The Morning Blend: It’s Super Bowl Week!
Brad Raney | Feb 01, 2011 | Comments 0
For pro football fans, this week is the pinnacle time of the season – it’s Super Bowl week! Before Sunday night is over, a new world champion of pro football will be crowned and the combatants for this year’s Super Bowl are two of the most storied franchises in the sport – the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While I would love to break down the match ups position by position and give you my analysis of what’s going to happen in the game, you didn’t decide to read this blog to hear my sports takes! However, there is a huge parallel between the blog series we just completed and the path that NFL teams take to play for the ultimate prize. So let’s huddle up a moment and take a look at the similarities.
The blog series in January covered four aspects of changing your mindset: Realization, Analyzation, Preparation, and Expectation. NFL team owners and General Managers are judged specifically on these same criteria in a job that starts as soon as their team is eliminated from playoff contention. Teams like the Indianapolis Colts, the New York Jets, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Chicago Bears, all lost late in the playoffs, but within just hours of walking off the field, the owners and GMs were hard at work going through these four steps. Teams that didn’t qualify for the playoffs started the process as soon as their last regular season game was over – and they have even more questions to answer.
The owners/GM’s have to reflect on the team’s performance, find the good and the bad, and quickly make judgements on what its going to take to be more successful next season. Their realization and analyzation skills have to be sharp as they pick apart the positives from the negatives. Once their analysis is complete, they begin to formulate a plan for the upcoming NFL draft in April, where they hope to strengthen their teams with new players that fit their shopping list.
The preparation phase starts during the NFL Combine, where college players show off their strength, agility, speed, and skills to the various teams’ scouts and management. The Combine is a kind of proving ground, where the NFL brass make decisions on which players stand out and those they take off their draft boards all together. This part of the owners and GM’s job is very difficult because they are only evaluating skills without knowing for sure how the player will perform under game pressure, interact with his teammates in the locker room or represent the team in public. At best, the preparation phase is “best guess” scenario – at worst, it can set the team back many years if the wrong players are drafted.
Finally, at the draft, each team selects the players that “best fit their needs” and the expectations begin. The higher the player is drafted, the heavier the expectation load becomes. Players who are drafted in the early rounds and don’t live up to expectations are labeled as “busts” in future years, while players who are drafted in later rounds that become stars are called “diamonds in the rough” or “steals of the draft”. The expectations placed on a player during the draft can follow them through their entire career – good or bad.
What in the world does any of this have to do with you and searching for your perfect job? Plenty! Think about it this way – your job search process is almost identical to the player evaluation process in the NFL.
First, you have to take stock and realize where you are on your career path. Then analyze your skills and abilities closely and dig deep to find out what really motivates you. Just like the NFL owners and GM’s, you have critically determine the wins and losses you have had in your career so far, and before the next season starts (your next job opportunity), you must make some tough decisions about what needs to be improved and then have the courage to make change happen.
As you prepare to find the company you want to work for and to attain the position where you can flourish, the owners and GM’s are doing the same thing – closely evaluating all the options, making critical observations, asking a lot of tough questions, and judging the metrics of every possible scenario. Looking for the right company is your version of the NFL Combine – you are the scout and the prospective employers are the players. You spend quality time talking with as many hiring managers and company contacts as possible so that you can really get a feel for the atmosphere and philosophies of the organization. You use this information to create your own “draft board” of company prospects, and then systematically work through the options, top to bottom.
While you are doing this, you are forming expectations about the companies that you target. You get very excited and hopeful for some opportunities, less so for others. You really hit it off well with some hiring managers, and feel a bit of angst after meeting with others. You begin to see yourself in the office of your top ranking company – and maybe even cringe to think about having to take the job possibility where you only have a cubicle.
The point is that if you continue to work your system, apply the techniques we’ve been discussing, and stay true to your “draft board”, you will find the companies that best suit your skill set, hopes, dreams, desires, and experiences. If you only take a passing glance at a company and get lost in the glitz and glamour of the brand, you may end up making a huge drafting error and end up a “bust” in the position.
Your expectations will be shaped by the time and level of expertise that you put into your search. Finding your perfect job IS a job in itself. Treat it like you are the owner or GM of your team, and make sure you draft the right company. If you do so, you’re on your way to playing in the Super Bowl of perfect jobs!! I hope to see you there soon!
If I can help you make good drafting decisions or evaluate your talent better, don’t hesitate to ask!
Sincerely,
Brad Raney
Brad Raney is a motivational speaker, life coach, author and sales trainer. He has over 25 years of experience in sales and sales management within the broadcast industry. Brad developed the VOWELS program in 2009 and the success it brought his sales team has spurred keynote speeches, workshops, seminars, a website, and his first book “Improve Your VOWELS, Improve Your Career!” which was released in July 2010.
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