Late Wednesday night, the motivator of a legend passed away in his apartment at the age of 90. Angelo Dundee coached hundreds of men over the years, among them Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. He was always in his corner helping and pushing them to go just that extra inch, foot or yard that it would take to win. He urged on Ali in his first fight against Sonny Liston and was an all around nice guy. He was known to say “It doesn’t cost anything more to be nice.”
One of boxing’s greatest ambassadors, Dundee was a professional, an expert in the business that he coached. He loved his job, his family and life in general. He built his knowledge and expertise from the ground up, starting at a young age, watching and learning from others. In a business that is literally “hands on”, Dundee was the best.
Many new entrepreneurs, who want to become experts, need to keep in mind that this is a lifelong journey – becoming a teacher of your craft or profession doesn’t happen overnight. It takes humbleness, devotion and the deeply rooted curiosity of someone who genuinely cares about others to pass on a craft in such a way that it pushes those they work with to the top of their game. At the same time, those who are great motivators have always admitted to learning more from those they teach than the other way around.
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