Always Put the Work In: Interview with Auto Racing Champion Antron Brown
Several years ago, I interviewed auto racing champion Antron Brown in an interview originally published in Thrive Global. Here is an excerpt from our interview:
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your story and your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. What is something about you that would surprise people?
Antron: I’m very organized, and I can’t sit idle if things are in disarray. I have to get everything in order for me to be at ease. So, because of that, I’m one of those people that never stops moving because there’s always something that can be done. I think that’s one thing a lot of people might be surprised to learn about me. I think people can see that I’m a hard worker, but they probably never realized the driving force behind it was me just always feeling like there’s something else that can be done or something that can be improved upon. I can never put life on cruise control, I’ve always got to have the gas pedal pressed to the floor.
Adam: What are your hobbies and how have they shaped you as a leader?
Antron: My hobby is racing! And I’m lucky that I get to race and compete for a living. Sports has always been a big hobby of mine, from playing basketball to football to baseball. I think playing sports has helped me understand the meaning of teamwork, and it showed me that as a team, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. That applies to me now because I want to make every facet of my team strong, and when you do that, you can make incredible things happen in your career.
Adam: How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Antron: When I look back on my career, surprisingly, where I’ve ended up isn’t where I thought I would be when I first started. It was one of those things where I thought ‘Man, I want to see what driving a race car is like,’ but I didn’t think at the time that me, this kid from New Jersey, was ever going to be an NHRA Top Fuel driver. One of the biggest hurdles for me was believing in myself and understanding that I was worthy of competing in this sport at the highest level. I needed to understand that I belonged there. Growing up, I didn’t come from a professional racing family and I didn’t have a name that was known in the racing community. Having a name that’s already widely recognized in your industry is like an automatic leg up, especially in motorsports, and I didn’t have that, so it was up to me to create my own opportunity for myself. I realized the only person that was holding me back was myself, and once I got over that, I started knocking on doors and making my racing aspirations known.
I surrounded myself with people in the drag racing industry and once I started putting it out there, telling people what my goals were, and making it known that I wanted to be a professional racer, I prepared myself so that I would be ready once the opportunity came. And when the opportunity did come, I was able to jump on and take advantage because I had been preparing for it all along. And of course, there were doubters telling me ‘You can’t drive a Top Fuel car, it’ll never happen,’ and I used that as motivation. When people tell me I can’t do something, I’m determined to show them that I can and I will. Even now, as I transition into my new role as a team owner in 2022, I have people telling me I’m going to fail, and I look at other team owners in our industry, and I think ‘Okay well if this person can do it, or that person can do it, why not me?’ That’s what fuels me. Being a team owner has been a dream of mine for a long time now, and I’ve made that dream known to people for many years. I have been preparing for this new role for a long time so just like before, once the opportunity presented itself, I was ready to strike.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Antron: An effective leader leads by example. It’s so easy for people to say things but to me, it’s much more impressive when someone backs it up with their actions. It’s also important to treat people how you want to be treated. True leaders treat people how they want to be treated, and when they do so with honesty, humbleness, and sincerity, they cultivate an environment where the people around them want to show up in that same manner, and they’re motivated to work harder and want to do a better job.
I think a good leader also has to be open to new things, and not be so hard-nosed where they say ‘This is how it’s always been so this is how we will continue to do it.’ Leaders should understand that this world is ever-evolving and sometimes there will be a better way or more efficient way of doing things.
Lastly, a good leader would never beat people down and make them feel inferior. Instead, they motivate their team to believe that they can conquer anything, and they can do so together.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Antron:
Always put the work in. And when you think you’ve done enough, do a little more. You may have been blessed with a natural talent for whatever industry you’re in but you can’t coast on that. The ones who achieve the most success might not necessarily be the ones with the most talent, instead, they’ll be successful because they’ve been willing to outwork everyone and put the overtime in to get where they need to be. That’s what’s gotten me to where I’m at; putting my head down and constantly working toward my goals. There will always be hurdles and unexpected challenges, but those who beat resistance with persistence will ultimately come out on top.
Look at every day as a new opportunity to better yourself. Of course, we all have bad days; that’s life. But you’ve got to make the most out of your bad days. If you’re always taking a step forward each day, you’re one step closer to where you ultimately want to be.
Quantify your personal meaning of success. Do you measure success by a certain level of wealth? Or perhaps, your idea of reaching success is starting your own business. Success looks different to everyone, so you have to identify your own measure of success with tangible goals, that way you have something specific to work toward. You can’t just say ‘I want to be successful’ because how do you know what to work toward if you haven’t identified it? You have to define your purpose.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Antron: I’m actually in the process of putting a team in place for AB Motorsports so this is highly applicable to me right now. What I’ve found is, don’t just choose good people to be a part of your team, choose great people. Surround yourself with people whose strengths complement your weaknesses and who are superior in their specific area of expertise, and then trust in them and what they have to say. In the motorsports world, it’s not just having the best parts and equipment, you’ve got to have a great team of people and one that jells. You can have mediocre parts and pieces but if you have a crew that is the best of the best at what they do, they can take those mediocre parts and pieces, and turn them into something truly great. And then as far as leading and managing teams, that goes back to what we talked about earlier which is motivating your team, and treating them with respect so that they want to show up and show out for you.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Antron: The single best piece of advice I have ever received is from my cousin (NFL star) Troy Vincent. When I was 19 years old, he told me to ‘be slow to speak and long to listen.’ What he means by that is to sit back and observe your surroundings and take in all of the information you can before you speak about anything. For example, I’m trying to court corporate partners to support our race team and this advice is something that I always take with me into a boardroom. I never go into a meeting with a potential sponsor and think ‘How am I going to sell them on what I want?’ Instead, I want to learn from them what their goals and objectives are and take that information and present them with an opportunity whereby joining on with our team, we can help them achieve those goals. How can you benefit them? We’re not pitching them on our goals, we’re pitching them on how we can help leverage their goals.
Adam: How can anyone pay it forward?
Antron: I think it’s important to remember where you came from and who you were when you were trying to catch your big break and remember the struggles and hardships that you endured. Remember how you were treated by those who first gave you a chance and how that was so important to you because now you can be that person to a new up-and-comer. I think it’s important to consider how you can help the next generation; share your success. That’s one of the main reasons why I went from being a hired driver to now branching off on my own and being a team owner so that I could now help the future generation of our sport get their big break.
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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