Sunday, July 31, 2011

Does It Make You Better?

It's has been awhile since I posted here. It was January 22nd to be exact-the last date my wife and I had before her cerebral hemorrhage. Happily, she is much better and I have stopped giving health updates.

This weekend has been a hotbed of activity in two sport-baseball and football. The end of July divides Major League Baseball teams into buyers and sellers. Teams like the Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees have been buyers, or acquirers of talent from other teams through trades. They look to add players that will help them make the playoffs and hopefully win the World Series. Other teams like the Astros and A's trade (sell) their stars in the hopes of getting younger players who will blossom into stars.

This year, the free agent market in football has gone crazy because of the NFL lockout. Typically, teams sign players in the spring and early summer. With the lockout just ending, all these signings must be done in a couple of days rather than months. If you're a Philadelphia sports fan, then you've been enjoying an exciting weekend as both the Phillies and Eagles have added player in the hopes of making them better.

Businesses need to do the same thing when looking at openings throughout their organization. With every position to be filled, the question is what kind of person do we need to make us better? This applies to internal and external candidates. It means you have to look at the needs of the organization and determine the appropriate skill sets to grow the organization. I'm fortunate that I work for such an organization with this mantra. If you're looking at employment and fortunate enough to have a couple of offers-pick the organization that is looking to make themselves better. Don't hesitate to ask the question.

The Phillies and Eagles are well run organizations-though I don't always agree with their moves, they are at least trying. Let's hope all these signings and trades make them better teams and bring multiple championships to Philadelphia this year.