#HRHappyHour Tonight - 'Sports, Labor, and Lockouts'

After a long summer break, the HR Happy Hour Show returns live tonight at 8:00PM ET, with a laser focus on the things that matter most to the world of HR, Talent, and the Workplace.

Of course I am talking about sports.

Here are the details you need to know:

HR Happy Hour 147 - 'Sports, Labor, and Lockouts'

Thursday, September 20, 2012 - 8:00PM ET

Call in on 646-378-1086

Listen to the show live at 8:00PM ET on the show page here, or using the widget player below:

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This week the HR Happy Hour Show returns from a long summer hiatus, tanned, trim, and rested, and ready to once again take on the important issues facing the workplace, Human Resources, and Talent Management. 

Of course that means another sports show!

Seriously though, here in the USA there are several compelling sports-themed stories that are not only impacting the sports world, but also have wider and larger implications for Talent and HR professionals in any field.

Take a quick scan of the sports news today, and you'll likely see stories on:

The NFL labor impasse with its on-field officials, which has led to a lockout, replacement (scab) officials, and a noticeable deterioration of the quality of officiating, and some would argue, the actual product.

The NHL, also stuck in a labor battle, this one pitting the league against its own players. Another lockout, another potential situation for replacement labor, or even an entire season cancellation.

A major college football power, Arkansas, that fired its former, (successful) coach after an off field scandal, only to replace him with another high-profile coach who is in the middle of a personal bankruptcy and may be coming a little unhinged.

Finally, Notre Dame absolutely embarrassing Michigan State last week.

So tonight we will open up the lines to talk sports, labor, talent, what you did all summer, and more, all in the HR Happy Hour style.

I hope you can join us as we relaunch the show tonight!

Tuesday, rain, and playing the long game

Ever since Malcolm Gladwell pitched his now famous 10,000 hours theory, it cemented into our awareness what most everyone has known for a really long time - overnight success is usually not overnight at all, and the long, slow grind of experiments, failures, refinements, learning, and disappointments is what (mostly) leads to what only seems like overnight success.Johns - Figure 4

Even the 'Gangnam Style' guy has been plying his craft in one form or another for over 10 years.

We all know this to be true, it isn't novel, we were usually taught this in school starting in about 3rd grade, or whenever it was we ran face first into that first subject or concept that we didn't just 'get' right away. Maybe it was fractions, maybe sentence structure, adverbs, or long division - once that first bit of frustration with not understanding hits, we generally realize pretty quick the only (ethical) way forward is long, boring, hard, and largely unsatisfying effort. Unsatisfying until we do finally 'get it' and say things like 'It's all been worth it', or in the case of calculus, 'I'm glad I'll never have to go through that again.'

So while the 'you have to work really hard for a long time to become great at anything' isn't news, it still is a sentiment or guide that still bears repeating from time to time, (at least for me). And rarely have I seen it expressed as well as in a recent piece on the ESPN True Hoop blog called 'The long game is the only game', by Henry Abbott, (I know you are shocked, a basketball site).  

Here's the money quote from Henry:

It may appear that NBA games are won with big moments when everybody is looking -- dunking over people, blocking shots, hitting a momentous jumper. And once in a while that does happen. But the reality is that many more careers and games turn on getting things right in the millions of small moments when nobody is looking. The big moments will always dominate the Hollywood version of events. But in real life, if you want to do the most you can to get the best possible results, it's a long game of putting together one solid day of training after another.

You want to know who's going to have the best NBA career? You could do worse than to simply figure out who puts in the most work to prepare.

Maybe in the NBA there are some exceptions to this, there are some supremely talented and physically gifted guys where the need for the day-in, day-out slog is not necessary to have successful and even legendary careers. But those guys are extremely rare, often work and practice much, much more than they let on, and often are looked back upon as not making the most of their physical gifts.

For the rest of us, who can't dunk a ball, or for whom irrational number theory never came naturally, we have to continue to grind away. 

I got up early today, it's Tuesday, it's cold and raining. The kind of day that is pretty easy to fold to, to simply go through the motions,  and come back tomorrow.

But that never gets it done.

The rest of the room is against you

Quick take for a Friday that seems like a Thursday. Why is it that these so-called 'short' workweeks always feel so long?

Anyway - catch the video embedded below, (email and RSS readers will need to click through), courtesy of the sports and pop culture website Grantland, that takes us through the recent NBA Draft experience of one Royce White, a star college player at Iowa State with sure-fire NBA-level talent, but carrying a significant 'too risky' label for many teams, due to his struggles with anxiety disorder and an admitted fear of flying.

The video is about 8:30, you should watch it all, then come back and be ready to answer a few questions I think White's situation raises for everyone involved in talent assessment, selection, and management.

Wow, pretty powerful and compelling stuff. White, with in the words of his agent, 'The rest of the room against you', will get his chance at the highest level with the Houston Rockets, who seem to be the only team willing to take a chance on a talented guy with a few off the court problems that may or may not effect his ability to perform to the best of his ability.

Ok, I promised a few questions then I'll wrap this up:

1. Are the Rockets taking an unnecessary and perhaps reckless risk with one of their prized assets, their 1st round draft pick, by taking White?

2.  Are the fans, customers, owners of the Rockets going to be patient and understanding if indeed White's problems with anxiety disorder impact negatively his ability to produce results on the court?

