Wai Wong is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Serviceaide, a global provider of enterprise service management solutions.
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It has often been reported that some 95% of Fortune 500 CEOs played competitive sports at some point in their lives. For me, dedication to my sport continues to this day, and I believe it has paid significant dividends in my life as a business executive and entrepreneur.
I started playing table tennis when I was 12, hitting balls back and forth with my neighbors, cousins and friends. My game has grown with me. It has evolved to a higher degree of technical competence every year, and yet I still have so much further to go. I continue to learn more every time I step onto the court with another player. My No. 1 achievement so far is winning the 2019 Over 60 U.S. Open Table Tennis Championship.
Competitive table tennis has helped me in my business life in so many ways. It’s strengthened my mental focus, physical and mental stamina, competitive willpower, and ability to think strategically and clearly in pressure moments and situations. When running a company and dealing with business challenges—from meeting technology deadlines, solving business problems, and negotiating acquisitions and customer commercial licenses to working with employees and team members, all these capabilities can and do come into play.
It’s taught me there is always more to learn, always the requirement to expand your abilities. There is a continuous need to hone your skills, to practice and perfect. To remain competitive in table tennis, a player needs to continually maintain an open mind and assimilate new perspectives. You need to learn from your mistakes, why they happened, how to avoid them in the future and apply unique strengths in different situations.
The sheer volume of different playing styles and variations of equipment available make the sport somewhat unpredictable and challenging, especially at competitive levels. For more advanced players, the game evolves into a blitz chess type of mental activity, where you have to come up with split-second decisions, following and even updating your strategy to defeat your opponent. Everything comes into play: your strengths and weaknesses versus the opponent, styles of play, physical capabilities, even the equipment you are playing with and against. Every match resembles a duel, requiring extremely quick reflexes and split-second decision-making.
There are so many ways to win or lose a match, and players need to do everything in their power to develop a winning strategy and approach. They need to develop a big picture for winning the match and determine the steps it will take to get there. It’s critical to scout your competition and how your technical abilities, strengths and weaknesses match up against the competition. Develop a realistic and truthful SWOT analysis (just as you should in your business) and strive for repeatable execution.
Yet every game plan is tested in the heat of battle. I’ve learned to reach back to past matches and practice sessions to quickly adjust during a match. Being proactive, mentally flexible and adaptive need to be core competencies!
The physical demands of my sport have also helped me immensely in business. Playing table tennis at a competitive level is a full-body workout. I normally change shirts at least twice during a match or a practice session because of the sweat it creates. Before you begin even playing or practicing, there’s a need for stretching exercises to warm up the body. Business can be a grueling experience, including long, hard hours and plenty of stress. The conditioning I’ve developed through table tennis gives me the stamina to persevere.
There are other things table tennis has helped me learn that apply to business:
• Respect everyone! Be it a beginner or an expert. The same goes for life and business.
• Starting and changing always looks difficult, sometimes even hopeless—until you start working at it. In life and in business, I’ve come to understand that starting up and making changes is always difficult. However, putting in the time and effort will help you succeed. Know what is working and what isn’t. Be aware and open to changing your approach as needed. Remain open-minded to opportunities when they present themselves in your game. The same applies to business. Be sensitive to market dynamics and anticipate the need or opportunity to tweak your product road map or approach.
• It’s not enough to simply show up. Always play to learn. It brings you and your team the focus they need to win and helps clarify the steps you need to get there.
• Don’t let excuses—whether it be a lack of infrastructure or the right racket—be reasons to lose your focus on practice and development. If you want it to happen, you will make it happen, irrespective of the situation. Don’t let excuses hold you back. Focus on what you can do to move forward.
• The disciplines of time, commitment and perseverance are lessons you learn in every sport. And these lessons stay with you for life. Enjoy the journey.
Over the course of my professional career, I’ve held senior executive positions and led major business units for large technology companies. I’ve founded and run successful startups, including my current company, Serviceaide. Playing sports, particularly table tennis, has helped me prepare for and achieve my goals. Competitive sports teach you a lot about yourself. It all boils down to how hard you are willing to work to make yourself better to compete effectively.
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