My first real exposure to professional team sports in the United States was as a Knicks fan. One of the many perks of being a bartender meant that I didn’t miss a game for 5 years straight and I got to watch all the games in a bar full of intoxicated Knicks fans. It was awesome. Except for Michael Jordan. Every year, our playoff hopes would die because of his heroics. The Knicks managed to get past the Bulls in the playoffs only once in six attempts – and did so only because that was the year Jordan sat out. I hated watching him and his Bulls beat my Knicks. But, in spite of my broken heart, I couldn’t help but love watching Michael Jordan play basketball. He was poetry in motion. Like Baryshnikov or Coltrane.
MJ’s brand was so weaved into the Chicago Bulls brand they became inextricably connected. Everything he was, The Chicago Bulls was. And visa versa.
His number. His colors. His sneakers. His logo. His attitude. His culture. His tenacity. His desire to win
It was said that Jordan had the fiercest work ethic off the court. He was driven by some other-worldly force. But what resonated with me most about MJ was his loyalty to his coaches (Dean Smith at UNC and Phil Jackson at The Bulls) and his desire to elevate his entire team. Every time he stepped on the court, you knew something special was about to happen. He would sacrifice everything he had for the team. As much as he wanted it for himself, he wanted it for The Bulls. It was clear that he was playing for a lot more than his paycheck.
I was just as shocked as everyone when Jordan quit basketball for the first time in 2005 to play baseball. Of course, I was happy as a Knick fan, but disappointed as a spectator. In spite of my disappointment, I got it. He was following his childhood passion to play baseball. Carpe diem – you only live once. Respect.
His next three championship rings with the Bulls after his retirement from baseball two years later were even more astounding to me. He arguably solidified his legacy as the greatest player of all time in any sport.
When he became an investor in The Washington Wizards, it became clear that his reasons for playing (not for the Bulls but in Washington) for his final two years were financial. It felt disappointing to me and cheap. He should have retired a Bull. My storybook ending would have had MJ buying The Chicago Bulls instead of ultimately becoming the owner of the Charlotte Hornets.
Today it is commonplace for blockbuster trades to take place. Money often trumps brand loyalty and every time I see this, it still feels cheap. I lose a little respect for the player. A team move may make an athlete more immediate cash, but their brand is devalued.
I have more respect for Drew Brees than I do for Brett Favre.
The reasons why we work where we work say a lot about who we are as individuals and what we value most.
If you work for a team or company that buys their talent, that says a lot about your brand. The people who surround you are also probably there only for the money. Not to build the company brand. Not to collaborate. Not to help the team.
This week, Elon Musk told his staff that they had to be in the office 5 days a week or they could “GTFO”!
I’m not so sure this will instill a strong culture and build morale at Tesla. Some of his workers will probably tell him he can take his job and shove it.
The way to fill up an office building five days a week with staff isn’t by demanding it from them. You have to give people a reason to want to be there. And the reason shouldn’t be – money. Great companies create an environment where the team feels exactly the way Michael Jordan did when he was a Bull. Jumping out of bed in the morning and driven to create something special for more than just the paycheck.
Side Bar:
I’ve been asked the question a few times “If you were stranded on a desert island and could only listen to five albums, which would they be”?
To me – there’s no better recording than Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” album. Miles, John Coltrane, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb created one of the greatest jazz albums of all time. I’m still trying to decide on the other four albums.....
Let’s do this.
-Shaun