4 career lessons we can learn from Deion Sanders͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Deion Sanders (Coach Prime) and the University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes are taking the college football world by storm.
Under Coach Prime's tenure, there has been a 600% increase in followers to CU football’s social media accounts and a 163% increase in average. ticket price.
Oh, and they are also ranked #19 in the country.
Why?
The man simply gets it done and shows a lot of style along the way.
Coach Prime’s style however is new to the coaching world. Some people love it, and some people hate it but one thing is clear; it undoubtedly is working.As a career coach, I’m always looking for things in the real world that I can draw back to career ownership, fulfillment, and success.
Deion Sanders could deliver a Master Class on it. More specifically, there are 4 things we can all learn from Coach Prime to get ahead in our careers1/ Be unapologetically yourself
2/ Take care of your team
3/ Lead with humility
4/ Dedication over everything
Let’s dive in. 1/ Be unapologetically yourself
Coach Prime does things differently. His team doesn’t have Captains. No, they have Leaders and Dawgs.
He takes interviews blinged out and wearing sunglasses.
He doesn’t bullshit his players and he embraces social media instead of hiding from it.
Many coaches joining a new team would simply try to play it safe and stick to the rule book. They would keep their heads down and try not to draw attention to themselves.
Prime did the complete opposite. The man thrives off of attention and knows how to generate it. He is true to himself and apologizes to know one.
In your career, especially in a new role, you are faced with two choices:
1) Conform to the environment around you or 2) Make the environment conform to you.
Choose the latter. Be yourself at work. Don’t apologize for how you see the world. If you do, you’ll be left constantly code-switching at work and pretending to be something you’re not.
Instead, own your personality, your decisions, and your work. Don’t be afraid to be noticed.
When we are unapologetically ourselves at work we are happier, more fulfilled and can produce a higher quality output.
2/ Take care of your team
Before the CSU game last week, Prime bought every team member a pair of his Blenders Eyewear glasses (which would go on to sell $1.2 M in 1 day).
Was this an expensive investment? For him, probably not.
What matters however, is the thought.
Coach Prime wanted to do something that would unify his team and hype them up for their next game.
More so, he wanted to send a message to their opponents; Colorado is unified and unapologetically themselves (see above).
You don’t have to give your team huge end of year bonuses or fancy gifts to take care of them at work.
It’s truly the little things that matter. Buy them a cup of coffee now and then, give them a half day off, ask for feedback.
Taking care of your colleagues isn’t about bribing them or short term gratification, it’s about building strong relationships and investing in each other.
3/ Lead with humility
"I'm happy he's a head coach. I'm happy for any brother that's doing it and successful man. I truly am."
Coach Prime said this about CSU head coach Jay Norvell after an overtime win that the entire nation stayed up way to late to watch - myself included.
What makes Coach Prime so great it how he beautifully toes the line between show-off and good sport, flashy and humble, winner and loser.
At the end of the day, Prime always leads with humility.
I don’t care if you are a CEO or an Intern, in your career you will go much, much further if you are humble and respectful.
Especially as you advance and take on more responsibility, bookmark more time to show gratitude.
It never hurt anyone.
4/ Dedication over everything
Coach Prime famously got his toes amputated instead of missing football games. He literally loves his team over everything else.
Now, I’m not saying you should put work above your health and wellness, but if you are prioritizing your career you should be prepared to make sacrifices.
Maybe you have to miss the big game, or come in a bit early, or even work on the weekends.
If you love what you do and want to keep doing it, showing your dedication by going the extra mile will separate you from the rest of the pack.
All told, your career is yours and yours alone. Don’t be afraid to be different, put in the work, and celebrate your successes. Coach Prime sure does.
Until next time,
Ben
|
Thanks for reading today! Whenever you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:
Go from “resume so-so, to resume pro” in 60 minutes
Check out my FREE resources to help in your job hunt
Found this edition of The Career Kickstarter online or got it from a friend? Subscribe below!
|
|
|
|