Jerry Jones is Living in Denial

Someone needs to dump a bucket of truth on his head

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is living in anticipation of the day when the team will drop a big bucket of Gatorade on his head for winning the Super Bowl. But that’s never going to happen, unless someone drops a big bucket of truth on his head first.

Greatness in one area doesn’t necessarily lead to greatness in another
No one doubts Jerry Jones genius as a business man. He bought the Dallas Cowboys for $147 million and built it into one of the most valuable franchises in all of pro sports. In addition, he has recently built the equivalent of the Roman Coliseum of professional sports stadiums. The new billion dollar Cowboy Stadium is absolutely breathtaking on many levels. Everyone loves it! He had a vision. He built the support. He got the financing.  He put together the design and he got it built to glowing reviews. What he did in building the team and the stadium are two incredibly staggering achievements.  

Unfortunately he’s also the Cowboy’s General Manager
Once again, after the Cowboy’s were eliminated from the playoffs Jerry Jones was asked if he was going to give up the general manager’s job and hire someone else. In his reply, you can find the exact problem with the Cowboy’s on field lack of performance and likely source of future disappointment. Jerry said “I’ve been doing the same job for 22 years and I’m going to continue.” He said, “the heat for our failures should fall on the person most responsible and that’s me. A full time owner always makes the final decisions and if we had a general manager it would only confuse and clutter up the decision making process.”

Wrong. A full time owner hires a general manager to be the one to make the final decisions on football operations. There doesn’t need to be conflict. There needs to be freedom to do the job without interference. 

Reality check! Isn’t that the mark of insanity?
He’s been General Manager for 22 years. They have won 1 playoff game in 15 years. Shouldn’t he be noticing a connection? Isn’t that the mark of insanity... doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? Isn’t that’s what Jerry Jones is doing? His insistence on remaining general manager is sabotaging and undermining all of his other tremendous efforts. Sure, the Cowboys won 3 Super Bowls 20 years ago, but what worked then isn’t working now.

Here’s what Jerry needs to hear. 
No one is good at everything. No one is expected to be good at everything. Championships are won by putting teams of great people together. Your track record says you are not a great general manager. Of course you’ve had some successes but your overall record is failure. You only have 1 playoff win in the last 15 years.  Every year the result is the same. High priced, highly talented teams that underachieve.

The first step in solving any problem is to accept reality. As Bill Parcel says, your record tells you who you are.  Jerry, your record says you are no longer a top general manager. 

He’s putting himself above the team.
It seems that he doesn’t just want the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl, he wants the glory of being the General Manager that got them there as well. He wants that glory. He wants that recognition and respect. He wants it so bad it had blinded him to what he’s doing to his team. He’s become the problem. Whenever anyone puts themselves above the team, the team always suffers. The Dallas Cowboys are suffering....defeat after defeat...year after year.

Until Jerry Jones wakes up and accepts reality, it’s highly unlikely the Cowboys are going anywhere, much less to the Super Bowl.

You Can't Play God

You want the best for them, but they may rebel and make even worse choices if they feel controlled.When working with others, you must realize there are limits to what you can do.

You may want things for your people more than they want it for themselves. You may see they’re in a position to do great things to move up, to have bigger incomes, bigger responsibility, a better way of life if they can do certain things but they don’t want it, they’re never going to do it.

Managers and leaders can save themselves a lot of grief if they accept the fact that they can’t play God in other people’s lives.  

People do only what they want to do
Just because you want it for them, doesn’t mean they want it bad enough themselves to do what’s necessary to get it done. At the end of all of your efforts, you’ll find people are going to be what they’re going to be.You may want them to be something bigger, better or more successful. You may see that they have incredible potential.

That doesn’t matter at all.
What matters is what they want and how they see themselves. They’re going to wind up exactly where they want to be. Even if you artificially promote them they will find a way to sabotage themselves and get demoted.

What’s inside their heart is the deciding factor, not what others want for them.

