by Preston Fore via Fortune
Jim Kavanaugh never became a global soccer icon like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Unlike Messi and Ronaldo, one of whom still graces our screens on the World Cup stage, Kavanaugh's playing days ended decades ago. But the former U.S. national team player does share one thing with the two soccer superstars: each has built an extraordinary fortune through their career and business ventures.
Six years after representing the United States during the 1984 Summer Olympics, Kavanaugh traded the soccer pitch for the boardroom and co-founded World Wide Technology, a Missouri-based technology giant. Like the two soccer players, the 63-year-old said he like many other entrepreneurs are able to build a successful business because they share the same qualities that separate elite athletes from the rest: a willingness to outwork the competition.
"If you want to be great—you can't put in an average or sub-average level of input and work ethic," Kavanaugh told Fortune.