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Nobody Wanted Him. Now He’s a Star
February 18th, 2019You can bet that more than one Division I basketball coach would love a 6-foot-6 guard/forward with a scoring touch. Well, hundreds of coaches had a shot at just such a player — and passed.
Meet Raiquan Clark of LIU Brooklyn, leading scorer in the Northeast Conference. He’s a star. Four years ago, in search of scholarship money, he emailed every D-I school in the country.
“Every school, I promise you,” Clark recently told The New York Post. “I’d wake up and do some, and do some more before I went to sleep, and I kept going for like a week. And I just waited for a reply.”
Only two schools bothered to reply, and neither one offered anything. So Clark walked on at LIU Brooklyn.
“It’s not like he was a recruited walk-on,” former LIU coach Jack Perri said. “It was like, we need another body, and we didn’t want a 5-9 kid. It was, as long as he understands it’s something where he’s not gonna be playing and he’s gonna be a practice player.”
Clark is no longer a practice player. He’s just another example of a hidden gem — a superstar hiding in plain sight. It wasn’t long before Perri knew he had a player with extraordinary focus, driven by a wish to help his mom with tuition.
“He’s a tremendous athlete and he has a unique motor, and by the end of the year, it was obvious he was going to be in our plans going forward,” Perri said. “He was getting shots in at 7 in the morning, he was working out at midnight. He was obsessed with, ‘I’m getting myself good enough so that you have to give me a scholarship, so my mom won’t have to pay for college.’ I have such immense respect for him for the hard work he put in. He just willed himself.”
That’s the thing about hidden gems. You can’t measure what’s inside them. You can’t see what drives them. But you can give someone a chance. Because there are hidden gems everywhere.
Derek Kellogg, Clark’s current coach at LIU Brooklyn, is one of the coaches who passed on Clark. He used to be at Massachusetts and, “I probably got one (email) and shuffled it aside.”
Now Kellogg knows that you never know.
“The second pick in the draft is gonna come from Murray State [Ja Morant],” Kellogg said. “That goes to show there are a lot of players out there. You just have to find the right ones.”
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How Much of Making the Hall of Fame Is Pure Chance?
December 13th, 2018The recent election that put Harold Baines and Lee Smith into baseball’s Hall of Fame sparked more dispute than an umpire’s mistake.
Baines, in particular, is seen by critics as a good player who does not deserve to be enshrined with the sport’s immortals. And Tony La Russa, himself a member of the Hall of Fame, dismissed Baines’ critics with a terse shot of profanity. It made for colorful TV, especially in a week in which the sport’s annual Winter Meetings failed to produce much in the way of news.
But leaving aside the question of qualifications, what if we instead were to ask, “How much does pure chance have to do with achieving greatness?” How much can brief but significant events explain those two perplexing groups:
1. Draft flops — those who are chosen high but who never make it?
2. Hidden gems who emerge as stars?
Smith belongs to neither group. He was a highly regarded prospect, making it big after being taken in the second round of the 1975 amateur draft. But his life had its share of pure chance. First, baseball was not on young Smith’s radar screen. But, according to a Society of Baseball Research article by Neal Poloncarz, “One day in his junior year of high school, as he walked across the outfield of a softball field during practice, a ball rolled to his feet, beyond the outfielders. Lee picked it up and heaved it to home plate. After the softball coach witnessed this, Smith was switched from the softball team to the baseball team.”
That episode alone did not put Smith on a track to baseball. Tall and sturdy, he could have chosen basketball, and indeed planned to play at Northwestern State in Louisiana. After a chat with Joe Adcock, a former player, Smith turned pro in baseball.
Four years into his career, Smith was still in the minor leagues. Randy Hundley, minor-league pitching coach for the Chicago Cubs, suggested he become a relief pitcher. It turned out to be fateful advice, but Smith didn’t see it that way. He took it as a demotion, and returned to basketball.
That’s when Billy Williams, a Cubs great, paid Smith a visit and persuaded him to give baseball another try. Back in baseball, Smith got advice from, among others, future Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, and noted pitching coach Billy Connors.
So:
What if Smith had never wandered across that outfield during softball practice? What if he had ignored the ball at his feet instead of hurling it to home plate, or rolled it back in? What if the softball coach had not seen his prodigious throw? What if Adcock had told Smith to go to college and pursue basketball? What if Randy Hundley had never made Smith into a reliever? Or if Billy Williams had never bothered to come to Smith’s house?
The constant thread in Smith’s young life, of course, was his enormous strength and undeniable talent. But lots of people have that, and never go anywhere. But fate put the right people in Smith’s path, and he was smart enough to seek out and receive advice.
The Worst Hiring Decision in NFL History
September 20th, 2018It goes without saying that a single hiring decision can affect an organization for years. No one needs to remind fans of the New York Giants and New England Patriots.
