Irrational Exuberance

It was a horrible sports weekend in Philadelphia bookended by the Phillies collapse and Eagles loss.  There are two blogs related to those topics swirling in my head.  Stay tuned.

Irrational exuberance drives me crazy.  As I was channel surfing Saturday night I came across the Ohio State-Nebraska football game.  I think I picked up the game in the 4th quarter with the Buckeyes ahead 27-13.  Did I say how much I dislike the Buckeyes?  Nebraska is driving down the field, picking up rushing yardage at will.  On one particular first down play, the Nebraska running backing goes for a nine yard gain.  He is tackled hard by Christian Bryant, a defensive back.  Mr. Bryant gets up and goes crazy over the hit he just made.  He's pounding his chest and high-fiving anyone within reach.  He was pretty full of himself.  Perhaps he forgot that the back just ran for nine yards on a first and ten and that his defense was being leveled by a superior Nebraska line.  No, he didn't care.  He was the man!

Another example of over exuberance, perhaps not irrational, is Nyjer Morgan.  He is an outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers who has an alter ego named Tony Plush.  In my opinion, he is one of the most annoying players in baseball.  Unfortunately for all of us who are not Brewers fans, he got the game winning, series winning hit on Friday night.  Of course he screamed expletives into the microphone in the post game celebration on the field.  He is T-Plush!

Excitement and exuberance are a part of life.  No one wants to work with downtrodden people.  The workplace and the playing fields need for personalities to come out and shine.  But it needs to be done in a reasonable manner appropriate for the setting and situation.  Christian Bryant-wrong situation.  Nyjer Morgan, er T-Plush, inappropriate language.  There is no "I" in team, yet so many players and workers make it about themselves.  Maybe that's the economic times we live in, but enough already.  I want a strong, dedicated individual working with me that has fun but knows when to focus.  As leaders, we need to find a way to harness the energy strong personalities have into something that will improve the results of the team and increase their value to the organization.  Good judgement and acting appropriately shouldn't be the exception-it should be the rule.