Playing The Superior Game

Rusty Komori’s life is a lot like those old TV commercials from brokerage giant E.F. Hutton. You know, the ones where a roomful of noisy people suddenly go quiet before leaning in to hear sound financial advice? Then, the narrator breaks the silence by delivering the iconic line:

“When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.”

Well, people do the same whenever Komori talks or pens a few lines, too. Of course with him, it isn’t financial counseling or investment advice they’re after. What they want is Komori’s expertise in developing strong leaders, his ideas on individual and collective excellence, and his methods of cultivating the proper mindset, which he says demands replacing “a victim mentality with a victor attitude.”

In recent years, Komori has been a popular motivational speaker and executive coach, as well as a bestselling author and the host of the Beyond the Lines show, which can be viewed on YouTube. His three books — Beyond the Lines, Beyond the Game and Superior — have inspired individuals from all walks of life to value self-actualization. His wisdom and guidance have even helped some overcome mental health challenges. 

For his extensive work in persuading organizations around the globe to strive for excellence and build strong cultures, Komori was knighted last summer by Spain’s Prince Rafael Andujar y Vilches of the Royal Order of Constantine The Great and Saint Helen Foundation, a chivalric organization under the Royal House of Cappadocia. The formal investiture ceremony took place in Chicago and earned Komori the honorific title of “Sir.”

“It was a privilege to be nominated by a dutchess, confirmed by a duke and knighted by Prince Rafael,” says Komori, who admittedly still gets a kick out of being called “Sir Rusty Komori” every now and then. “They wanted to acknowledge the concepts and effectiveness that my books are having in helping countless businesses, sports teams and families.”

For Komori, the knighting is just the latest tribute to his life’s work and mission: to elevate the level of society by inspiring citizens to pursue what he calls “superior excellence.”

“What I most want is for everyone in Hawaiʻi to develop and reach their true potential,” he says.

An avid tennis player who was inducted into Creighton University’s Hall of Fame in 2014 for his number of college career wins (130) in singles and doubles play, Komori often uses sports analogies during his speeches and coaching sessions. In fact, when challenging people to never grow too comfortable and rest on their laurels, he’s apt to say something like, “Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” Little wonder why he’s commanded the attention of local and national sports celebrities over the years. They include Dick Vermeil, a former NFL head coach who led the St. Louis Rams to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV, and Timmy Chang, head coach of the University of Hawaiʻi football team.

Komori began working with Chang about a year ago. Since then, the two have conducted 38 executive coaching sessions together — 35 before and during the 2025-26 campaign and three since the season ended.

“The landscape of college football is extremely challenging and I know that Coach Timmy is 1,000% committed to establishing Hawaiʻi football as a strong, successful program and making the entire state proud,” Komori says. “To help him become a more effective coach and leader, I had him focus on simplicity and clarity so that he would be in better alignment with his assistant coaches and players.”

Komori says the results speak for themselves. Following three years in which the team played under-.500 ball, the Rainbow Warriors rebounded this past season by posting a 9-4 record. The team then capped off its successful campaign with a 35-31 victory over California in the Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl.

“We proved that my system works,” notes Komori, “and it’s something that I want for every sports team, every business, every family. It’s a proven system, and if we can raise the level of people across the board, that’ll make Hawaiʻi really stand out to the rest of the world.”

Komori first entered the public eye during his years as the record-setting head coach of the Punahou boys varsity tennis team. Beginning in the mid-’90s, he led the Buff ’n Blue to an unprecedented 22 straight state titles — a national record that still stands today. 

Yet, as impressive as that mark is, Komori claims he was never motivated by titles.

“Winning 22 consecutive championships was never my goal, but it was the teams’ goal. My purpose was to develop athletes of character,” he says.

Still, such an achievement was bound to attract attention and it wasn’t long before a throng of admirers began asking him how they, too, could enjoy superior results in their own professions.

“A lot of my players’ parents were CEOs and business owners, and they would tell me, ‘Hey, Coach Rusty, you need to write a book — you need to share what you’re doing with your teams,’” he recalls. “And back then, all I would think was, ‘Me? Write a book?’”

Komori didn’t give the suggestion a second thought until he retired from coaching in 2015 and decided it was finally time to share the methods he developed at Punahou with others.

“I just thought that I have a system that is applicable to any sports team, any business and any family, and if there is something bigger or greater that I could do to help anyone, then maybe I should do that,” he explains.

