Playing Hurt

Whatever happened to the days when team members could be counted on by other team members no matter what? I know they do not grow warriors like Cal Ripken, Jr. or Brett Favre on trees, but has the expectation to "play hurt" for the overall benefit of the team dwindled in recent years.

Okay, let's step out of the realm of pro athletes for a second. What is the expectation among your team? Do your team members pick up the slack for one another when one member is unable to perform? Do folks in your office or on your team readily volunteer to cover vacations for one another? A deeper question to ask yourself is just how much of a role does the quality of leadership play when it comes to the willingness to "play hurt?"

The culture of team-building is a tricky science. A mentor of mine used to refer to the "team" as an ongoing science or chemistry project. That analogy always kept the dynamic of team-building fun. Proper planning, goal-setting, levels of accountability and a low-tolerance for poor performance are all critical in formulating the winning team. Do you want your team-members to "play hurt?" If so, they need to know exactly why they should be laying it all on the line at all times. What is the mission, the vision, the end goal? In professional sports this can be obvious in the form of a championship, a legacy or a Hall of Fame induction. In the business world, this is often up to the team leader to define, plan and execute. Does your team clearly understand and support the goal? Are they zealots? When people are passionate about their work, they execute at higher levels of performance. Part of a leader's responsibility is to be constantly stoking this fire. A unified goal, cause or mission will go a long way to creating a "playing hurt" performance culture. Which will in-turn go a long way in helping the team exceed performance expectations.

"As long as I can compete, I won't quit. Reaching three-thousand is not the finish line as long as I can contribute." – Cal Ripken, Jr.

Change and No Change

Let's face it, most publishing companies that operate in the classifieds business or within one of the classified verticals are undergoing a transformation from being traditionally print to electronic media oriented (at least the ones that hope to still be around in the future). We at The Employment Guide are no exception to this transition. As we become more knowledgeable about what the future of our business will look like and what that means to us as an organization, we have a better idea of how to navigate the directional waters to realize increased levels of success. It is through the acquisition of this knowledge that we will continue to differentiate our products and services from the competition and excel at meeting the needs for our customers (both job seekers and hiring managers/companies).


While the change that we are experiencing as an organization is fascinating and is a very exciting journey that everyone is embracing, there are still certain aspects of our business that need to remain the same, primarily our ability to execute. Proper execution is one of the best competitive advantages for us as an organization (coming in a close second behind the talented folks that make up our employee complement). The process of unifying our direction from the field level up to the senior management team has given us a profound competitive advantage in the past and will continue to do so in to the future. Our best ideas inevitably come from the field, our local employees on the front lines or even from our customers. A quick look back over our history reveals this to be true. We got into the job fair business via a customer's request. Here we are more than 1,000 job fairs later still reaping the benefits of following that suggestion. Another thing I like a lot about our organization is in the ability we have to adjust to the current business climate. This is an exceptional trait for any business but is critical when you operate a business that is cyclical in nature. Let's see: labor industry - employment advertising - cyclical in nature? DUH! This is also a great place to insert that we do not utilize this as an excuse for lack of execution but as another factor in determining our next best course of action.


It is my opinion that you can take quality leadership skills, sound decision making and quality operational skills and apply that across just about any industry and you will have a recipe for success. The secret ingredient on achieving a high success factor is in the passion and individual desire to be successful (not only for an individual, but for an organization as a whole). This is something that definitely starts at the top, and I am not exempt. I for one am very excited about the direction we are heading as an organization. I enjoy greatly talking about this with new recruits and current employees. As a former field general I can tell you that the thing I enjoy the most is getting back out in the field and speaking with our talented group of folks all over the country. It was, is and will continue to be the strength of what makes The Employment Guide successful, as well as truly differentiated from the competition, in fact all competitors! The journey that we are on is exciting. The transition we are experincing as an organization is one of the coolest things I have professionally been in a position to oversee.


So, as we experience organizational change and explore new directions, some things will not change. Mainly, our ability to properly execute will continue, which includes maintaining a strong bias towards the ongoing development of our people (who remain our greatest strength).


Do you embrace change, new concepts and ideas, or are you more of a traditionalist?