Perfect Employee

In this week's Sports Illustrated, there is an article on Jets Fullback Tony Richardson. Richardson is a 17 year veteran who people keep waiting to retire but he continues to out play the younger players (called Terminators) each season. Here is what SI says about him.

He's not especially big—barely 6'1" and a steady 238 pounds year after year—not especially fast, not especially elusive. What he offers, what he has always offered, are those things football coaches call "intangibles," though the truth is that the skills are really quite tangible. He runs all-out every time. He catches the ball well. He speaks up and says the right things at meetings, visits the teammate having a tough time, watches other players to see how he can help. Yes, help even those Terminators who come for his job. Also, perhaps more than anything else, Richardson accepts the violence of the position.


That describes the perfect employee to me. He works hard every day. He does the little things well. He speaks up at meetings, mentors a peer that is struggling and looks to see how he can help out a co-worker. The perfect employee even helps the younger staff that could possibly take their job! The perfect employee accepts the crap that goes with the job!
 
We have spent the last decade writing books and reading books about servant leadership and here we find the quality we hold such a high regard for playing fullback in the NFL. Not the CEO of HP, BP or BofA, but the Jets. J.E.T.S.Jets-Jets-Jets!
 
Can you believe this quote? Richardson says, "it just means more to me to help someone else achieve glory. There's something about it that feels right to me." That statement is almost too good to be true.
 
"I don't think I've ever been around a player," his old coach Dick Vermeil said, "who worked harder to be a better man."
 
I can't find myself pulling for the Jets, but I do have a new favorite player!

August Thoughts

• “Are you ready for some football?” said in my favorite Hank Williams voice.

• Can’t wait for those Golden Helmets and those Carolina Blues to hit the field!

• I think a great new business venture would be text books on a Kindle. I know companies are doing that. The problem is that the college book store business will drastically change and how do they make “Kindle” profitable for publishers and universities.

• By the way, I don’t own a Kindle. Wish I did though.

• Modern Family is the best show on TV!

• Andre Dawson being inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame was a big day for me. I wore my Expos hat and shirt all day.

• I got a new car in April with a hands free/Bluetooth phone. My son says since I have stopped texting while I drive that I need hands free text. Do they have that?

• From an INC magazine article. “What would a world without offices look like? Well Dilbert wouldn’t be funny and there would be no such thing as rush hour traffic. If 40% of the workforce worked from home, (which it probably could) 100 hours per person saved on not commuting, 1500 lives saved to no car accidents, and 200 billion saved in real estate expenses and electrical bills.” Don’t laugh at your friend the next time they say they spent all day at work in their PJs.

• I grow dirt. I just have a few beds that I compost, I till and I rake. No plants just dirt. I like to dig up the worms. Nothing prettier than freshly tilled dirt!

• My father in-law used to joke while walking through Lowes, “this would be a great place for hardware store.” Have you noticed that their service has improved lately? I am going to start watching their stock again!

• I am seeing more and more friends cancel phone service and just use their cell phones exclusively.

• Jason Bourne and Michael Westin (Burn Notice on USA Network) could save the world!

• Funniest thing I have heard about Tiger Woods was at this year’s Masters. A plane flying over pulled a sign that read, “Tiger: Did you mean Bootyism?”

• The Annual Redneck Convention in Hillsville, VA is just around the corner!

• My new favorite quote from Phil Mickelson, “A great shot is when you pull it off. A smart shot is when you don’t have the guts to try it.”

• I have often used with Y members or staff the term “Spirit of the Rule.” We can’t have a society where we write every conceivable probability in rules and regulations. We would need to walk around with lawyers and that would only be fun for lawyers!

• Dustin Johnson got hosed by the PGA! Spirit of the Rule dudes!