3 Three Killers of Dreams

Here are the 3 big diseases that kill the possible success of those starting out on new activities, businesses, projects and careers:

1. Hesitation Disease - Instead of jumping in, getting started, asking questions, charging ahead, you hold back. You start thinking about all the things that could go wrong, all the things you don’t know and you freeze. Instead of focusing on what you are excited about and what you like you focus on the unknowns. You freeze and you miss your opportunity.

2. Detail-itis - You want to know everything about everything. You major on the minors. You are never satisfied. You drive yourself to learn every single thing but you never do anything with any of your information. Since you aren’t active you remain idle. The idleness turns you into a busybody, endlessly poking your nose into other’s business, questioning and analyzing everything to death. Instead of making a positive contribution you become a negative, interfering with those doing the work.

3. Excuse-itis - You don’t take responsibility for your progress. You see yourself as a victim who is persecuted by the world. You can’t get anything done because The world is against you. You always have a reason why you can’t get anything done. You focus on problems. You seem oblivious to the fact that everyone has the same problems yet they get things done anyway. You never get anything done, but you always have an excuse.

Avoid these dream killers, and avoid those who have these diseases—because they are contagious and you don't want to get infected!

Boring!

...So we were driving along when the boys were very young: me, Grannie Tee (my wife’s mother), and the two boys, Adam and Bryan.

Grannie Tee was visiting from Tennessee and riding along with us on an errand. As the car tires rolled, Grannie Tee unfolded one story after another. She was excited to be there, excited to have someone to talk to, talking away, talk, talk, talk—assuming we were hanging on every word. 

I had tuned her out, my mind was wandering as I drove, the boys were totally quiet in the back. The only sound was the stream of chatter coming from Grannie Tee, to which none of us were paying much attention. 

This went on for quite some time, until a sound exploded out of the back seat, like a lightning bolt!  

At the top of his lungs a young voice bellowed 3 times, "BORING! ...BORING! ...BORING!"

I was shocked out of my daydream and instantly realized 10 year-old Adam in the back seat had heard all of Grannie Tee he could stomach and was announcing in no uncertain terms that he had heard enough!  

I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Adam's younger brother, Bryan, laughing uncontrollably. Adam was just smiling a very satisfied grin. 

I was about to drive off the road in hysterics wondering how Grannie Tee is going to respond. She, of course, somehow never heard this coming out of the back seat or ha dno idea what this sound was and proceeded to ramble on as if nothing had happened or was happening—oblivious to our out-of-control laughing.  

Periodically, at about 15 second intervals, we’d hear another, "BORING!" like clockwork, chime out of the back seat, all the way home. Granny Tee busily continued to talk away—to no one. 

This little incident sure made the trip go a lot faster and all these years later I can still remember it clear as day.

The point of the story is this: If you want people to pay attention to what you’re saying don’t be BORING!

Winner's Book Club Selection of the Week: The Steve Jobs Way

WINNERS CREDENTIALS

Steve Jobs is the man who brought us the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad and led Apple to become the Number 1 Company in the world. His journey began as a teenager with a lot of passion and ideas and very little money working out of his parent’s garage. It has resulted in a company that has grown bigger than even MobileExxon with market capitalization of over $350 Billion.

Book Description

In The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation, Jay Elliot gives the reader the opportunity of seeing Steve Jobs as only his closest associates have ever seen him, and to learn what has made him—and the mystique of his management style—capable of creating tools so extraordinary that they have remade three industries and have transformed the way we create, consume, and communicate with each other.

Jay Elliot worked side by side with Steve as Senior Vice President of Apple and brings us his deep insider perspective of Steve's singular iLeadership style—which encompasses four major principles: product, talent, organization, marketing.

Jay shares the lessons that come out of Steve's intuitive approach to show how the creative and technological brilliance of iLeadership can be utilized to drive breakthroughs in any organization, irrespective of size.

About the Author

Jay Elliot served as the Senior Vice President of Apple Computer, responsible for all corporate operations, including HR, Facilities, Real Estate, IT, Education, and Pacific Rim Sales, plus corporate business planning, reporting directly to Steve Jobs, Chairman of the Board. Also, as a member of the Macintosh organization he helped Jobs develop the Macintosh computer from development to introduction. Elliot's articles and interviews have been published in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time Magazine, and Fortune. He lives in California.

