Masonry Magazine July 2008 Page. 52
Full Contact Project Management
FULL CONTACT
By "Coach" Gary Micheloni
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Lessons From T-ball: Overcoming Fear
Life is designed so that we continue to grow. That's the natural order of things. Little kids grow up, and big kids are supposed to become adults. As we get older, we usually become wiser and should become more skilled, at least that's the theory. But some people stop growing, for different reasons.
In construction, we expect that all of our field people will continue to improve. But, sometimes, the growth just stops. So, the question that must be asked is, "Why?" Could it have something to do with fear of success? Fear of failure? New insight actually came to me while watching, of all things, a T-ball game.
Fear keeps some of us from growing. But I learned a simple lesson or two on overcoming fear, just by watching a game of fearless, pure baseball, as practiced and played by a group of first-graders.
Think about the parallels between you and a T-baller. What does a first-grader worry and think about?
1) Family in the stands, even though Mom and Dad are cheering him on to victory
2) Knows his teammates are counting on him, and doesn't want to perform poorly and embarrass himself
3) His coaches, and how to satisfy them
4) Getting invited to Freddie's birthday party next week after the big game
5) Above all, not getting to first base.
What about our rookie PM, on his first day at the new job?
1) Family has high hopes for this promotion
2) Brand new "team" is counting on him, and PM doesn't want to embarrass himself by not performing
3) His boss is expecting great things
4) Fitting in with all of the office politics and its social scene
5) Striking out and not even getting close to first base.
How does the T-baller overcome his fear of hitting? Let's look closely at this.
1) He hits off a "tee" when he is first learning the game. For those unfamiliar, picture a baseball tee as a three-foot golf tee that the baseball sits on, stationary, so the batter can hit it. No fastballs, high, hard and inside. No brush-back pitches. First half of the season, everyone hits only off of the tee.
2) Second half of the season, the player gets a few swings at a ball tossed softly by his coach. If he doesn't connect on any of these three pitches, he hits off the tee. Most of the kids miss the coach's pitches, and have to go back to the tee. Part of the game, no embarrassment.
3) Next season, as a second-grader, there is no tee, but just "coach pitch." Soft tosses to a kid who now has better hand-and-eye coordination.
COACH GARY SAYS:
"Don't let your egos get in the way of a free education."
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50 Masonry July 2008 www.masoncontractors.org The Voice of the Masonry Industry