Wally Backman -- Kicking it old school

[NiceDocter]

Alright you Net54 slackers….. where you been all your lives? Listening to rock music and bad mouthing your country? Don’t you eyeball me boy! Now drop and give me 20!!

[bk400]

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your comments, whether snarky or substantive. I started this thread on Saturday night, my time, as a way to channel some negative energy into a positive endeavor: finding an excuse to get good old Wally Backman some airtime. I didn't think that a post on a baseball card forum would lead me to some constructive introspection about real life issues.

Some of you put some real thought into your responses, so I'll respond in kind in two posts.

Packs -- With respect to your most recent point about a bias toward student athletes at work, I'll say that the first time I thought about her background as a walk-on, turned varsity D1 rower was when I was thinking about which junior colleague to send the work related email. I was frankly shocked that the first colleague felt like I was putting him under undue mental pressure -- enough to BCC HR in his carefully and assertively drafted response to me.

So you are correct in that I did take into account her background as a Division 1 rower in deciding which colleague to contact next. Rowing is one of the most physically and mentally painful sports, and I did assume that someone who was willing to put themselves through an endeavor like that for four years with little or no chance of NIL riches or professional career prospects at the end of it would be able to mentally handle a weekend email, whether welcomed or unwanted. Candidly, I also took into account the fact that she is female who decided to work in an overwhelmingly male industry. Is this bias? Perhaps. But we are all human beings at the end of the day.

To complete the point, I haven't really worked directly with either of the colleagues. This was basically the first substantive engagement with either. The only evidence I now have are their respective responses to my email.

I'll also reiterate that I did not provide a weekend deadline for the work (those days are long gone). I just asked to review something "early next week". I remain somewhat amazed that the mere receipt of a work email over the weekend could constitute undue mental pressure for any young professional. But I'm learning, albeit slowly.

[bk400]

Scott -- really profound results that you've gotten with your team. Your employees are lucky.

I think your LeBron analogy is a great one, but I take away something very different: LeBron doesn't make a roster if he doesn't voluntarily do all those things above and beyond the minimum expectations for an NBA player. Unless you're G-d's gift to athletic ability, I suspect that no one on an NBA roster gets there and stays there without going well beyond the equivalent of the minimum 40-hour work week. I don't think there's anything wrong with the owner of the auto body shop or the local accounting firm holding his or her employees to the same relative standards. Obviously, there are market forces at play that naturally set boundaries on the expectations of owners / managers -- and these market forces depend on how competitive the labor forces are for the given industry. But fundamentally, I don't see anything wrong with selecting a team from the best performers in a given pool of employees, noting that the best performers are often (but, admittedly, not always) those who are willing to commit above and beyond the minimum requirements.

I take your point about burnout and whether ambitiousness at the junior levels can have negative consequences when they become managers. I suppose we are products of our own professional development. My old bosses used to work insane hours to meet deadlines. So when they asked me to join them to help out, they had credibility. They weren't asking me to do anything they hadn't done themselves. More importantly, when they asked me to work hard and late, it felt like I was joining the club. Maybe you're right in that we are at the stage where you can have perfect work life balance and still get promoted and paid well and, therefore, you don't need managers who have the experience of grinding it out.

But there's another side to that also. I've been through four massive layoffs at various points in my career -- survived some of them. I'm sure many others on this forum have been through that as well. My experience is that when times are tough, the warm fuzziness evaporates, and seats on lifeboats go fast. During those times, work is life, and life is work. Especially if you have a young family. When I look back at the best bosses I had, they weren't the nice guys.

They were the guys who had the biggest P&Ls with the fewest number of people. Pure and simple. Because when times got tough -- and they sometimes do -- they have the stick internally to fight for seats on the lifeboats for their teams. How do you get on those teams in the first place? It's usually by demonstrating that you have a track record of going above and beyond.

I feel that I'd be remiss as a manager to not at least try to teach grit. I'm not saying I'm the grittiest guy or the best guy, but I try my best to offer what I can to the next generation.

[bk400]

Another card of the best second baseman in the history of baseball

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I just want to say, my point was all about perspective. I didn't want it to seem like I was coming down on you, so I'm glad to see you took it in the spirit it was offered.

And all that being said, personally, I have worked in several places where I more or less volunteered to be almost always available. Not sure it always had any massive impact on my status with those companies.

As the owner I probably AVERAGE 75 hours a week, but I don't feel that gives me the right to expect anything even remotely like that from my employees even though I could rightfully say "well I do it." Of course on the rare occasions where I am compelled to ask for a little bit more I have not just the credibility of my work ethic, but also the good will capital built up from not asking for extra on a regular basis.

I will say that I do send emails on weekends, to work email addresses, but that's so I don't forget. Frankly I would be shocked to even get a response until the recipient is back at work.

[steve B]

I've mostly worked blue collar jobs, and more old school than new.
I had email before any place I worked.

Work time was work time. And I was paid for that time.
My time was MY TIME. If I was getting a call on the weekend or holiday or at night, there better be a very good reason. Asked to stay late, or work a weekend day? Sure, usually no problem.

And in things I was good at, I was VERY good. and not bad at things I didn't emphasize. (One place we were a distributor for referred all their odd calls or calls from people who needed help east of the Mississippi to me)

Being part of an old school industrial place that was too small to have HR, my initial reaction to a weekend call for something for Monday, maybe Tuesday would have been ..... "colorful" and probably not approved by anyones HR dept.
In many places, contact on a non work day makes that day a work day by law. Thanks for extending my weekend/vacation. And maybe giving me some extra pay. Now _ off!
Ok, wouldn't have told the boss that since my typical chain of command was Me-Owner. But there would have been a discussion Monday.

And no, I'm not and never was union.

[Snapolit1]

There is no more pathetic person at any company than the guy or gal who regularly sends non urgent emails on holidays, at 7pm on Friday night, during the Super Bowl, and other odd times basically to make it known to others that they are working when others are not. What you are basically advertising is you dont have a life. Dont ever be that person.