Alex Rodriguez on Discipline, Pressure and Legacy

Alex Rodriguez—Chairman and CEO of A-Rod Corp and former New York Yankee—joined Dane Skillrud, COO of Systematic Equities and FICC at Citadel Securities, for a conversation at the firm’s intern offsite in Palm Beach. The session explored performance, resilience and leadership in high-pressure environments. Watch a key moment from their exchange in the video highlight below.

Drawing on lessons from 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), which includes a 2009 World Series championship, and his later work as a business leader and co-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx, Rodriguez framed the discussion around three themes: learning from setbacks, how discipline and pressure shape performance, why questioning conventional wisdom matters and how relationships define a lasting legacy.

Getting Back Up Is the Key to Greatness
Acknowledging his own setbacks, Rodriguez noted with humor that he ranks fifth all-time in career strikeouts. Yet he tells his daughters he has “a PhD in failing, but a master’s in getting back up.” Persistence, he explained, is about showing up with energy and optimism after each setback. For him, resilience means approaching the 101st attempt with the same commitment as the first.

How Discipline Fuels Success
Sustained success, Rodriguez emphasized, depends less on talent and more on consistent preparation. “It has to do with work ethic, keeping your eye on the ball, staying focused, learning how to deal with pressure and being prepared,” he said. Discipline, he explained, is what converts potential into results. As an example, he pointed to his 2004 trade from the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees. The trade required him to change positions and face intense scrutiny from fans and media. “Those pinstripes, they look light, but they are heavy,” he noted. Embracing that pressure, he added, sharpened his performance and drove him to improve.

Breaking from the Pack
The conversation turned to how advantage fades when strategies become commonplace. In baseball, analytics once provided a distinct edge. But today, all 30 MLB teams rely on the same data. “So now the model is broken. What are we going to do? We are going to be contrarian,” Rodriguez said. His point applied beyond sports: To remain competitive, leaders in any field must challenge assumptions, think critically and resist complacency.

The Power of Lasting Connections
Even with contracts, a championship and ownership roles, Rodriguez stressed that true success is measured in relationships. Loyalty, humility and integrity, he said, are the qualities that endure. “When you’re 75 years old, your net worth is going to resemble your network,” he told the interns. Legacy, in his view, comes not from statistics but from meaningful connections built over time.

He closed with advice that resonates broadly: “All champions have passion. When you have passion and you show up early, look people in the eye and have real enthusiasm, that carries you more than you know.”