For many sports fans across the country, September marks their favorite time of the year … the start of another football season. As a die-hard Packers fan, I’m like a kid on Christmas morning when the NFL regular season kicks off.
The beginning of this football season should be pretty normal. But do we remember how last year’s NFL season started? It was “business as usual” … except for the referee strike.
While the NFL team owners and most fans didn’t seem bothered by having “scab” referees, the coaches and players expressed concern that they needed “first-class” officials. Most of us figured that “refs are refs,” and we were just happy to have our teams back on the field.
It wasn’t until the Monday Night Football game between the Seahawks and Packers that had most of the country talking about the “injustice” of terrible officiating.
Now, I realize that game was a year ago, and yes, I got over it a long time ago. But for me, that game-deciding call wasn’t just about the Packers and football. It was about expectations and accountability.
As fans of the NFL, we have a certain expectation of what we’re going to see on the field every weekend. And as you can imagine, so do the players and coaches.
And although it’s the fan that makes it possible for the game and the league to exist, we’re “just fans.” For the people on the field, that’s their job.
The people on the field are professionals. In fact, they bring the word “professional” to a whole other level. Pro athletes and their coaches are fiercely competitive to be the best in the world at what they do.
Physically and mentally, they’re tougher than most of us can imagine. They push themselves to perform at a level that most people don’t even know exists.
And in turn, they expect the people around them to do the same. Unfortunately, the NFL’s replacement referees were unqualified to be on the same field as the professionals last season.
Ultimately, that was the real tragedy for the players and coaches of the league last season. They did the hard work to make it through the countless filters that exist on the road to the NFL.
But then on game day, the “best of the best” players and coaches had to count on amateurs when it mattered most. That doesn’t work. Ultimately, there’s no room for amateurs in a professional’s world.
So how does last year’s NFL “referee strike” relate to your dairy?
Just as the players, coaches, and fans expect the officiating crew to do their job at a high level, your employees count on you to do the same. As “the boss,” you are a lot like the refs.
Your employees expect you to take control of the workplace, pay attention to what everybody is doing and make the right calls every day. Their livelihood depends on your leadership.
So are you serving your people at a professional level, or are you blind to what’s really going on every day? In other words, how well do you know each employee and the work they’re doing?
Today and every day, you have the opportunity … no, you have the obligation to be a professional manager and leader. Your team is counting on you to get it right. And if you’re truly a professional, you and your team should expect nothing less. PD
Tom Wall
Dairy Coach
Dairy Interactive, LLC
