The dominant sports media personality in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for most of the last 75-plus years never played any of the games he wrote about and never made it to college, much less journalism school. But he became one of the most popular newspaper and radio personalities in town, with a broadcast style that was no more polished than his writing style. And he blew away all competitors because of his network of relationships and pure doggedness.

Sid Hartman went to that great stadium in the sky on Oct. 18, at age 100. Affectionately known around Minnesota and the entire sports world by his first name, Sid may never make it to any sports Halls of Fame, but if they ever get around to building a Networking Hall of Fame, he would be the first one they would call.

Sid never quit working and scooping his competitors. If you demonstrated any athletic talent in Minnesota, he knew who you were by the time you were in high school, because he called you. You became fodder for his column in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, or he interviewed you on one of his innumerable sports shows on radio or TV. He kept calling. He followed you through high school. He knew your background, your record, your coach. He tracked you through college. He tracked you through the pros. He even tracked you when your athletic career was over.

Once you were a part of Sid’s team, you never got cut. You were a part of it for life, as I was for 70 years. You became a “close personal friend,” his reference to anyone in his vast network. He knew more about athletes, coaches and owners than any sportswriter anywhere. And when some of these people became really big-time pro stars, coaches and executives, he had greater access to them -- and often to other stars through them -- than anyone else because he dug his well before he was thirsty.

Talent is a gift, but like many gifts, we often take it for granted. If Sid Hartman had applied equal energy, dedication, and perseverance to another career -- such as sales -- I’m positive he would have achieved the same great success he attained as a sportswriter.

Competition is what made Sid Hartman the best sports reporter around. He hated to get beaten to a scoop. Sid was an inspiration not only to legions of sports personalities, but also to his readers and listeners, who appreciated his work ethic and dogged pursuit of a good story. He understood that slacking off would take away his edge. He saw sports reporting as a competition in itself. He almost always won.

No matter what industry you are in, competition is healthy. It keeps you sharp. It improves quality. Competition is like exercise; it makes you better.

Many people don’t seek out competition because of the fear of losing. They give up too easily and then never really find out how good they can be. Welcome competition so you can gauge how good you are and where you need to improve. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

I like to say, if you can’t win, make the person ahead of you break the record.

Outsmarting the competition has taken on a whole new meaning, with competition being stiffer than ever. As we watch longtime successful businesses crumble under economic pressure, we must constantly look for ways not only to survive, but to thrive.

Consider the two hikers who spotted a mountain lion stalking them. One of the hikers calmly sat down, took off his hiking boots and began putting on his running shoes.

“What good are those shoes going to do you?” asked his buddy. “You can’t outrun a mountain lion!”

Lacing up his shoes, the friend responded, “I don’t have to outrun the lion. I just have to outrun you.”

Sid outran the lions every day. He was a competitor to the end.

Mackay’s Moral: The breakfast of champions is not cereal, it’s competition.

Like millions of Americans, I watched the 10-part ESPN documentary “The Last Dance” about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. His mental toughness and mindset really stood out throughout the series.

Jordan was an extremely gifted athlete who worked tirelessly at his craft and was 100% committed to do whatever it took to overcome his competition. Nothing was going to deter him from winning. And he has a handful of championship rings to prove it.

He understood that so much of sport and business is a mental game.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus was not the longest driver, the best iron player or even the best putter, but he said, “I never missed a putt in my mind.” Golf is 50% mental, and no one mastered the mental part of winning major golf tournaments like Jack.

Baseball’s “philosopher” Yogi Berra famously opined, “Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”

No matter what your occupation, you need to create a winning mindset. What does this mean? You have to set goals and then prepare to achieve them. I’ve often said, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

You need dedication to your craft, focus and discipline, plus what I call the three Cs: confidence, commitment and competition. Michael Jordan welcomed competition. He knew competition made you better.

Mindset even extends to body language. You need to show people that you are confident in what you are doing.

Having the right mindset is having the right attitude. Your mindset shapes your attitude, and your attitude reinforces your mindset. A positive attitude enables you to look for or create opportunities. If you take advantage of them, opportunities multiply.

As an eternal optimist, I firmly believe that there is virtually nothing that I can’t do if I set my mind to it, but I am realistic enough to know I am never going to pitch in the World Series. However, I can be a player/manager of a top-notch company. I took a big gamble buying a failing envelope manufacturing company and getting it off the ground, and I’ve never looked back.

