by Does this story sound familiar? A manager spends some time talking with a candidate that doesn’t quite fit the mold of the department/company. Said manager pitches the candidate, gets the necessary signatures and brings the candidate on. The establishment derides the decision, some comments are along the line of “not a natural sales person” or “too much personality for the chemistry lab.”
Then what happens? We’ve all seen these cases of the iconoclast sales person or scientist go down in flames but sometimes…they end up working out beyond what anyone thought was possible.
That is the case with Tim Tebow , when you remove the fact that he is a football player in the NFL, Tim Tebow’s story is not all that different from developing a typical employee. A manager (at the time Bronco’s coach Josh McDaniels), brings on someone with potential:
There’re going to be doubts about him. Great doubts — and I understand that. Some people don’t think he has the natural traits of a great quarterback. Here’s what I think: Do Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods swing the club the same way, hit irons the same way? No. But they both win tournaments. There’s different ways to throw, different mechanics, and you can still get the job done.
Meanwhile the insiders tsk tsk that the new employee doesn’t fit the mold. There are ups and downs (three games lost in a row), head scratching moments, things aren’t done the XYZ Widget Company way but there are good results. How do you argue with that?
Is Tim Tebow an “elite” quarterback? Does he have staying power in the NFL? Only time will tell, same with your slightly different/mold breaking sales/chemist/engineer employee. There are going to be stumbles, you will question the wisdom of hiring that person. But if your slightly different star is bringing in results and (good) press…how do you argue against that?
Moral of the story? Don’t worry so much about fit, look at results.
Related articles
- Understanding the Tim Tebow phenomenon (boston.com)
- Tim Tebow Is America’s Favorite Athlete, According To ESPN Poll (tracking.si.com)
Good point but the opposite is true as well. For instance many teams try to bring the very best talent but personalities or playing styles do not fit in with the team and you end up with an epic fail. Look at the the Miama Heat.
That is a good point as well, as we know three similar NBA egos doesn\’t equal a championship. I\’m not advocating we completely disregard fit with the team but I think it\’s important we look at non-traditional candidates. Just as Josh McDaniels decided to bring on someone who wasn\’t the traditional NFL QB.
I like this! It leaves me wondering: if I am a Tebow-type candidate and I know it, how do I get employers to take a chance on me?
Thank you for the comment ! This is an excellent question, one I think deserves a blog post on it…stay tuned!