Grace and Style on the gridiron and in a corporate environment

“A professional is someone that can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it”. Alistair Cooke

Grace and Style in sports

I’m not a big sports fan, but I recently became hooked on the HBO series Hard Knocks.  In the recent series, the program followed the New York Jets through their preseason, not just on the field but also off and behind the scenes.

Let’s do some quick math.  There are thirty-two teams in the NFL.  Fifty-two players per team (I think), and on each team, you have a first-string player (starter) and a backup or someone who can cover multiple positions.  In other words, these guys are the best of the very best. Giant beasts, to be sure, but I realized that to make it to this level, you must have a LOT of intelligence and people skills. Just having big muscles doesn’t cut it at this level.

Hard Knocks follows the team through the preseason, and the program started with 70 players, eventually whittling the roster down to 52.  Each week, a few more would be cut.   It was Survivor on the Grid Iron.

Grace, even when cut

It was impressive when players were getting cut from the team.  They showed grace and style.  I would say that 99% of these guys carried themselves with the utmost dignity and style.  (I’m not particularly eager to use the word “class” as it suggests that some people are better than others because of financial status. We all know plenty of wealthy individuals who are complete jerks, and that isn’t “class”).   I don’t consider getting cut from these teams to be the same as being let go from our jobs.  Getting cut at this level is a whole different ball of wax.  This is getting cut from a dream job.  This is being cut from a substantial amount of money for something players have been dreaming about and practicing for since they were little kids.

What impressed me is that these guys handled themselves with absolute grace, even when getting cut from their boyhood dreams.  They thanked the coaches for the opportunity, explained that they had learned a great deal in the process, and were better people for the experience.  They didn’t make a scene; they shook hands, turned in their playbooks, and walked out with their heads held high.  Unbelievable.  I wish people in corporate America handled themselves as well as this.   These were the guys I wanted to work with.  These were guys who had positive attitudes and were not going to let setbacks affect them.  Put simply, grace and style in challenging situations.

Franchise players

In a prior season, the program profiled Ochocinco from the Cincinnati Bengals.  He didn’t fit in my description above.  However, that is the point I am trying to make.  He stuck out, and although he is a great athletic player, he turned a few folks off.  In corporate America, the pool of candidates is large. In the NFL, there are literally only a handful of franchise players. Demand outweighs supply.  Corporate America can easily find another person with our particular skill sets and doesn’t have to deal with a showboat.

I am not naive.  I am sure they went home and had a shitty rest of the week, season, etc., but how they handled themselves in their professional environments was impressive.

It made me realize that this is a big piece of what it takes to become successful at this level.  You can’t just have muscles and quickness; you also need social skills and know-how to handle yourself.  Similar to the corporate world, you won’t be truly successful unless you have the entire package.  The technical acumen associated with your job, as well as your ability to get along and handle stress, are also very important aspects.

Demand outweighs supply

Being limited to “x” players forces choices to be made. This brings out the best for each position. Corporate America can hire as many people as it wants and lay them off when needed.  Being limited to “x” number of players forces the hiring of the best of the best.  At this level, many of these players learned how to conduct themselves with style.  If you want to survive the cutbacks in this economy, don’t just be the best at your job.   Handle yourself with grace and style.

See you at the after party,
HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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