NVIDIA’s Anthony Robbins: The Best Mentorship Starts As Friendship

It’s true, that old song lyric. We often do get by with a little help from our friends. While Ringo may have said it best, it’s an idea that Anthony Robbins, a recently retired Vice President of Federal at Nvidia, also knows well. Throughout his successful career, which has included positions with AT&T and Oracle, Robbins has relied on mentors for guidance, wisdom and brainstorming. But many of these relationships started first as friendships—one even began in a pickup basketball game.

“My very first mentor I just met playing basketball,” said Robbins on a recent episode of Corporate Competitor Podcast. “We became friends first, and he was the one that opened the door for me to get into technology. I had just a wonderful career in technology, and it started from just meeting a guy that I became friends with on a basketball court.”

A former Division I basketball player at Jacksonville State, Robbins learned important lessons from his coach, Bill Jones. Coach Jones talked about keeping your focus steadily on the future, not the past. The veteran play-caller told Robbins to worry about the next thing. You can’t take back a miss, but you can still make the next shot. It’s this type of insight that pushed Robbins to help lead Nvidia to a No. 1 ranking on Forbes’ recent list of America’s Best Companies.

For Robbins, the most significant mentors in his life have been strong, intelligent leaders. But more than anything, they were friends to begin with. Robbins understands the importance of that balance—camaraderie is just as essential as a killer instinct. “The mentorships that I’ve had that have been the most meaningful have just begun with some level of friendship,” he said. “And we just decided that we could help each other.”

Robbins talked about all this and more on the podcast, including:

• Mentorship means growth. A leader’s job is to help their team grow. Sometimes that means members of the team will surpass their mentors by going outside the ranks for more guidance. But as a leader, Robbins said, you have to be okay with your team outgrowing you. “There’s a maturity level that a leader has to gain to be open to his or her organization gaining expertise from others,” he explained.

• There’s no “one way.” Inspired by another key mentor, Nvidia’s visionary CEO and president, Jensen Huang, Robbins has observed that success in business requires a diverse mindset. Huang’s obsession with detail, refusal to compromise, and commitment to doing “big things” at Nvidia has provided a multifaceted blueprint Robbins can follow. “Jensen Huang is as kind and generous,” said Robbins, “as he is relentless and intense.”

• It’s okay to fail. Robbins learned that you can lose a basketball game but that doesn’t mean your season is over. That idea transfers over to sales, too. You can lose a sale, Robbins said, just don’t lose the customer. “If you overreact to a singular moment,” Robbins explained. “You could cost yourself.”