Farm Teams

A high school football team near where I live recently finished their regular season with a perfect record.

I am writing about this team not because of their noteworthy record, but because of what the long term coach has said all season in articles and interviews.  The coach consistently credits the players on the field.  You never hear about this coach crediting his preparation or play-calling.  Many of the players and community members credit the coach and his leadership of the team but the coach, in every interview, credits the players.

The coach also frequently mentions the lower levels.  The freshman and sophomore teams, the middle school and junior tackle teams that a lot of the current players grew up in.  In fact it is rare, the last couple of weeks, to read a story about this team without reading that the juniors and seniors on the team did not have a single win as freshmen.

A good farm team or feeder system is an almost indispensable ingredient of success in football or most sports.  But is just as valuable in business.

In the trades, an apprentice system has helped newcomers to learn the skills necessary to master their trade for centuries.  In office work, interns and trainees often fulfil a somewhat similar role.

But, unlike the local football coach, it doesn't seem as if most businesses appreciate the value in investing resources in those just starting out.  I don't think most businesses appreciate the lessons and value an early winless season can have if you have a system that focuses the players on the fundamentals and on what's important in the long run.

No high school team is judged by the record of their freshman team, just as no organization is judged by the number of sales that their trainees make.  That is probably why so many businesses, and sports teams, fail to invest time, energy and resources on those farm teams.

In an era when companies are looking from quarterly to quarterly earnings report and "what have you done for me lately" philosophies, it takes vision and leadership to make an investment in a farm team that won't pay off for maybe four years!

A Parable About Leadership

Leadership is a subject that seems to continually confound us.  A Bing search for "leadership books" generates 39 million results.  It seems to me that there are at least that many different perspectives about leadership and how to be a good leader out there.  

That is one of the reasons I like the story I am about to share with you.  I first read this story on Michael Josephson's excellent blog, "What Will Matter" and am reposting it here with his permission.  

Listening to politicians’ nasty rhetoric, one might think that leadership has to be aggressive and confrontational, but consider this parable about leadership.

A student assigned to write an essay about an effective leader wrote this story:

“I’ve been taking a bus to school for years. Most passengers keep to themselves and no one ever talks to anyone else.

“About a year ago, an elderly man got on the bus and said loudly to the driver, ‘Good morning!’ Most people looked up, annoyed, and the bus driver just grunted. The next day the man got on at the same stop and again he said loudly, ‘Good morning!’ to the driver. Another grunt. By the fifth day, the driver relented and greeted the man with a semi-cheerful ‘Good morning!’ The man announced, ‘My name is Benny,’ and asked the driver, ‘What’s yours?’ The driver said his name was Ralph.

“That was the first time any of us heard the driver’s name and soon people began to talk to each other and say hello to Ralph and Benny. Soon Benny extended his cheerful ‘Good morning!’ to the whole bus. Within a few days his ‘Good morning!’ was returned by a whole bunch of ‘Good mornings’ and the entire bus seemed to be friendlier. People got to know each other.

“If a leader is someone who makes something happen, Benny was our leader in friendliness.

“A month ago, Benny didn’t get on the bus and we haven’t seen him since. Everyone began to ask about Benny and lots of people said he may have died. No one knew what to do and the bus got awful quiet again.

“So last week, I started to act like Benny and say, ‘Good morning!’ to everyone and they cheered up again. I guess I’m the leader now. I hope Benny comes back to see what he started.”

I think that the student who wrote this essay hits the mark on so many levels about leadership.  Leadership is about attitude and perseverance much more than title or position.  Leadership is transformational.  Leadership can be transferred.

In my opinion, you don't need to buy any of the 39 million books on leadership.  All you need to do is read about Benny and the bus!

Related articles

• "The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born." - Warren Bennis

5 reasons to write a (nearly) daily blog

I recently participated in an online discussion on how frequently a blogger should post to their blog.  There were a lot of very intelligent and insightful answers as to the optimal timing of posting blogs.  Some people in the discussion has theories as to which days of the week and what time of day a blogger should post in order to optimize readership, rankings, etc.

It got me thinking about whether I was right to try to post to my blog so often.  I realized that I had a whole different framework for why I post to my blog as frequently as I do.  Here are 5 reasons I try to post to my blog daily.

1. It focuses the mind.  Trying to come up with something to write that is relevant to the topic of your blog on a frequent basis focuses your thinking on that topic.  After a short while, you will be surprised where you get the inspiration for post ideas!  I have gotten inspiration for blog posts from conversations, newspaper articles, books, other blogs and a tea bag.
2. It is great writing practice.  Writing every day is a great way to improve your writing.  Writing every day with the knowledge that someone might actually be reading what you post is a great way to improve your editing.
3. It forces you to read on your blog topic.  I found that one of the greatest challenges in trying to write a somewhat intelligent blog about marketing is that I wanted, from time to time, to be able to cite some authoritative sources.  I also needed to come up with daily topics.  This has me becoming a more diligent reader of marketing articles, books and blogs.  It also has me reading non-marketing materials and finding the marketing perspective.  
4. You discover new ideas.  Partially because you are reading (or scanning) more, you are exposed to more opinions and thoughts.  Sometimes those new opinions and thoughts are your own. 
5. It gets easier the more you do it.  Really.  It doesn't get easy, but it does get easier.  Like any sort of exercise, after a while, you find your stride. You find your writing voice.

None of my reasons for doing this blog frequently have anything to do with search engine optimization or maximizing "likes."  I am writing this blog because I enjoy it.  I work hard at writing something that is enjoyable to read and occasionally insightful or inspiring.  

If you want to stretch your wings in an area of interest, I would recommend writing a daily blog.  Do it for reasons that are important to you.  If you do, you find many benefits.  And if you stick with it you will find your audience too.  

The Boom and Bust of the Last Buggy Whip Manufacturer

The last buggy whip manufacturer must have done very well for a while.*  Buggy whip purchases undoubtedly declined rapidly with the advent of the automobile.  Nevertheless, there was still a demand for them as some people were reluctant to adapt to the new "iron horses," some people couldn't afford the new transportation option and others couldn't get one because there was no one selling automobiles in their area.

As demand for buggy whips faded, buggy whip manufacturers would go out of business, consolidating the market with fewer and fewer companies.  At some point, there was probably only one company making the whips in a market.  For a while, enjoying 100% market share, things were probably pretty good for that last company.  But since demand continued to decline, eventually business would turn sour for that last company, eventually forcing them to close their doors.

Unless.

Unless that last buggy whip manufacturer looked up from their work long enough to see the dark clouds on the horizon.  Unless that last company invested in the future, figuring out how they could leverage their expertise into something new.  Perhaps manufacturing items for Mr. Ford's assembly line.  Perhaps getting out of transportation altogether and finding a niche somewhere else.

Things haven't really changed that much in the last 120 years.  We have a lot of buggy whip manufacturers these days.  Some are thinking things are OK because market share keep going up, not even realizing they are the last one of their kind around.  Others are innovating and changing their future.  We live in times of rapid change.  Just about the only thing you can be sure of these days is that sooner or later, you will be working for a buggy whip manufacturer.  Be prepared.


*All buggy whip-related statements are pure conjecture on the part of the author.  No research on the rise or fall of the buggy whip industry was conducted.  If a reader HAS done such research and finds my conjecture lacking, I ask them to please explain my oversights and shortcomings in the comments.  Please also explain why you are doing research into the rise and fall of the buggy whip industry.