3. Would you, in your role in HR, Recruiting, or just someone with any kind of responsibility or participation in a hiring process be willing to take the bad with the good in a candidate like White? Are you able to play a bit of a long game in your hiring and are you ready to have your own reputation and judgment called into question by making a so-called 'risky' hire?

After watching the video and learning a little more about Royce White, you can't help feel for the guy and to hope that he is able to overcome or at least deal with his issues and become a successful and productive player.

But also you want to root for his success not just for him, but for the Rockets organization, (largely Head Coach and NBA legend Kevin McHale), for taking a risk, for looking at the talent as a whole person not just a set of measurements and statistics, and reminding all of us that every candidate deserves a fair reckoning.

Have a Great Weekend!

How's your network with talented middle school kids?

The most interesting piece of news from the most cutthroat, vicious, win-at-all-costs recruiting niche in the world - no I'm not talking about the market for hotshot Silicon Valley techies, but rather top-flight scholastic football players that just like the rockstar coders, typically have their choice of fantastic options to pursue, will probably surprise and maybe disgust you.

Here it is:

Lousiana State University offers scholarship to promising 8th grader. From the ESPN piece:

Last week, a hopeful prospect showed up at LSU's July football camp. He posted an impressive 4.46 40-yard dash, and he earned a scholarship offer from the Tigers' coaching staff for his efforts.

It's a scene that plays out on college campuses every single summer, although this offer was different for one main reason -- Dylan Moses has yet to start eighth grade.

Considering the Tigers are only just starting to hand out offers to members of the Class of 2014, it came as a bit surprise for a 2017 prospect to get one.

Nice. Or a little unsettling depending on your point of view. LSU is a consisent national title contender, and plays in the most competitive and most talented football league in the country. They're one of the top organizations in an incredibly challenging market, and one where the difference between exceptional and average is often decided by the outcomes of one or two games. An environment where finding, recruiting, acquiring, and developing talent is the most important differentiator between success and failure.

Perhaps, at some level, similar to the environment in which your organization operates and competes.

The question I think the LSU recruiting the 8th grade athlete story raises for the rest of us isn't if is it proper or ethical for LSU to start the hard sell in middle schools, but rather one that challenges our own commitment to acquiring the best talent possible in our organizations.

LSU is willing, for better or worse, to compete for talent at the highest levels, with the highest stakes, and for them, at least in this example, that means doing things that seem out of the ordinary, and taking actions that many of their competitors might shy away from.

Is it wrong? Does it cross some kind of line? 

Maybe.

But ask yourself - if you are one of the many companies that is having trouble finding that rare talent you need, are you doing whatever it takes to land the talent you seek?

Are you?

He toyed with me. He lied to me. He intimidated me.

Negotiating anything, whether its the sale price of that new, shiny Mercury Montego, or the details of a potential job offer, can be a difficult, tense, uncomfortable, and often a disappointing process.

For many, particularly those of us not inclined to enjoy the competition of a negotiation, or simply less practiced in the art of negotiation, it can be really easy to feel like you've come out second-best, that you've paid too much for the car, the house, or settled for less money or left something on the table when trying to hammer out that new or renewed employment agreement. When most of us are up against that car salesperson, who makes deals for a living, well drawing from our prior experience haggling over the Montego in 1977 usually doesn't provide enough foundation for confidence.I have no idea if this is true

But I think much of the angst associated with these negotiations arises from the mentality that one side has to win, and one has to lose, and that usually the 'house', (the car dealer, the employer, the merchant), has the upper hand. If someone is going to squirm and flinch first in the battle, it's going to be you with your paltry, limited experience in wheeling and dealing.

But it doesn't always have to be that way. Sometimes you do actually have the upper hand entering the deal, even if you don't completely realize it going in. And sometimes, maybe more often that we like to admit, even a spirited, aggressive, both sides all in kind of negotiation can end with everyone keeping their dignity and moving on with the understanding that negotiation is part of the game, and business is business, and you can even gain more respect for someone willing to fight for their side and not just give up, or conversely, to bully their way to a 'win'.

Case in point - check the comments (kind of said with a little bit of a smile, admittedly), from San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich regarding the recently concluded contract extension negotiations between the team, and their long time, and legendary player Tim Duncan, who certainly an all-time great, at 36 is in the twilight of his career.

Here's Popovich, (representing the house):

“He toyed with me. He lied to me. He intimidated me. He threatened me. In the end, it worked out. But I had to take much abuse to get it done.”

What's good about this, and Popovich's attitude about how the negotiations were conducted and how they concluded?

That the house respected the other side of the table, that the team knew that both sides had the right to negotiate hard, and that in the end, the house had to acknowledge the position and value of the talent, and take a little bit of abuse, in order to get a deal done that both parties could live with.

I get the sense that Duncan too, although he is not quoted in the piece, came away feeling the fight was fair, and that both sides walked away with their heads up, and more importantly, with continued respect for each other.

Big heavy take away from this story? Probably isn't one, unless it helps to remind all of us, no matter what side of the table we sit on, that the guy/gal across from us has just as much right to be sitting there, and if they did not possess something we needed, then no one would be sitting down at all.

The other guy has a point of view too, and if you have to take a little bit of heat to let them communicate that point of view, well don't take it personally.

Happy Monday!