These days our TV screens are crowded with economists and politicians, pundits and professors opining on how our economy got so bogged down, yet no one ever addresses the root of the problem: corporate climbers.
They care not a lick about the companies that pay them. They care only about covering their behinds. If that means shining apples half the day and throwing people under the bus for the other four hours, so be it. That doesn’t leave any time for actually producing anything, but that’s not a problem. They care only about the perception they have value. This is what passes for leadership in the corporate world.
And then there is the Kansas University football practice field, where a true leader knows the secret to maximizing production is passion. Enjoy your job, others around you will do the same, and before you know it, you’re achieving things nobody could have believed possible.
Todd Reesing has used that winning formula to produce a 20-6 record as the starting quarterback at Kansas. The man oozes positive vibes. Thanks in part to Reesing, every Kansas football player feels better about himself, which fosters learning because there is no better pupil than a confident one. He’s not worried about perceptions. He’s good, he knows it, he’s eager to show it.
“I’m very pleased with the way things are going,” Reesing said from his chair at the final KU football Media Day of his career. “I talked to the team the other day and said I think it’s the best four practices to start camp since I’ve been here. We’re making a lot of progress. Guys are flying around, and the enthusiasm is the thing that’s the most exciting. Guys are having fun and competing and playing hard.”
You have to love that a leader in such a high-profile position is unapologetic about having fun in his work place. An insecure mind never could admit to such a thing because to insecure folks having fun and working hard are considered mutually exclusive. Reesing proves otherwise.
“When guys are having fun, it’s easy to work hard,” Reesing said. “When everyone’s dead and kind of dragging around the field and not positive, it’s hard to go out there and work hard.”
A positive approach to work so beats putting on a phony, somber facade. He gets that, which is pretty impressive for a man of 21.
“College football is supposed to be fun,” Reesing said. “It’s not supposed to be a chore. It’s a privilege. We’re privileged to be able to play college football and to play at the University of Kansas. And that’s the way I feel. I love practicing and competing. There is nothing I’d rather be doing. As captain and a quarterback and a leader on this team, I have to be out there having fun, showing enthusiasm and being positive. When guys are dragging, the first person they are going to look to is, ‘What’s Todd doing?’ If I’m over there yelling, clapping, having fun, it’s a lot more likely those guys are doing the same. Enthusiasm is contagious.”
Positive, confident leaders in the mold of Reesing are the sorts who will lead our country back to productive times, leaving corporate climbers yearning for the days they were paid to fool their bosses at the expense of their companies.
