Just Plain Bill

Giving praise & recognition to colleagues–

easy to do, and has incredible impact

Several years ago, I developed and facilitated a course called Emerging Leader, designed for employees interested in becoming managers. In addition to providing a “taste” of what management might be like through skill mini-modules and scenarios focused on human resource challenges, the course ended with the subjects of praise and recognition - both of which are desired, but are almost universally ignored on the job.

We started with the question, “How many of you feel you receive the praise or recognition you deserve?” The collective response from the hundreds of participants was a nearly unanimous “not me.” This was followed by the question, “Who do you feel is responsible for providing that recognition?” Once again, the response of “my manager” was nearly unanimous.

I next framed the subject around yet another question: “If not you, than who?” When you provide praise and recognition to a colleague, a person who would most likely not be expecting either one, it can have a powerful impact. This challenge continues to have a mighty influence on the work lives of the 300+ participants who attended the course over a five-year period.

Tom Peters, known as the “quality guru”, co-wrote the monumental bestseller In Search of Excellence, in which he encouraged personal responsibility and to empower decision-makers across all levels of an organization. Peters presented his thoughts on employee recognition, which he calls THE #1 Best Practice.

While Peters’ emphasis on this practice is seen from the position of a manager, the practice can take on even greater impact when everyone sees him or herself as a “recognizer

Just Plain Bill

Superstitious?

Do you have a concern when Friday the 13^th rolls around? Do you change your routine “just in case” you might let loose a dose of some bad luck when that day rolls around?

Are you concerned when a black cat crosses your path? Do you make sure you don’t walk under a ladder? Do you toss some salt over your shoulder if you happen to spill some?

I’ve always felt that Friday the 13^th held good luck for me. Perhaps it’s because my mother was born on Friday the 13^th. It could also be because 1913 was the year she emigrated from England to Canada with her family, after having their journey put off a year. They had booked passage on the Titanic, which, as we all know, hit an iceberg and sank in 1912. Talk about good luck, eh?

One year, I decided to test the good or bad “luck-ness” of Friday the 13^th. I bought 13 one-dollar lottery tickets, from a vendor on 13^th street, at exactly 1313 hours. That’s 13 minutes after 1:00 PM for you not used to naval time. And how did I do you may ask? Did I win an amount that might total 13 in some way? Nope. But I did win $5 from two of my tickets and was just a little consoled that I’d won something.

I believe a lot of our superstitions originate from what we now call “urban legends”, or maybe even religious writings. There is in fact, a definition for the fear of Friday the 13^th: Paraskevidekatriaphobics describes people who have a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13^th.

There’s also a wealth of data on the subject of superstitions, with enough of them to satisfy more peoples’ needs for omens of some type.

I’d like to end by wishing you good luck, but I’ll just leave that subject up to you and end with the insipid comment, “Have a good day!”

Just Plain Bill

The difference between being

audacious and arrogant

I love the word audacious, as it is part of a powerful statement I first learned from Jim Collins, the noted author and consultant: “BHAG - the bold hairy audacious goal that mountain climbers refer to on their quest for ever grander climbs.”

That term came to mind at the end of the latest Super Bowl, won of course by the New England Patriots as a result of an intercepted pass from the Seattle Seahawks at the Patriots one-yard line, with just a few seconds left.

Even though the Seahawks had one of pro football’s best runners in their backfield and a versatile and talented quarterback leading their offense, their coach decided to try a pass on 2^nd down…what I would initially label as a truly audacious call.

Considering the result of that pass intercepted by the Patriots was the sealing of their victory as Super Bowl XXXIX champions, I’ve been rethinking my label, especially in light of the avalanche of criticism of the coach’s call. 

After the passage of a little time, and resulting fierce reaction to the Seahawks decision to throw a pass, I’ve come to wonder if the word arrogance would be more appropriate. I realize that one is an adjective, while the other word is a noun; one describes an action while the other describes a person’s character.

I’m also reminded of what a famous football coach said when asked why he favored the run. Woody Hayes referred to his favorite run play as “Three yards and a cloud of dust”. He was also quoted as saying, "Only three things can happen when you pass (a completion, an incompletion, and an interception) and two of them are bad." Well, one of the bad things occurred when the Seahawks called their fateful pass play – an interception that resulted in them losing the Super Bowl.

How many of you were absolutely certain the Seahawks would pound the ball into the end zone with a Marshawn Lynch run, or waltz it into the end zone with a Russell Wilson bootleg?!

I’m tempted to say that the Super Bowl is just a game, but in reality, it has been elevated to something almost religious in the fervor of its followers – to say nothing of the financial impact similar to the gross national product of many nations of the world.

What a shame…audacious, arrogance, or otherwise

Just Plain Bill

I attended the first Super Bowl game – except that it wasn’t yet “Super”…

Back in the day…better yet…Once upon a time, there were two professional football leagues - the American Football League, or AFL, and the well-established National Football League, or NFL. There were ongoing and often-spirited discussions as to which league was the “best”, and so the powers that be decided to have a game to determine a “champion.”

As we approach the 49^th anniversary of the Super Bowl, I remember the 1964 season well. I was a loyal fan of the upstart Oakland Raiders in the AFL. I was able to purchase an end zone ticket for $6.00. Six dollars!

That season’s AFL champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, were scheduled to play the NFL champion Green Bay Packers in what was billed as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game that would take place in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Even though the attendance was announced as over 61,000 in the near 100,000 capacity stadium, I know for a fact the number was closer to 40,000. In fact, just prior to the start of the game, those of us in the end zones were asked to fill in the seats between the 20-yard lines, to give the national television audiences the appearance of a stadium much fuller than it actually was. My use of the plural “audiences” is intentional. There were only three major networks at the time and two of them carried the game!

The halftime entertainment consisted of performances by college bands instead of the latest recording stars. I remember a man dressed in a space suit, complete with a jet pack on his back, demonstrating what was proclaimed to be the first manned free-flight as he rose and hovered 100 feet over the field for about a minute or so. Cool - for the mid ‘60s.

The one thing that has stuck with me the most over the years is something that does not show up in any report of the game, not even in the next day’s paper, but I know it occurred because I saw it with my own eyes. It involved the second half kickoff by the Chiefs. The referee spotted the ball; the Chiefs kicked the ball to the Packers, and then stopped them deep in their own territory, about the 17-yard line or so.

It’s what happened next that has stuck with me. The referee then blew his whistle, picked up the ball, placed it back on the Chiefs’ 20-yard line, and had them re-kick it. It appeared that the television commercials had not ended the first time the ball was kicked to start the second half. (This was before the man on the field with the red sleeve on his shirt would indicate when it was OK to resume play.)

The ensuing re-kick was run back to the Chiefs’ side of the field, giving the Packers much better field position, and was soon followed by a Packers’ touchdown…no doubt due to the resulting momentum gifted to them by the referee’s screw up.

I suspect this “oops play” has stuck with me as a not-so-subconscious reminder of the day I first witnessed for myself, the networks taking control of the sport.

Who knows how the game might have turned out if it had not been for that not forgotten “oops”?