While mindset seems to be a current term, it actually originated in the early 1900s; however, it didn’t become a household term until this century. One of the key influencers was American psychologist Carol S. Dweck, a professor at Stanford University who wrote the 2006 landmark book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.”

Dweck believes there are two very distinct types of mindset -- fixed and growth. In a fixed mindset, you believe your abilities are unchangeable.

She explains: “You were born with certain traits and a certain amount of intelligence and that’s that. Many people are trained in this mindset from an early age -- for instance, by a teacher who believes your IQ determines everything. You’re either smart or you’re dumb; you can learn or you can’t. If people get a set amount of intelligence, you want to prove you have a lot, although you secretly worry you were shortchanged.”

Fortunately, I have what Dweck calls a growth mindset, where you believe the abilities you were born with are just a starting point. A growth mindset helps you unleash your potential.

She writes: “You can get smarter and grow with hard work, persistence and the right learning strategies. You have a passion for learning, welcome mistakes as opportunities to learn and seek challenges so you can stretch.”

I’ve also studied negative mindsets, where people are filled with negative thinking. It’s not easy to overcome, because negative thoughts can quickly become habit. It takes a lot of positive thinking to pull people out of this rut.

“Never let your mind talk you out of your dreams, trick you into giving up. Never let your mind become the greatest obstacle to success,” writes Roy T. Bennett, author of “The Light in the Heart.”

He reminds us: “Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”

Mackay’s Moral: Set a course for success with a positive mindset.

As I began this list of management ABCs, I was determined not to confuse management with leadership. There are leaders at all levels, whether we identify them with a special title or simply recognize their ability to direct their colleagues. Managers, on the other hand, have responsibilities to the organization to achieve results, often by working with the leaders.

Here are my thoughts on what managers need to know:

A is for advice. Good advice doesn’t get old. Good advice is never cheap, and cheap advice is never good.

B is for bringing out the best in others to get them to believe in what you believe in: your employees.

C is for caring is contagious. Help spread it around.

D is for diverse. You get the best results from people with diverse ideas who respect each other and are committed to each other’s successes.

E is for excellence. Managers should demand nothing less than excellence because they have set an example of demanding excellence from themselves.

F is for first. Running your own business is no endeavor for anyone who feels anything other than the urge to be the first person in the door in the morning and the one they have to drag out at night.

G is for good. The trick isn’t to get good at everything in your business. The trick is getting to know what you are good at and figuring out how to get better.

H is for hero. As much as you would like to be a hero, look to the heroes in your company and acknowledge and encourage their contributions.

I is for impression. What’s the easiest way to check the first impression you’re making? Have someone call your company to check up on how the call is handled. Find out what your customers already know about your business.

J is for judging. We consciously or unconsciously judge a lot of companies by the attitudes of their average workers -- the store clerk, driver, receptionist and so on. Don’t underestimate their impact.

K is for kindness. Treat yourself and others with respect. Plant seeds of kindness by doing something kind every day.

L is for listen. You can’t learn anything if you are doing all the talking. Listen to your staff because they often have great solutions and ideas for improvement.

M is for money. Managing money is as important as managing people. If you don’t manage your resources well, you’ll have to manage the mess you’ve made.

N is for nice, as in nice guys can and often do finish first. N should never be for nasty or negative.

O is for obligation. Your first obligation to your company and employees is to set them up for success.

P is for pride. Take pride in your company. Take pride in your employees. Take pride in your products. But check your personal pride at the door.

Q is for qualifications. Help your employees develop the qualifications they need to take the next step in their careers.

R is for right. Always make time to do it right the first time. Otherwise you’ll have to take time to do it over.

S is for sales. A manager needs to sell ideas, plans and products to staff before a project can take off.

T is for team. The people who make it big in business are those who are able to put together a team and know what to do with it.

U is for up-front. Being up-front builds trust. Customers and employees appreciate honesty and will be more willing to work with people who respect them enough to tell them when there’s a problem.

V is for versatile. Of the many skills managers need to bring to the job, versatility is key to understanding the different challenges they face daily.

W is for walk your plant or office floor at least once a day. Be visible and available.

X is for eXpert. Spend at least 10% of your budget on the best professional advice available before you spend a nickel on anything else.

Y is for yesterday. The decisions you made yesterday will determine where you go tomorrow.

Z is for zenith. An exceptional manager guides a company to its zenith.

Mackay’s Moral: Managing people is an art; strive for a masterpiece.