Reader Review

OK, I'll admit it. I am a sucker for anyone who can decipher or decode Steve Jobs. After all, the guy is a repeat Icarus. He has flown too close to the sun not once, not twice, but at least three times and every time has come out better than before. The effect he's had on Apple upon his return has been nothing short of a resurrection followed by a seating at the right hand of the Father. 

Jobs is an interesting, mercurial creature, and I often wonder if he is simply one of a kind, a kind of idiot savant who understands how to tap into our wants and needs, and who has an almost messianic vision that we need to follow. Sometimes I suspect that books about him are probably best read to illuminate how different we are from Steve rather than how we can become more like Steve. >>read more>>

Winners Book Club Selection of the Week: The Magic of Thinking BIG

WHAT ARE HIS “WINNER” CREDENTIALS?

Millions of people throughout the world have improved their lives using The Magic of Thinking Big. Dr. David J. Schwartz, long regarded as one of the foremost experts on motivation, will help you sell better, manage better, earn more money, and—most important of all—find greater happiness and peace of mind.

Amazon Editorial Reviews

The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises. Dr. Schwartz presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don't need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction—but you do need to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behaving in ways that will get you there. This book gives you those secrets!

• Believe you can succeed and you will
• Cure yourself of the fear of failure
• Think and dream creatively
• You are what you think you are
• Make your attitudes your allies
• Learn how to think positively
• Turn defeat into victory
• Use goals to help you grow
• Think like a leader

CUSTOMER REVIEW: A Manual for Success by newchapter "newchapter" (Atlanta, GA USA)

Simple actionable advice for self-improvement. Basically, we are what we think, so think big.

1. Build confidence in yourself. Action reduces fear, so act.Take small steps at first: Sit in the front everywhere you go, practice eye contact, walk 25% faster, practice speaking up, smile big, use positve words.
2. Think and dream creatively. Believe that it can be done and then the mind finds a way to get it done. Be open to new ideas and be progressive. Stimulate yourself with diverse ideas from diverse people. Capacity is a state of mind.
3. You are what you think. "The price tag you put on yourself, is probably the same price tag that the world will put on you." (pg 75) Dress up. Think your work is important. Think enthusiastically. Ask yourself if you are the type of manager that a subordinate would respect and follow
4. Manage your environment because it is food for your mind. People who tell you that it cannot be done are usually unsuccessful people.
5. Make your attitudes your allies. Live it up. Broadcast good news. Do better work that others expect. Remember people's names. Take initiative to build friendships. Talk less. Listen.
6. Get the action habit. Nothing happens just by thinking. Do not worry about problems. You can handle them as they come. Successful people handle problems as they arise. You cannot buy insurance on all problems. Start now.
7. Turn defeat into victory. Defeat is a state of mind. Be constructively self-critical; do not just look for another reason that you are a loser. Think that there IS A WAY. If it does not work, then back off and start afresh. Get mentally refreshed.
8. Use goals to help you grow. Goal is a dream acted upon. "The important thing is not where you were or where you are but where you want to get." (pg 195) Know where you want to go. Visualize your future.
9. How to think like a leader. Achieving success requires the help of others. Trade minds with the people you want to influence. "What would I think if I were that person?" Be human, and put people first.

The last words of the book, sum up its meaning: "A wise man will be master of His Mind. A Fool will be Its Slave."

55% of the Time

Does leadership intimidate you?

Are you afraid of making mistakes? Do you find yourself holding back and passing on opportunities to take promotions because you are afraid of the pressure? Are you afraid of making the wrong decisions?

Relax. Its not a perfect world. Look around. Do you see perfection anywhere?

Here’s the secret:

To be good in management you only have to make the right decision 55% of the time.

No one is perfect. You aren’t selected because they think you’ll be perfect. Do the best you can. Make the best decisions you can, and you’ll be fine.
If you make some bad calls you’ll learn and improve. When you get the chance to step up and lead, do it!

No one is expecting you to be perfect.