The Process of Change

The Process of Change
By Anthony McCune

Change is an issue we face every day. Can I go about this differently; is there a way I can do this better; will leaving the old behind or embracing the new improve the quality of my life?

People may recognize the need to make changes. They may understand the benefits change will bring. They may truly want to see the process happen. A basic problem is understanding how to change.

Our behavior is largely based on habits. We don’t think; we do. Understanding that is the first step leading to change.

Change begins with the way you think about something.

A concerted effort is required. Practice, learn to think differently about the behavior you wish to change. Don’t expect to fully achieve the change instantly or even over a short-time. It is a process built upon the foundation of acceptance.

It is necessary to maintain a level of awareness regarding what you have done, the way you have done it and the result you are seeking to accomplish. Some days you’ll be more successful than others. The key is recognition.

If your actions do not reflect the change in behavior you want to accomplish, you need to recognize it. Accept that will happen at times and then continue the process. Habits are developed over time; change requires time as well. As long as you know when you’re falling back into the old habit it will be easier to change.

Given time, and practice, you will begin to think differently about that behavior. The change of thinking will bring a change in your action. The action will achieve a result that you desire. Success will reinforce that behavior. The behavior you wanted when you identified the need for change.

Changing the way you think, acting in a different way will change the way you feel about that particular behavior. That positive outcome will reinforce the importance of carrying forth the new attitude, the new belief you have developed in terms of that behavior.

Change the way you think; to change the way you act; to change the way you feel. That, in a nutshell, is the process of change.

A Landmark Week For The Rooney Rule

A Landmark Week For The Rooney Rule
By Anthony McCune

What a week it’s been in the National Football League. Two teams won their way into the Super Bowl with coaches of color and the Pittsburgh Steelers hired their first African-American Head Coach!

Being the head coach of the Steelers is one of the marquee positions in the league. Even more than that, though, because of “The Rooney Rule” the hire in Pittsburgh was watched closely.

It all started in 2002. Attorneys Johnnie Cochran Jr.and Cyrus Mehri, a labor law attorney in Washington, D.C., released a report calling attention to the “dismal record of minority hiring” of head coaches in the National Football League.

The study – titled Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performances, Inferior Opportunities – noted that over 400 head coaches had been hired since 1920. Six of them were African-Americans and five of the six had been hired since 1989.

Using statistical evidence from the proceeding 15 years, the report indicated that the black coaches outperformed their white counterparts. Notably, the study determined that these same coaches were often the first fired by the team’s owners.

Cochran declared at a news conference in September, 2002 that black coaches were being held to a higher standard than their white counterparts. He threatened to take the NFL to court.

There were several interesting findings in the report commissioned by Cochran and Mehri. Analyzing the data, Dr. Janice Madden of the University of Pennsylvania found that:

• 70 percent of all NFL players were black
• 28 percent of the assistants and coordinators were African-American
• Six percent of all head coaches were people of color
• Whites accounted for 30 percent of all NFL players
• 72 percent of the assistant coaches and coordinators and 94 percent of the head coaching positions were white

Win and loss records of the five African-American coaches from 1986-2001 {Dennis Green, Art Shell, Tony Dungy, Ray Rhodes, and Herman Edwards} were compared with the 86 white coaches during that same time period.

Dr. Madden concluded that black coaches averaged 1.1 more wins per season than white coaches. White that may not seem to be a significant difference, winning nine wins instead of eight could realistically be the difference between a team making the playoffs or not.

Teams during that period who had white coaches made the playoffs 39 percent of the time. 67 percent of the time teams with African-American coaches played in the playoffs.

Some teams had both black and white coaches during the time period studied. Dr. Madden found that the African-American coaches increased the average wins from 7.4 to 9.1.

While all indications were that the black head coaches consistently outperformed their white counterparts, the report does conceded that “there were too few black coaches to apply formal statistical analyses.” Success of African-American coaches during the period did not lead to other minority candidates being hired.The report showed that nine new coaches were hired in 2002; They were all white with either losing records, little experience as a head coach or no experience.

