There is a great scene in the movie Jerry McGuire where Jerry, a sports agent played by Tom Cruise, is literally begging his client, NFL wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), to help him in his contract negotiations with Rod’s current team. You see Rod had developed a reputation for being selfish, difficult, surly and for being a player that was only about the money and didn’t play with “heart.” So, as you can imagine his current team didn’t want to dish out marquee money for someone who they felt didn’t care about anyone but himself, which made Jerry’s
In frustration (and desperation) Jerry implores Rod to “Help me, help you! Help me, help you!”
What Rod didn’t realize was that he had an impact on how he was being treated by his employer and he was actually triggering the results he did NOT want!
Have you been like Rod in your career? Or maybe, you’re like Rod now!
Let me tell you another story… I am a member of an organization and for the past year or so I have had one member of our team that has been a challenge to work with. He brings a lot to the team, he just also gets in his own way and he, like Rod Tidwell, ends up causing a lot of the problems that he ultimately complains about.
As I have had to work with him and interact with him I find myself like Jerry wanting to plead with him and say, “Help me, help you!” Because with just a few simple adjustments he could not only be a productive member of the team (which he already is) but also one that people want to connect with and work with and help along the way. Alas, while Rod in the movie learned his lesson, I don’t know if the individual on my team will. I hope so.
What does this have to do with you?
While we all want to believe that we are not the problem, I believe it’s always a good idea to pause every so often and reflect on whether or not we are the solution or the problem in our life. Author John Maxwell has a principle known as “The Bob Principle” which is this…
So, are you Bob?? And it’s super important to be honest with yourself on this. Especially because as people we are wired to do whatever we can to protect ourselves, which means we will deflect, avoid, point fingers, do anything to avoid receiving the blame. It doesn’t make us bad by the way, it makes us normal. Yet even though it’s normal, it doesn’t make it a good thing.
If you’re not experiencing the results you want…If you feel like everyone is against you… If you’re convinced that everyone in the world is a moron and you’re the only sane person left, you might be right. Or, you might be Rod Tidwell, or Bob.
Which one are you?
