Nate’s Notes 30: Ted Robinson | Be Fearless Not Reckless

It’s hard to think of someone who has had more success in their chosen career than Ted Robinson. And I love that Ted gave us insight into how he’s achieved that success. 

First, make personal connections. Ted literally picked up the phone and called one of the most powerful sports owners in the world. That decision to make a personal connection led to the biggest professional break of Ted’s career. 

Second, intent is different than impact. To communicate effectively, it isn’t enough to care only about the intent of our words. We must also care about the impact of our words on others.  

And finally, be fearless not reckless. Ted jumped at the chance to broadcast an Olympic event with just 12 hours-notice. That fearless mindset led him to 10 more opportunities in the Olympics that he wouldn’t have had without that fearless, not reckless, mindset.

I don’t think it’s possible to become as successful as Ted without catching lucky breaks along the way. But to me, Ted demonstrates that we can create some of those lucky breaks for ourselves. And by following his advice to connect with people personally, to be sensitive to how our words are received, and to be fearless, not reckless, we can create our own lucky breaks.    

It’s a simple idea please take it seriously. 

Ted Robinson Bio:

Ted Robinson is an Emmy-award winning broadcasting pro. To begin to appreciate Ted’s career, it’s worth mentioning some of the sports and teams he’s covered.

In football, Ted has worked as the play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco 49ers for 10 years, Stanford football for 13 years, Notre Dame football for two years, and he currently calls college football games for the Pac 12 Network.

In baseball, Ted spent nine years calling games for the San Francisco Giants, six years for the Minnesota Twins, four years for the New York Mets, and three years for the Oakland A’s.

In basketball, Ted has worked as the play-by-play voice for the Golden State Warriors and the Charlotte Hornets, and has called NCAA March Madness games for 24 years.

 In Tennis, Ted has called every French Open since 2000 and was the primetime host of the US Open for 22 years, while also calling Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the US Open, the Davis Cup, the Fed Cup, and the US Open Series.

And in the olympics Ted has worked play by play for 13 Olympic Games, covering skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, hockey, swimming, diving, boxing, canoeing, equestrian, and golf among other sports.

In other words, Ted has reached the pinnacle of his profession.

I hope you enjoyed learning from Ted Robinson, because I certainly did.