You have to ask yourself, how could these three items have anything in common? Well, the way I see it through my executive recruiter lens, the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday reminded us once again of a very valuable lesson in managing our career and searching for jobs and talent in Indianapolis.
As a Colts season ticket holder for more than a decade, I consider myself a pretty loyal Colts fan. As a business owner and executive recruiter in Indy I appreciate the value and importance the Colts play to our city and it’s economic development efforts. A lot has been written about it, a lot has been spoken about it and potentially; Sunday, December 27th might even be a day to go down in Colts Football infamy.
Similar to the controversial Bill Belichick 4th and 2 call a few weeks back everyone has an opinion on the Colts benching the starters in the third quarter versus the Jets. 14 and 0, leading by less than a touchdown with less than 2 quarters to go and the starters go to the bench. You have to ask yourself who made this decision and why? Was it the Coach, the GM or the Owner and what were the compelling reasons to do so. Bob Kravitz, sports writer for the Indianapolis Star ( www.indystar.com) has a lot of suggestions as to why this decision was made and who was responsible for it. I have my own opinion as well and would be willing to share if you ask but the real important question to all of you is what type of employer do you work for or are you interviewing with? One that plays it safe and focuses on the "big game" or one that goes for a once in a lifetime opportunity?
Don’t get me wrong, there is no right or wrong answer here, however, there is the best answer for each of you depending on your own personal desires and wants.
Having battled through and survived the economic downturn of 2009 I can very much appreciate the "playing it safe" mentality. Once again you have to be in the Superbowl to win the Superbowl. But when the opportunity of perfection, a "game changing lifetime event" is at your doorstep you really have to step back, pause and decide what is more important, being the Superbowl Champions or re-writing history for the ages. Being the only team ever to go 19 and 0 with the possibility that your record will never ever be broken. Ask the ’72 Dolphins how many cases of champagne they have consumed over the ages.
In the corporate world of Indianapolis how many of you work for companies that would have kept the starters in and went for 19 and 0? And how many of you work for companies that would have played it safe and continued on to the next work day. I challenge each of you to use this sports moment to reflect upon your own careers and decide if your personal career style is aligned properly with your employer’s risk tolerance. Or, if you are part of the senior management of an Indianapolis company, ask yourself if your company is hiring the right individuals that fit your risk model.
There has been a lot of pontification about greatness and perfection over time, but from what I have experienced in my life to date no one is ever truly going to know which path they will go down until the moment presents itself, however, you can prepare for that decision today by becoming more aware of who you are and what is important to you. At That’s Good HR this is exactly what we strive to do each day for every candidate and client we work with – help them better understand who they are and who they best align with.
So…back to my original question: "What do the three have in common?". You tell me.
