Ok I admit it…I am a long-suffering Houston Texans football fan. Over the past two years, the Texans have found ways to be on the short end of a miraculous come-back finish of no less than 6 football games. Yes, 0-6 over those games. Missed field goals, dropped passes, fumbles, Hail Mary’s (by the other team), and last second heroics by the other team; you name it, the Texans have been the team these last second miracles are perpetrated against. So where am I going with this?
Well, all of these game losing disappointments bring into question the level at which these professionals perform their job. The eye-popping salaries and the endorsements etc. leave the common man with a jealous envy of sorts. Yet when you calculate a KPI for these guys, the rate versus return seems totally out of whack. Here are some examples:
- When a defensive lineman takes 20-30 plays in a game, yet records only 1 or 2 sacks on the opposing Quarterback, that is considered a GREAT game. Are you kidding me? One or two successes out of 20 or 30 tries? I’d be in the soup line.
- A defensive back that gives up not one, but two long pass plays in the same game, giving the opposing team scores on both plays, is deemed as having a tough day. Awe gee, if I lost two big sales to my competitor and did that for 16 weeks straight, again, soup kitchen time.
- A running back who fumbles the ball during the last drive as the clock runs down, giving away the game is said to have a bad break. If I let the board report I am writing get lost in my computer such that I cannot present it, I am told I have no job.
I could go on and on. Now, these are obvious, big deals. Here’s my question though. What about the day by day grind of showing up, doing the do, making it happen, getting it done? Do you give it 100% all the time? Or do you find a short cut? Maybe take a few extra minutes at the coffee bar or strolling back after lunch. Heck, what about taking off early? Or not coming in at all? No, your team needs you making every play all the time. We can forget about the examples we find in pro sports. We need to be about handling what we can control in the best way possible.
Find your best, be your best.
