I Missed Out On My Dream Job Today

Posted by: Jim Petzel 5 years, 10 months ago

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On December 31st the Green Bay Packers commemorated the 50 year anniversary of their Ice Bowl victory over the Dallas Cowboys. At game time a half century ago it was -36 F with the wind chill. As a young Wisconsinite I saw portion of the game on our black and white television (that had more snow in its reception than on the field of the game) but spent the majority of the afternoon organizing the neighborhood to play our own ice bowl in my backyard. From that young age I enjoyed planning, recruiting and successfully convincing friends and even non-friends to come out and play on my team even when it was colder than the surface on Mars. This art of managing a team was something I seemed to naturally do well.

Despite continuing to improve my leadership and team building skills beyond my neighborhood for five decades, the Packers today elected to hire Brian Gutekunst as their new General Manager (My Dream Job). While this role was only a childhood fantasy a lot of people either under or over shoot in their ability to land the job they were created to do -- their dream job.

In looking for a new role myself these days making sure that I am asking the right questions of myself is particularly important but I think there are still just three that we all have to get right:

1. What am I passionate about? A lot of people skip this question all together to find a role that will put food on the table. Others focus strictly on the job itself without regards to family or other priorities that they are passionate about. For me where we live and ability to gather our family and friends on a regular basis is a big deal. Who I work with is also huge and their commitment to winning is also big. While leading the Packers may seem great to me, living in Green Bay may not make the top ten destinations for Ann and my children. I also have no idea what the Packer internal culture actually looks like. Making sure that these passions are aligned are imperative. I have to love the job, love the culture of the company and love the location that we live in.
2. What will they pay me to do? In that lower middle class that hosted the neighborhood ice bowl I never imagined that I would travel to the places I have been to, be involved in the businesses I have been or make anywhere near the money people have been willing to pay. I have been blessed in so many ways but the reality is the Packers are not going to pay me anything and therefore its not an option. If I had chosen to pursue only that one job or industry we would homeless. Getting paid for doing what you love differentiates a career from a hobby. I can still play Madden and get my NFL GM fix and still do something I enjoy and actually get paid for it!
3. What can you be the best in the world at? I might be able to match Brian Gutekunst's passion and I would sure love to have his pay check but the fact is Brian has been working with Packers for the past two decades analyzing film, watching NFL talent to be drafted, and negotiating multi year contracts with some of the best athletes in the world. They hired the right guy. As I or anyone else looks at their next steps we have to consider our strengths, our experiences and our business relationships. All are critical to success in a new role and getting a shot at being the best in the world at what we do can create the dream job environment.

As a fan of the Packers I sincerely hope that Brian's new gig works out, I want to see him build a great organization and bring the title back to Titletown. If he fails and is forced to find a new profession and somehow wanders in to the global moving space I am going to kick his frozen backside and even the score!

 

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