The Cochran/Mehri report proposed a Fair Competition Resolution to “promote an atmosphere in which African-American coaches are fairly and equally considered for head coaching positions.” The study proposed incentives and penalties to motivate NFL owners toward a more open selection process.

According to the resolution, the NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue could award teams an extra draft pick for hiring minorities in management positions. All teams would select coaching and coordinator positions from a group of candidates who were racially diverse and interviewed in person. Finally, a team could opt out of the process by forfeiting a first-round draft pick for head coaching positions, or a third-round draft pick for assistant coaching and coordinator positions.

The NFL responded to the Cochran/Mehri report by establishing a committee of owners to investigate diversity. The committee was chaired by by Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a result of the work done by the committee, the NFL enacted “The Rooney Rule”.

The Rooney Rule required each team to interview at least one minority candidate when filling a head coach position. Failure to do so would result in a fine. The committee did not adopt the proposed Fair Competition Resolution.

In January 2004, two black coaches were hired among seven vacancies. Two years after the Cochran/Mehri report, there were five African-American head coaches in the 32-team NFL. It was, at that time, more than any other season in league history.

In July 2003, the NFL invoked the Rooney Rule. Matt Millen, president of the Detroit Lions, was fined $200,000 for violating the new rule because he hired a white head coach without interviewing any black candidates.

Millen had long wanted his old friend Steve Mariucci to be his head coach. When San Francisco let Mariucci go, Detroit went after him. The Lions president tried to give the appearance that he was following the Rooney Rule. He contacted five different assistant black coaches for an interview. It was common knowledge in the league that Millen would hire Mariucci; the coaches declined to be interviewed. Millen paid the fine and received a great deal of negative attention both from the media and community groups.

Dan Rooney is now the chairman of the NFL’s committee on workplace diversity.

In December, Rooney was given a list of about a dozen qualified minority candidates to replace recently resigned Bill Cowher. {In the past 38 years there have been only two head coaches in Pittsburgh.} Minnesota Defense Coordinator Mike Tomlin’s name was on it.

Tomlin had what has been characterized as “two strong interviews” with Rooney, Art Rooney II and the Steelers’ director of football operations Kevin Colbert. He was chosen, it’s been reported, largely because of the motivation, enthusiasm and organizational skills he showed.

Look around the league and things have markedly changed. Four years after the Cochran/Mehri report, The Rooney Rule is a success.

Navigating The Journey Of Life

Navigating The Journey Of Life
By Anthony McCune

Would we live our lives differently if we knew how much time we actually would have on the planet?

The four “biggest” words in the English language are said to be would’ve, could’ve, should’ve and if.

Theory is one thing. In the real world, though, life is not lived in a logical, preplanned sequence where events come in a straight forward, rational fashion. We travel the highways, byways and back roads of life. There are long, broad valleys and grand, towering peaks which we must traverse Our opinions are influenced by experience; our memories colored by perception.

Everyone, philosophically, should be given a fair chance to prove themselves good or bad; worthy of our time or a waste of precious minutes; considerate of others or self centered. There is no thoughtful, reasonable evaluation of “who” or “what” a person is, though. In the first five to ten seconds of meeting an individual a seed is planted in our mind and we judge that person. That initial assessment can be powerful; whether it is accurate or totally off base.

Time is fickle. There are days and weeks that seem like they will never end. Yet years pass by in what appears to be the snap of your fingers.

How often do we take time for self reflection? What consideration is there, not only of our relationships with family, friends and co-workers, but the difference we can make in our community and the impact we can have on the world at large?

Thankfully, we have the power of choice. We are able to learn new things; to benefit from our mistakes. We are able to reconsider our positions. We can adjust our course. Outcomes are not predestined.

Seeds planted may mature to be harvested…or the fruit may die on the vine. The result is impacted by the situation in which an organism exists; if conditions to facilitate a positive outcome are present; whether nurturing is provided that will be beneficial and if the strength of the effort put forth to succeed is sufficient.

My advice is to be thankful for each day; to make the most of the opportunities life brings your way; to endure the difficulties and enjoy the pleasures; to be thankful for the life with which you have been blessed; and finally to understand that each of us travels an individual journey and each of us are at the same time connected.