That’s because either one of those teams could have wound up with superstar coach Bill Belichick — and only one of them did.
The story comes in a new book “Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time,” by Ian O’Connor.
In 1991, the Giants needed a new coach. Bill Parcels had retired, having led them to championships in Super Bowl XXV and Super Bowl XXI.
At the time, Belichick worked for the Giants, an invisible gem, a superstar hiding in plain sight. He wanted the head coaching job, according to O’Connor’s book. But George Young, the Giants’ general manager at the time, did not want Belichick. Here are the reasons for that fateful choice. “This is an ex-lacrosse player,” O’Connor relates Young’s thinking. “He’s a disheveled-looking mess most of the time.”
Young was right about the way Belichick dressed and about Belichick’s lacrosse background. But his decision on whom to hire could not have been more wrong.
Under Belichick, the Patriots have made it to eight Super Bowls, winning five. They could get there again this season.
Meanwhile, the Giants — who did win two Super Bowls since letting Belichick get away — have lost their first two games this season and have made the playoffs only once in the last six years.
As for Handley, the man the Giants hired instead of Belichick, he lasted two seasons as a coach in the NFL. He won 14 games and lost 18. And remember that Young hired him in part because he made a better appearance than Belichick did.
It’s easy, of course, to criticize hiring decisions once they have been made. But it’s also useful to know that for every hiring decision, there is an invisible gem being overlooked. The Patriots found one. The Giants lost one. And the rest is history.
What Made Jerry Garcia Great
August 9th, 2018On the 23rd anniversary of his death, some people are listening to Jerry Garcia’s music.
Not all people, but some people.
And that would have been fine with him.
“We’re like licorice,” Garcia once said of his iconic musical group The Grateful Dead. “Not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice.”
And that’s what made Garcia great. He didn’t try to make music that everyone would like. He tried to make music that he liked.
And some people really liked it.
“There was nothing he liked more than playing music in a band in front of dancing people,” said writer Blair Jackson. “He didn’t care if the group was acoustic or electric or if the audience was large or small — it was all about hearts and souls coming together through music.”
As a young man, Garcia was an invisible gem, a superstar in plain sight. He got into trouble in school, and his experience in the Army wasn’t much better. He preferred playing the guitar to answering roll call.
In fact, he preferred playing music to almost everything else. Once the the Grateful Dead formed, they developed a loyal group of fans known as Deadheads. They were the ones who liked licorice.
“We didn’t invent the Grateful Dead, the crowd invented the Grateful Dead,” Garcia would say. “We were just in line to see what was going to happen.”
What happened was that the Grateful Dead made history. They toured for decades. Garcia formed or played with other bands along the way. It was always about making music.
“You need music, I don’t know why,” he said. “It’s probably one of those Joseph Campbell questions, why we need ritual. We need magic and bliss, and power and myth, and celebration and religion in our lives and music is a good way to encapsulate a lot of it.”
So on the anniversary of his death, some people will listen to Grateful Dead songs. Like these from their last show.
With lyrics like these from “Black Muddy River,” the last song Garcia sang on stage, just a month before his death:
“I will walk alone by the black muddy river,
And sing me a song of my own.”
It’s a life lesson. Do what you love, and others may love it, too. The song of your own might be just the one that others want (and need) to hear.
When a Hire Just Doesn’t Work Out
August 8th, 2018Let’s face it.
The more people you hire, the more chance you have that something will go wrong.
And, boy, is that true for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team this year.
Chris Davis, a high-profile and highly paid player of theirs, is having an historically bad season. And he’s getting paid more than $20 million for it. Even worse, the contract runs through the 2022 season and Davis is 32 years old, so the odds of things getting better are not very good.
Davis and the Orioles are not alone when it comes to relationships that begin with great hope and then for whatever reason do not turn out the way everyone hoped. Of the millions of hires made each year, some people just never fit in. Others get sick and can’t deliver. Still others wind up as little performers with big resumes.
None of this is meant to pin blame on Davis. You can have a legitimate debate on how much he was worth when he signed his seven-year, $161 million deal in 2016. You can argue whether or not the Orioles overpaid for a one-dimensional player.
But you can’t dispute that things are a mess now, and the Orioles find themselves stuck with an asset who is not an asset. What does any organization do in a situation like that?
The options aren’t great.
First, the Orioles could keep putting Davis in the lineup in hopes that he can work his way out of his slump. There is the belief in baseball that only by playing can a hitter “find his stroke.” The obvious question is how long can the team afford to wait when the production simply isn’t there? Patient managers can get fired.
A second option would be to put Davis on the bench and give someone else a chance. But then the team would be paying somebody $21 million a year to do nothing.
