An advertisement in Sports Illustrated caught my attention. At first I thought it was regular story but then I noticed the words “Special Advertising Feature.” It was Champ Bailey’s advice to rookies, football players going to their first preseason training camp “as told to Jeff Bradley.” Champ Bailey plays cornerback for the Denver Broncos. He has played in 11 Pro Bowls and selected for 12, the most of any cornerback in NFL history. Bailey’s five pieces of advice seemed appropriate to anyone new to a job, new to a workplace. Here are his words and my thoughts:
--- “It takes time to feel at home.” To be comfortable in a new job with new co-workers does take time. The climate and culture of the organization can make shorten or lengthen the time needed. Where people are valued and everyone pulls together, the time will be less. Likewise, a negative culture where people do not like their work or do not like their supervisors should take longer. Leaders need to be aware that the behavior of a new employee is different. The new employee is learning. Are you facilitating that process? Are you pointing out good role models in the workplace?
--- “Watch the veterans closely.” Be aware of what is happening around you. It should become clear who gets recognition, who has the respect of others, what the norms are in your work group. This is one of the most important ways to ease into effective performance in a new job.
--- “Stay sharp by studying hard.” New to a workplace, there will be much to learn. Part will be about how your organization or work group gets things done, the performance standards that are expected. But you may need to brush up on skills, perhaps a different software program. Going the extra mile in the first few months of a job will usually pay big dividends later. People are watching the new employee. Show them what you are made of.
--- “Remember: Mind over matter.” Champ Bailey was talking about the challenge of pushing through pain. In the workplace we look for those who persevere, who have stick-to-it-ness, who persist at the task at hand, who make things happen. Leaders depend on such people when it is crunch-time.
--- “It gets no worse than this.” It is easy to see this in the context of an NFL rookie’s first training camp. In the workplace, I see this differently. I see this as how one comes at the world around them, the meaning we give to the events that unfold in our lives. We all live with dissatisfactions and disappointments of various sorts, some bigger than others. But ultimately how we deal with these dissatisfactions, how much we “suffer” depends on us. We choose how we respond -- or telospond – to the events that unfold. Our anger, our misery, our joy, our happiness we make. This can be a tough idea to grasp, and perhaps even tougher to live, but the peace that comes from living this perspective indeed means that “it gets no worse than this.”
Thoughts on an advertisement.
Image of Champ Bailey from Jeff Beall from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Champ_Bailey_2010.JPG
Used by permission: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
--- “It takes time to feel at home.” To be comfortable in a new job with new co-workers does take time. The climate and culture of the organization can make shorten or lengthen the time needed. Where people are valued and everyone pulls together, the time will be less. Likewise, a negative culture where people do not like their work or do not like their supervisors should take longer. Leaders need to be aware that the behavior of a new employee is different. The new employee is learning. Are you facilitating that process? Are you pointing out good role models in the workplace?
--- “Watch the veterans closely.” Be aware of what is happening around you. It should become clear who gets recognition, who has the respect of others, what the norms are in your work group. This is one of the most important ways to ease into effective performance in a new job.
--- “Stay sharp by studying hard.” New to a workplace, there will be much to learn. Part will be about how your organization or work group gets things done, the performance standards that are expected. But you may need to brush up on skills, perhaps a different software program. Going the extra mile in the first few months of a job will usually pay big dividends later. People are watching the new employee. Show them what you are made of.
--- “Remember: Mind over matter.” Champ Bailey was talking about the challenge of pushing through pain. In the workplace we look for those who persevere, who have stick-to-it-ness, who persist at the task at hand, who make things happen. Leaders depend on such people when it is crunch-time.
--- “It gets no worse than this.” It is easy to see this in the context of an NFL rookie’s first training camp. In the workplace, I see this differently. I see this as how one comes at the world around them, the meaning we give to the events that unfold in our lives. We all live with dissatisfactions and disappointments of various sorts, some bigger than others. But ultimately how we deal with these dissatisfactions, how much we “suffer” depends on us. We choose how we respond -- or telospond – to the events that unfold. Our anger, our misery, our joy, our happiness we make. This can be a tough idea to grasp, and perhaps even tougher to live, but the peace that comes from living this perspective indeed means that “it gets no worse than this.”
Thoughts on an advertisement.
Image of Champ Bailey from Jeff Beall from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Champ_Bailey_2010.JPG
Used by permission: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
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