3 Lessons from a two-toed, small town, high school quarterback

The past six months of Dylan Fink's life have been gruesome and triumphant.

The gruesome part was when a combine sliced through both of his feet, leaving him only two toes.

[brief pause for you to ponder that for a minute...]

An article in today's Kansas City Star (linked below) shares Fink's story from the combine slice to tonight's triumph. Tonight, Fink leads his eight-man high school football team to the semifinals as their quarterback. The article shares details of Fink's recovery, return to school, and return to the football field.

It is nice to learn about a teenager with character at a time when most teens complain if they don't have a cell phone. Imagine their reaction if eight toes were sliced off their feet? But, Fink is not "most teens." He is someone special, and we can learn from him and the story.

Three things we can learn from the quarterbacking teenager:

#1. Playing for your team matters. Fink's recovery stayed ahead of schedule because he wanted to play football with his friends. He's not doing it for money or fame. He's doing it to contribute to the team, a team of his friends.

Isn't there something workplace teams, and those who assemble them, could take away from that? People want to contribute, they want to be on the team.

#2. Fighting to be on the team matters. Fink worked hard to return to his team. He didn't even walk the first week after the accident, and the first time he tried lasted only a few seconds. The young man worked hard to go from not walking to scoring nine touchdowns in the season. His teammates know he worked hard. It showed them how badly he wanted to be on the team. They had to work hard to earn what Fink was fighting for. They knew Fink was fighting to be on the team, and they had to make it a team worth fighting for. His fight inspired them.

Could workplace teammates do the same? Workplace team members certainly know how each other feels about the team, so couldn't one of them inspire the rest toward higher performance? Of course they can.

#3. Prioritizing fun over profit can pay off. Sam Mellinger wrote in the article, "Sports are hard to hug sometimes. Players cheat. Coaches lie. Too many use success for ego and entitlement and greed. Profit is prioritized over fun, every stadium is a TV studio, every message comes with an agenda. Sometimes the whole thing can suppress character as much as cultivate it..."

When companies bombard employees with messages relaying ego, entitlement, greed, and agendas, the employees know it and are not inspired by it. Employees want to play for the team, but they do not want to play for some high level executive's fancy car. Fink says. “Being out there with my team, I feel like I’m accomplishing a lot.” Workplace team members want that same feeling.

Fink's character was cultivated long before the combine sliced off his toes. The combine slicing just gave him a chance to show it. It also gave us the chance to learn from the two-toed, small town, high school quarterback.

What do you think? Can workplace teams learn from the young quarterback?

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Please click here for the full article: Kansas City Star article by Sam Mellinger


UPDATE:
The Miami Eagles team was defeated by St. Joseph Christian, 22-30, in their final game of the season. Congratulations to Dylan and his teammates for a valiant effort.

Perception: what you see is what you get

A headline in this morning's news got my attention:
CBS 'The Early Show' executive producer David Friedman doubles the size of his office while staff face layoffs and cost cuts

The article, on the New York Post web site (1), reveals the dismay felt by the remaining staff. Apparently Mr. Friedman, son of a top CBS executive, flew to London to fire staff there a month prior to expanding his office. 

Mr. Friedman has two things working against him: he recently laid off people and he is the son of an executive.

He should expect to be scrutinized. As an executive himself, he should be aware of others' perceptions and how they are formed. Now, he should expect backlash for his decorating decision.

They say perception is reality. The perception that Mr. Friedman is insensitive to effects of layoffs, aloof, and a poor decision maker could be defended by him and his supporters; however, the reality is that he'll have to deal with that perception. He will have to purposefully overcome the perceptions of himself if he intends to be productive and influential at CBS going forward.

Why bother?Mr. Friedman should bother because perception affects judgment, which affects behavior. Perception is "the process of interpreting and understanding one's environment."

The staff of "The Early Show" interpreted Mr. Friedman's actions and will base decisions about him on their interpretation, just as employees all over the country do in their own offices daily. People respond to others based on their own perception of them and the environment.

A manager whose first words of the day are, "Don't talk to me until I've had coffee!" will be perceived as less calm, friendly, or reliable than a boss who arrives in a satisfactory mood. A project manager who exclaims, "Why can't those architects finish on time?" every time there is a client delay will be perceived as inflexible and not service-oriented.

To ensure the perceptions others have of you is positive and productive, ensure your actions are congruent with your intentions. Their perceptions will impact your influence, so impact the perceptions carefully, consciously, and cautiously. Since what you see is what you'll get, awareness of others' perceptions can lead to more influence and productivity. Or, less.

[What do you think? Have you worked for someone who made a similar mistake as Mr. Friedman? Were the perceptions similar or different? Did the manager overcome negative perceptions following the mistake? Your comments would be welcome and appreciated.]

POST SOURCES:
1. The article can be found here: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/staff_office_early_layoffs_executive_dfDQ0jg8F581zxUYuUVx5M?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=
2. Management; Kinicki and Williams; McGraw Hill 2009)