What “Was” Mike Singletary Thinking?????

What exactly was Mike “IRAN” Singletary thinking of when he hired Jimmy Raye as his offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers? He hired someone who reflected his own theory of offensive football, that’s what?

Now he has had to fire (and I do mean FIRE) the self-same guy and replace him with his QB coach. This is like Hitler firing Goering in 1944 and telling everyone that now Nazi Germany are the good guys.

Leaders can be insane. Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. In this case hiring a coach who rarely improved his offensive unit, has tumbled from team to team and never been much of a success.

This is a great Harvard Business School type case of flawed leadership.  Sports franchises are businesses where the results are apparent rather quickly displayed to all shareholders on the field of play.  I would like to say that this type of bad leadership exists only in sports but then I would be lying to you and you would know it. If your company is failing it is either flawed leadership or flawed product or a combination of both.

Oh, tell me it is flawed marketing strategy and I will ask you who articulated that strategy? Oh, the leaders. Oh, gee whiz.

Time to get real. Getting real is not a popularity contest.

Rigid leaders lead to rigid results. And that ain’t just whistling Dixie.

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“Iran” Mike Singeltary

I don’t know if you heard or care but Singeltary had KPIX remove Dennis O’Donnell from a 49er segment because of questions he asked him. If you watch the interview you can see the “Iran” (not Iron) Mike has his pants on too tight.

O’Donnell’s questions were very fair but Singeltary decided to bully him into submission. Yeah, I have read that O’Donnell’s question weren’t in the narrow parameters set up by agreement between the 9ers and the KPIX but they were still within the bounds of business as usual.

This isn’t the type of coach the Niners should have representing them. Weighed down by his crucifix (some Christian) I grow less and less impressed with the man behind the coach. I am not commenting on his coaching capability. This will speak for itself over time.

A man who can’t handle tough but fair questions is no man at all.

I won’t be sorry to see you go, Iran Mike.

0-5 should do it.

So here’s the deal. Until Iran Mike relents on this stupid and despotic proclamation, his future with the 9ers will be short and sweet. He’ll either be fired during the season or by season’s end.  Eventually we all get tired of anger management laden bullies who tell you the same horse shit about loving you and seeking excellence while they skewer your ass.

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iJOBSEEKER

There are three types of job seekers in Silicon Valley.

The first type networks heavily and doesn’t forget their network once they get a job. In fact they don’t forget their network ever. They are always up for helping you find your next gig.

The second type is like a person who has just jumped off a sinking ship. They will grab on to anyone they can to keep themselves afloat even if it means drowning both of them. If they survive (and they often do) they forget their network once they are safe on dry land (meaning they have a job).

The third type are the ones that will help you if you meet their standards (God, knows what they are). They tend to move in very closed circles. When their circles break apart their job hunting skills decline severely.  They moved in a tight pack but without the pack they have to rely on the very people who weren’t good enough for them. These are the ones who decline your request on LinkedIn because  they don’t know you personally.

It is best to hunt singly (avoid packs lest you be mistaken for a wolf) and help many without prejudice. Help others and it will come back to you. Don’t make your help conditional. Just help. That is your gift.

So in the world of pick up artists which is very similar to the world of job hunting,

PUA’s have a tendency to be shot down by their wing men because they believe the pack is the best. The very best PUA’s move alone forming temporary alliances and breaking apart when it no longer suits them. But they help almost anybody.

The seeker of women (or men) who stand around waiting for lightning strikes (in other words, nothing happens) are like job seekers who think the job will come to them. It rarely does.

These are zoo animals an I have ranted enough about them. Whether you are seeking a significant other, a one night stand or a job, you had better get used to rejection. It is the food that we feed upon that leads us to success.

I once told a colleague that I was 100% confident of my abilities in the work place but I only win 50% of the time.

Zoo animal food. This is as close to meat as most of them ever get.

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Kicked Out

It occurred to me recently how many things that I have been kicked out of.

I was kicked out of Boy Scouts as a thirteen year old.

I was kicked off my high school school newspaper in my senior year.

I was kicked off the high school track team in my senior year.

I have been fired twice.

Laid off four times in my career and escaped about a half dozen others by changing companies JIT (Just In Time).

I admire people who don’t fit into a box. I also like people who don’t try to fit me into some preconceived box.

My wife, who means well, is trying to make me into her version of a beta male. Beta males make women feel really comfortable. But at the bottom of it all, I am an alpha male. I am that outlaw biker of legend. I am far from physically imposing and I am on the down side of the middle age (if I can ever figure out the answer to Middle of What?

I am not there by choice. It’s in my DNA. I can be nice. Very nice at times. It really shocks people when I am really nice. It’s a weapon. It disarms people and so I use it as such.

This ain’t me. I know. Tried. But I had the highest number of demerits in my troop. I hated rules and regulations that got in the way of learning and pure fun.

This ain’t me either even though I like the image and used to dress something like this. Not because I was imitating James Dean. I chose the “look” all by my lonesome. Besides, boots made me taller by two inches.

It sort of became something like this. At least inside. Lawrence of Arabia without the need to whip myself to orgasm. It was his independence I admire.

But I am not Lawrence. I believe I can understand what made him up and drove him to do what he did. But my desert and my motives may have resonated with his but they were at the heart of it, all my own.

It is good to understand who you are. It doesn’t make life easier especially on the outside. Just in that very small internal place that is singularly your own.

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Big Red Targets

In looking back over the past two years the consistency in my life is allowing myself to be drawn into situations where I am under the thumb of a dominating personality who believe that their way is the right way. So I am compelling enough that they want me to work or coach for them and then once I get in there, the sell is off and the real game begins.

It happened with my last consulting gig back in 2008 and again late last year with my job. Now it is happening again in my coaching high school runner life. I am  being dragged into the swamp. I promised myself if this happened I would leave these types of situations because they are energy and life destroyers. I only blame myself because I halo myself into these situations.

Except that this time it involves one of my best friends who is coaching a high school cross country team. I like the kids and have even made friends with some of the parents. But the day to day coaching is starting to wear me down. My friend is a control freak. He promised he would give me a subset of the team on a rotating basis (JV one day, Varsity the next) and let me run it. But that isn’t what is happening. We talked about it on several occasions but he keeps reverting back.

So once more I have to go to the mountain (one last time) and try to make it right. If not, I will leave. There’s something about me that is connected to big red targets. Front and back.

Maybe the reality (the reality I can control) is that retirement means no bosses….Period.

If I want to be a beast of prey, then I have to act like one, whatever the species.

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Sorry about that!

My blog keeps reverting to a privacy option with no one being able to view it.

I think I have fixed that problem.

.

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