In either of those two options, the Orioles can support Davis with the considerable resources available to any big-league team — video analysis, tips from coaches, sessions with a sport psychologist, etc.
A third choice, if his contract allowed it, would be to send Davis to the minor leagues. The demotion would be embarrassing both for the team and for Davis, but he might benefit by getting out of the big-league spotlight for a while. He could even play winter ball — a high calibre of ball that, again, is out of the spotlight.
Finally, the team could release Davis and eat the contract. Kissing the remaining $80 million goodbye isn’t something any team would want to do, but, as noted earlier, there are no good options at this point.
To sum up, whether it’s baseball or any other organization, there are only a few options when a hire doesn’t work out. One is to keep the performer and provide coaching. Another is to shift the person’s role and hope that some down time can help. Finally there’s the worst option — letting the person go.
The best thing is to understand that hiring is the most important thing a any company does.
What Would Make You Eat a Rat?
August 7th, 2018Just the thought of a rat is enough to creep some people out. The sight of one slinking along a city street could scatter a crowd.
What, then, are we to make of a man who grilled and ate a rat — to overcome his fear of them?
His name was G. Gordon Liddy, a controversial figure in American history. Liddy went to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard M. Nixon. Liddy tell his story in “Will,” a best-selling autobiography.
Politics aside, Liddy comes to mind as a way of approaching questions of fear and courage. Are these qualities genetic? Can courage be formed through power of will? Or is a strong will just another form of courage?
“I was frightened, small, and a coward,” Liddy writes of his young self. But something in him wanted to change that. In this 2016 NPR interview, Liddy relates seeking out rats on the waterfront to “confront” them. Then, his sister’s cat killed one.
“I cooked and consumed part of the rat,” Liddy said. “And thereafter, I had no fear of rats.”
A previous post looked at former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, who was cool under fire in the Civil War and later in the rough-and-tumble of politics. Were those examples of cool a matter of character or just the luck of the genetic draw?
No less a figure than Socrates posed questions about courage, as outlined in this article in Psychology Today.
Of course, by even raising such questions you run the risk of diminishing Grant’s courage, or excusing the cowardice of others.
That isn’t the purpose of these questions at all. Instead, it’s just to explore who might have the inner qualities to emerge as a great leader, explorer. salesperson — someone like Bill Porter, who famously could shake off the pain of rejection.
Someone with extraordinary courage, whether genetically blessed or with the will to overcome fear, could make a great hire. And they wouldn’t even have to eat a rat.
What’s Your Response to Criticism?
August 6th, 2018“All of us,” the saying goes, “could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.”
But people are not the weather. They are more than water, wind and sun. They are a complex mix of thoughts and feelings. But each person has a choice in responding to criticism.
This point comes across clearly in Ron Chernow’s book “Grant,” a study of the man who led the Union army in the Civil War and who later became president.
At one point Chernow writes of a moment just before the 1868 presidential election. Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia were sitting and reading the papers in Galena, Ill.
Julia became incensed over the coverage of her husband. His critics were portraying him as a raving drunk.
Chernow writes, “Then she gazed up from her paper and scrutinized her sober husband dressed in his white linen suit calmly smoking and reading his paper and smiling at my … indignation, saying, ‘I do not mind that, Mrs. Grant. If it were true I would feel very badly, perhaps as badly as you do.'”
You can’t blame Mrs. Grant for reacting the way she did. She instinctively wanted to protect the honor of the man she loved.
As for Grant himself, he had two things going for him in a situation that would have brought others to their knees.
First, he had always been cool under fire. He would engage the enemy when others would not.
“In every battle,” he said, “there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.”
Second, sitting there in that room in Galena, Grant could feel secure in himself. He had done things, nearly impossible things. He had won fame, and rightly so.
Those two things — coolness under fire and the knowledge of his own worth — no doubt helped him brush off the arrows that others fired at him. Were these qualities innate or learned? Let’s leave that to science for the time being.
One thing is beyond dispute. Grant was an invisible gem. There was little in his youth to suggest he would succeed the way he did. His work at West Point was less than stellar. When faced with the challenges of battle, however, he responded.
Everyone gets criticized one time or another. But when you’re attacked, it helps to have a sense of worth that comes from having accomplished things.
Grant did, though people were slow to see it. All of which shows that even though gems may not be visible all the time, they are there.
Why Does Rejection Hurt So Much?
August 5th, 2018Bill Porter knocked on lots of doors in his life, and most of them were slammed in his face. Such was the life of the now nearly extinct door-to-door salesman.
But Porter never stopped knocking.
Most people in his position would have quit, not willing or able to handle all that rejection. Somehow Porter pushed on, and it made him a legendary performer for home products company Watkins Incorporated. His story put him on the TV show 20/20, and inspired a movie called “Door to Door.” Did we mention that he had cerebral palsy?
