The Art of the Dell

Mornin', folks. I was MIA yesterday, busy finishing and reviewing (for September publication in Tennis) the forthcoming book by Donald Dell (in his glory days, aka "Donald Deal"), co-written with John Boswell. The book is called Never Make the First Offer (Except When You Should). It will be published Sept. 1, by Portfolio. *

*This is a somewhat unfortunate title, because it just radiates Business School 101.  Of course, this may be the only viable book Dell could have written because, let's face it, while Dell was a Davis Cup player and captain, as well as a Kennedy lieutenant during the Camelot years, what he's been first and foremost is a man of commerce. A man of the deal, like his namesake, that other Donald.

It's funny, this book is filled with advice that will strike many of you as bland, obvious, or simply uninteresting (If a quality firm offers you an unpaid internship, take it! . . . Use your contacts to network and meet people you might want to do business with. . . Try not to sue anyone. . . ). But isn't that always the case with self-help books - whatever profession or enterprise they're hoping to shed light on?

The few times I've read the books of highly successful businessmen/entrepreneurs, I was always struck by the basic banality of the saga. When you learn that this guy ended up being a Master of the Universe because he was the one who checked off on going with a brown (rather than white) filter tip on the new brand of cigarette, you just aren't overwhelmed with the same emotions or awe you experience when you read about how Mount Rushmore was sculpted, or how William Faulkner wrote As I Lay Dying in a short, almost trance-like burst.

From what I've been able to discern,  "genius" in business is a  code word for the type of person who has some combination of most of these qualities: discipline, ambition, focus, self-control, determination, patience - and a deep, burning, competitive desire to be rich. Professionally, the top businessmen seem to be grinders, not mercurial talents. They're empire builders,not beauty creators - even though they often allow or enable beauty to be created through the fruits of their own labor.

In all fairness to the authors, this is meant to be a kind of primer for aspiring sports-business agents, although much of the advice could be applicable to any professional relationships (be honest, even if it hurts!). But there's a lot of fascinating stuff on some of the top players (Dell represented scores, in most major sports, including Arthur Ashe (a lifelong friend), Jimmy Connors, Stan Smith, Tracy Austin,  Pudge Rodriguez, Patrick Ewing,  Michael Jordan - yes, that Michael. . .), and I'm going to share some of that really juicy material with you as the Sept. 1 publication date draws near. I think I can also get Donald to field some questions from y'all - something we can do in the days leading up to the U.S. Open (Dell has negotiated numerous television deals for the USTA, including the new one for 2009 with ESPN).

In about an hour I'm heading out to meet up with John McEnroe, for an exclusive Q and A that will run in the October issue of Tennis. But I'll probably put up a red-meat post on how it went tomorrow. Also, El Jon Wertheim will be a special guest on Friday, to discuss his new book Strokes of Genius, about which I'm sure most of you know already. Anyway, Jon will be fielding questions that y'all will post in the Comments section of the post I will put up on Friday.

BTW, Jon is heading for Wimbledon on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, and I'll be arriving to provide week 2 coverage on the middle Sunday. But I'll be back with you all before then -

-- Pete