His first book, Beyond the Lines, was published in 2017 and establishes the framework for those hoping to build a culture of excellence, while his second effort, Beyond the Game, was released in 2020 and addresses what he calls “the three Cs of leadership: choices, communication and culture.”

His third published work, Superior, came out in 2024 and sheds light on what individuals need to reach their true potential.

“Superior is a bold title for a book, but it doesn’t mean being better than anybody else. I’m sharing that to be superior requires being your best self and then helping the people around you to become their best selves,” Komori explains. “How do you become a superior parent? How do you become a superior son or daughter or coach or player or leader or team member? Well, it’s a mindset; it’s a lifestyle. You’re either striving for superior excellence or you’re not.”

Over the years, dozens of appreciative businesses and individuals have joined Komori’s “superior initiative” by donating his published works to more than 80 schools in Hawaiʻi.

“I’m grateful that people are focusing on the right things by helping others to be as good as they can be,” Komori says.

Amazingly, his books have even been instrumental in changing the minds of struggling individuals contemplating suicide. Komori is glad to have played a role in preserving their lives.

“When I started writing books, I wanted the books to literally apply to every student and adult in the world,” he says. “But never ever did I think they would help in saving the lives of people with mental health issues of depression and suicide.”

Since the release of his books, Komori says 11 people have approached him and confessed that his writings persuaded them to persevere. One of those individuals is former Honolulu Police Department sergeant and CrimeStoppers Honolulu coordinator Chris Kim, who retired from HPD a year ago to work for the U.S. Army in South Korea.

Kim details his struggles with suicidal thoughts and his eventual triumph in Superior.

“I met Sgt. Kim when I was at an event in Waikīkī, and he kind of tapped me on the shoulder and says, ‘Coach Rusty, I need to get to know you.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Oh, no! I’m in trouble’ because when a police officer does that, you’re probably in trouble,” Komori recalls, laughing. “But what he told me then was that he had actually planned out his suicide and it was one of his fellow police officers who then gave him one of my books. He took it home that night, read it cover to cover in one sitting, and it changed his mindset and saved his life.”

When talking to those who are in a state of despair, Komori often begins by discussing the two types of people in the world: victims and victors. He’ll also cover the topic of adversity, and suggest that life’s difficulties should be welcomed rather than shunned. Finally, he’ll encourage them to keep things simple and focus only on the positive.

“When you’re a victim, you feel hopeless and helpless. When you’re a victor, you feel hopeful and helpful,” Komori explains. “A victim focuses on problems, while a victor focuses on solutions. So, there is a choice for you to make and you have the power to choose.

“Again, it’s the mindset,” he adds. “What I’ll tell them is, ‘What’s the one thing that you’re passionate about?’ When they focus on just one thing, that becomes the driving force that gets them from being knocked to the ground to getting back on their feet.”

Komori credits many of his ideas to lessons learned in his formative years growing up in Wahiawā and later Mililani. Aside from attending Hanalani School and Damien Memorial School, he was raised by a no-nonsense mother and housewife named Paulette Komori.

“A big part of it was the discipline I learned at Hanalani and then at Damien, because those two schools were super, super strict,” he says with a chuckle. “I would just listen and do. I wouldn’t talk back (to teachers and school administrators) because I didn’t want to get into trouble. But that kind of discipline really shaped me.

“And then my mom enforced discipline with me as well. I had to finish my homework before I could go out to practice tennis,” Komori adds. “But that was the key thing — self-discipline is a choice that you make every day, and if you have self-discipline, then that leads to building good habits and those good habits lead to success.”

When he was 24, Punahou School hired him to be its boys tennis coach. Komori gladly welcomed the challenge to positively affect the lives of “impressionable teenagers.”

“I knew I had to have a plan to help them become the best that they could be. But to create a real team, you have to take players in an individual sport and help them see how extra special it is to be a part of a real team, where you’re playing for something bigger than yourself,” he explains.

“I had 12 players every year, and I wanted the 12th player to feel just as important as the No. 1 player, because everyone needs to contribute and everyone needs to feel like they’re helping to achieve the goal of the team. And when you have that, when everybody feels like they matter, then that’s how you really create a real team, a special team, where they look forward to coming to practice, they look forward to going to matches, they look forward to just hanging out with each other,” Komori adds.

“And that’s how you build a healthy culture, and then that healthy culture gives you the chance to have peak performance — and not just sometimes, but all the time.”

To learn more about Komori, visit rustykomori.com.