I Don’t Need A Resume

I Don’t Need A Resume
By Anthony McCune

When you are at a point in your career where you are happy, when you have a job with which you are satisfied, when you see nothing but a secure financial future ahead of you — it is the best time to be sure you have a resume on hand that you keep up-to-date.

Having written more than 20,000 resumes I can say one thing without question, there can never be harm done by having a current resume. Time and time again, people who feel they have the job of their dreams, who believe they will never have to explore new employment, who “would not ever consider” leaving the position they have…suddenly, one day, find the need or develop the desire to at least explore, if not pursue, something else.

For businesspeople, especially those with small to medium sized companies, this need is frequently overlooked. A good proposal can be improved to great when the qualifications of the principal are well framed. As for executives, regardless of the size firm at which they are employed or the level of responsibility they hold, security is like life. It can change in an instant.

If you are not prepared today for your employment situation to change, for the worse, tomorrow these are the top 10 things for you to consider:

1. Be able to define what it is you want to do. Where do you want to do it. Who do you want to do it for.

2. As with any meaningful task, a simple guideline applies when it comes to securing new employment: Plan your work and work your plan.

3. Remember that you are a product. You must be able to identify the features and benefits you will offer an employer…whether that is someone who will employ you or who will contract your firm. There are three things everyone in sales must address, questions, concerns and objections. Be prepared to handle these when they come up in regard to the product you are marketing.

4. The most common mistake in terms of resume writing is seeing the document as an independent entity. A resume should be prepared hand-in-hand with the cover letter that will accompany it. {If you don’t need a cover letter, that is all the more reason to provide one.} Remember, you are preparing sales collateral to market a product.

5. The employer {or the company buying a product/service} will have a simple question, “What’s in it for me?”. You must be able to effectively state your objective.

6. Understand that there will be a portion of your background that must be presented to gain and interview and additional information to win an offer. There maybe a third step, for which you should be prepared, which is to have additional information to provide to support your position as you negotiate your compensation package.

7. While a resume will not get a job for you, having your qualifications presented most effectively will allow you to direct the course of the interview. When you arrive a potential employer, based on the information you have provided, will either want to learn more about you – which is most common – or already be interested in hiring you. {See point 5}

8. It is essential to achieve the highest quality results when you seek new employment to create and effectively execute a multi-faceted strategy.

9. You need to establish a tone through your communication to a potential employer. Consider how aggressive you want to be in pursuing an interview. How strong is your effort going to be to pursue a specific position or to join a particular organization.

10. Choose between “general” or “personalized”. Forget mail merge. Writing the same letter to me as you do a thousand other people while simply adjusting the contact information is worthless. If it is important to you, write a letter meant for that specific company, that particular position and no other.

Make The Decision To Succeed

Make The Decision To Succeed
By Anthony McCune

Communication is faster and access to information is more readily available today than it has ever been. Ease of communication will increase. The ability to obtain the information you need will improve. On the other hand, the amount of time you have to make a decision that will benefit or harm the success of your endeavor will decrease.

If you have something good to offer, you must let the people who need it know about it. The step you take or choose not to take today will have ramifications for your business tomorrow.

Will your potential customer learn of, be contacted by, or worse yet, buy from your competitor who has a product or service that is inferior to what you offer?

What if this happens because you had an idea, or were given a suggestion, that you needed to think about; wanted to give additional consideration; took more time to further contemplate; had to have another look at, and/or felt you needed to seek out advice from just one more person before making the decision?

What if in the meantime, your competitor had the same idea or was given the same suggestion. Your competitor, unlike you, makes a yes, “go forward”, or a no, “move on”, decision.

If the decision was correct or incorrect, a decision was made as to the action that would be taken. The person will either benefit from or deal with the ramifications resulting from their decision. Whichever the case may be, the impact on your company will result from internal action.

Overthinking, delaying or having difficulty pulling the trigger can all significant effect the productivity of your decision. Any of these factors can put you in a position where the impact on your company is determined by the actions of someone else. Do you want YOUR business to be put in that position?

