Super Bowl LXIX...What a game!

What a Super Bowl Game! I hope you saw it…especially the last quarter. It was a great game, even though my team did not win the game. Did you see the Patriots play that made that interception at the goal line? The rookie was Malcom Butler from Mississippi. Butler only played high school football two seasons, and after graduation, he attended a community college. He was only in five games before he temporarily ended his college career. He began working at a local Popeye’s Restaurant before returning to Hinds Community College, this time playing a full season before leaving for Alabama West where he played safety. Therefore, it is natural to ask…how a player with such a meager high school and college career can suddenly become the hero of Super Bowl XLIX, and a rookie to boot!

I believe it has everything to do with whom you surround yourself. Put in the environment where he was working side-by-side with Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, LaGarrette Blount and Pro Bowlers Darrelle Revis, Matthew Slater, Stephen Gostkowski and Rob Gronkowski it is natural that his own game would greatly improve. The same thing happens to the weekend golfer. If you stay within the same foursome week after week, you become “comfortable” with your challengers. Change your group to one with stronger players than you, your game will begin to show marked improvement.

I believe the same happens to each of us with our careers. There is something to be said to changing jobs to improve your knowledge and skill set. If you stay with the same company year after year with no new responsibilities your become stagnant. Move into a new group and you up your game. Unknowingly, that may be one reason I have chosen to change careers three times. I found the challenge of starting over a scary proposition. Hanging out on the limb alone can be daunting for some, but I found it to be inspiring. Let me also caution you that working with those below your level can have a negative effect on your performance. They may well be the ones to coax you into leaving the office early, skipping steps, and just now performing at your usual level.

How can you learning from others when you are self-employed? That falls to the professional group that you join. Early on, I chose to join the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and the Women’s Energy Network or WEN. I formed some great professional relationships from each group. It makes me smile when I think of the special relationships I have built and how over time we have pushed each other to grow and expand our thinking. It has given me a safe place to test ideas and strategies before decided which to implement.

Playing with the best players in real life is certain to test us and helps us to grow. It worked for Malcom Butler and what would Super Bowl XLIX be without him.