on track, making the performance of various branches in Taiwan prosperous. This not only drove the rapid development of mass merchandise stores in Taiwan, but also made manufacturers such as Carrefour and RT-Mart feel strong competition.

Even though he is already a successful professional manager, Zhang Sihan, who is over 50 years old, still maintains a regular daily routine. He gets up at 5:30 in the morning, swims for an hour, and then goes to work on time at 7:30.

The subject of my words is always “we” rather than “I”. I am the coach and captain who makes the decision, but at work it is always you who helps me, and I also help you.

With such a serious boss leading the way, Costco employees naturally dare not relax. There is no need to set too many KPIs. Employees have learned to be proactive and serve the majority of members and customers wholeheartedly.

Due to the outstanding performance of Costco’s branches in Taiwan, the headquarters has high hopes for the Taiwanese team headed by 张壷汉. In August 2015, when he was the general manager of Taiwan, he was promoted by the Costco headquarters in the United States to [Senior Vice President of Costco Asia] (https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/business/breakingnews/1415101). However, in just two years, Zhang Sihan has been promoted to the president of Costco Asia Pacific. He is in charge of the multinational business of Costco in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, and is responsible for developing the Chinese market. The first store is expected to open in Shanghai in 2019.

Zhang Sihan, whose career is at its peak, published the book “Coach Himself” in the summer of 2017. Through a year-long interview with Mr. Xiong Mingde (https://www.thenewslens.com/article/73570), the book records his struggle from the stadium to the shopping mall in detail. The content of this book is very plain, without too much hero worship, no bloodshed, or the use of gorgeous words to stir people’s hearts.

Reading “Coach Himself” makes it easier for me, who once watched the Jones Cup broadcast and cheered for Zhang Sihan, to understand - how does a veteran athlete and business elite view his life optimistically? How do you meet challenges and defeat hardships again and again? Furthermore, be willing to embrace every tomorrow full of unknowns.

“Coach Himself” not only talks about Zhang Sihan’s basketball enlightenment, but also generously shares his rich insights in the workplace. Zhang Sihan believes that life is a game and he is the best coach.

I never take the initiative to mention my [past] as an athlete (https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article-content-92751-113727), and I don’t even talk about it much to my children, because I think people should always look forward, and doing things well in the present is the most important thing.

In this book, Zhang Sihan constructs a set of “3D models” suitable for companies and individuals based on his past experiences on the court and in the workplace: find out your own positioning (define) and difference (different) iation), and maintain good habits with discipline and move in the right direction.

Maintaining flexibility at all times and re-finding the right goal is our life task. Just like a player on the court, not only strength and speed, coordination and flexibility are also important; and redefining one’s goals also requires a flexible body and inner stability.

There is no doubt that Zhang Sihan is the hero of my generation. Maybe you have never seen him dunk on the court, but I believe that after reading “Coach Himself” this book, if you have the opportunity to visit a Costco store in the future, you will be able to feel his dedication to life and business management, and it will be of endless use!

★ Featured Image Credit: Tamarcus Brown

★ Want to build your personal brand? Come and sign up for the “Personal Brand Management Practice” online course.

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Further reading

• I read “The Yield of Thinking”: Strengthen the four thinking skills and develop business thinking
• I read “First-class people read, where do they draw the line?” : Deep Thinking Techniques for Elite Reading: Don’t draw lines on existing beliefs, but absorb the unknown
• I read “Narrative Arc: Pulitzer Prize judges teach you to write good and popular interview reports”: My review of the interview writing career

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