A yes or no decision, over time, will be determined to have been right or wrong. There are many variables that impact situations; we all know only hindsight is 20/20. There is no way, though, to avoid the fact that a decision today effects tomorrow one way or another to a lesser or greater degree.

Results of a single decision can extend through the life of your business. A single decision can lead to your endeavor thriving. Or your great idea, your groundbreaking solution, your better way of doing things can wither and die on the vine.

The ability to put ego aside, to be open to new ideas, to have the willingness to accept advice are all matters one must consider in relation to their decision making process.
The most common problem that causes companies to either not be as successful as possible or to fail is easily identifiable. A person enters the business world possessing a core competency in their given field of endeavor. Problems arise when that person extends beyond their area of expertise to become personally involved in other areas that would be better handled by people hired to do those jobs.

Delegating, trusting the people to whom you assign tasks and having the willingness to roll the dice with their work product are all critical factors. These considerations directly impact the ability to make good decisions in an expedient fashion and execute tasks that make your company more successful.

Make the decision to succeed.

This past week was Martin Luther King Day. I purposefully didn’t post about Dr. King on that day. His contribution should be remembered every day.

When I was in Atlanta I made a point of going to the neighborhood that was Dr. King’s home, Sweet Auburn. It was an interesting experience in a number of ways.

Atlanta has a great system for Taxis. When you drive within a certain area, you pay a flat rate. What disappointed me was when I told the cabbie I wanted to visit Dr. King’s neighborhood he was less than enthusiastic about driving there.

The cabbie’s in Atlanta, at least at that time, were unusual in that they would offer you business cards if you wanted to call them for future rides. I’d never seen that before; about a decade later I don’t know if they still do that. This particular guy, though, didn’t offer to come back to pick me up. In fact, he said he didn’t know how difficult it would be to get someone to come pick me up.

I would not be deterred.

I had him drop me off at the King Center. I remember when Dr. King was murdered; my Grandmother admired him. It was intense seeing so many of his most personal possessions on display. His bible, things he had worn the day before his death. The King Center is an incredible place.

There was a couple taking pictures of each other in front of Dr. King’s grave. I asked if they’d like a picture taken together; they were happy to have me do that for them. Then he took my picture; I flashed a peace sign.

The thing that saddened me is that this African American couple and I were the only people there at that time.

There were a couple parts of the Center that were closed; one a movie theater where you could see films of Dr. King speaking. Why was it closed? The King family was having a hassle with the National Park Service about some project the government was wanting to develop. They felt it would take away from The King Center. As I recall it was going to be located across the street – I think this is the complex.

I shook that off and went on my way. It was eerie in a way, thinking about Dr. King walking along these same streets. I had that feeling before, when I first had a press pass to cover a game at Three River Stadium. Walking past the Pittsburgh Pirates dressing room; thinking about Roberto Clemente walking down that same hall.

When I went to the Martin Luther King Jr. birthplace, it was also closed due to the squabble with the Park Service. In any case, I went and stood on the porch; looked into the windows to see what I could see. I sat on the porch for a few minutes; thinking of him doing the same thing. I felt his presence.

Thinking back on it, I believe I said to my soulmate that I was surprised that there seemed to be no traffic in the neighborhood. That part was odd. I went to the Ebenezer Baptist Church; I stood there for awhile thinking what it might have been like to hear him preach. Before I left I took a place in one of the pews to say a prayer, for peace.

The National Park Service has information on The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. The place I went to, though, is not shown. Maybe it no longer exists. It was in a house that was somehow connected to Dr. King; definitely not his birthplace. It was small, surprisingly so to me. Which, I suppose, is why they wanted to build the new facility.

The people I took the picture of were there too. And another woman. We sat together and watched a movie they had on Dr. King’s life. I was able to get a taxi to come pick me up; something the park rangers questioned as did the cabblie. It seemed to take longer than it had getting other taxis duing the days we were there; that may have just been my imagination from the doubts the rangers had.

I am happy that I had the chance to visit the home of Martin Luther King Jr. and to see the legacy he left behind. If I go to Atlanta again it will definitely be priority visit to make again.