Porter’s case raises two questions related to — and vital to — hiring the invisible superstar.
First, why does rejection hurt so much?
Second, why can some people deal with it better than others?
It turns that there are some pretty easy answers to the first question.
This article in Psychology Today helps explain why rejection is so painful. Author Guy Winch lists 10 facts about it, the first being, “Rejection piggybacks on physical pain pathways in the brain. fMRI studies show that the same areas of the brain become activated when we experience rejection as when we experience physical pain.”
If rejection is the emotional equivalent of stubbing your toe in the middle of the night, it’s no wonder why most people prefer not to risk getting turned down in business, love or anywhere.
As for the second question — why do some people handle rejection better than others — that is the jackpot issue for anyone trying to make a strong hire. In this area, the answers are not quite so clear-cut. Here author Amy Morin discusses how mentally strong people deal with rejection. She says that, among other things, they admit that it hurts. “Rather than suppress, ignore, or deny the pain, mentally strong people acknowledge their emotions. They admit when they’re embarrassed, sad, disappointed, or discouraged. They have confidence in their ability to deal with uncomfortable emotions head-on, which is essential to coping with their discomfort in a healthy manner.”
Whether that’s how Bill Porter dealt with having doors slammed in his face is something we may never know.
But he never stopped knocking.
Times Square’s Lesson on Making Great Hires
August 4th, 2018If you’ve ever been to Times Square, you might guess that thousands of people pass through there each day. And you’d be right.
The official Times Square Website puts the number at around 350,000, with more than 400,000 on a busy day.
That’s lot of people, but you can easily divide them into two groups: those who work nearby and thus are there often, and those who are seeing it for the first time.
And there’s no doubt which is which. Native New Yorkers and commuters are the ones who are rushing through, trying to catch a bus or subway. Their eyes are straight ahead, aiming to find the next opening through the crush of pedestrians. They’ve seen the sights hundreds of times, and are just trying to get home or to work.
It’s different for the visitors. Their faces are turned up to the skyscrapers and to the iconic ball that drops to bring in a Happy New Year. They’re taking selfies, posing in the street or next to the statue of composer, playright and actor George M. Cohan. Here’s his song “Give My Regards to Broadway.”
Most of all, you can tell the tourists by their eyes. They’re open wide, with wonder. There’s no pretense of being sophisticated. These people have waited a long time to get to New York (and paid the astronomical hotel bills), and they’re not afraid to show how glad they are to be there.
And as I go through there two or three times a week, I envy this sense of wonder. I try never to get bored by familiarity. I try to see Times Square through the eyes of those tourists. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t.
That’s why Times Square makes me think about hiring the right person. Hire someone with a sense of wonder!
“There are only two ways to live your life,” said Albert Einstein. “One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Anyone can hire a resume, someone all dressed up in a new suit with hair perfectly combed. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you want to make a spectacular hire, look for the person with eyes open wide, fascinated by what they see. Look for someone who’s excited and not afraid to show it.
“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder,” said writer E.B. White.
The greatest discoveries are made by people who find something endlessly fascinating in their field. It could be flowers, music, architecture, magic, history, astronomy, sports. Wonder leads to good questions.
“The secret of genius,” said writer Aldous Huxley, “is to carry the spirit of the child into old age.”
I try to keep that sense of wonder, and I hope that you do, too.
And the next time I’m in Times Square, I’ll send you regards from Broadway.
What’s the Funniest Thing That’s Ever …
August 3rd, 2018Ever since people have hired, they’ve been trying to find out who is the right person for the job.
And talent, as the book by Geoff Colvin says, is overrated.
“My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality,” said Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX. “I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.”
So where do you find insights into someone’s personality? Can it be done, for instance, in an interview?
At least one restaurateur thought so. This story comes to me courtesy of a friend who heard it during a talk.
The restaurateur’s business was renowned for its service, and he needed the right person to deliver it. For insights into the applicant’s character, he asked one interview question in particular: “What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you?”
As you can imagine, everyone had an answer. But the man asking the question wasn’t just looking for the answer. He was looking for the way the answer was delivered.
If the applicant gave a straightforward recitation of something funny, that was one thing. But if the applicant laughed while telling the story, that was better.
Laughing at the story reflected — at least in the eyes of the restaurant owner — a rich emotional intelligence.
Was this method of hiring the right person effective? For the restaurateur it seemed to be. Who knows? Perhaps he was was being guided by other things that happened in the interview, subconscious cues picked up in the course of the conversation.
But one thing is for sure. It never hurts to be able to laugh at yourself. It makes you attractive to those around you — even the ones who may be giving you a job.