As I mentioned in my previous journal, I was fortunate to be able to have a boss like Roger Crozier. We spent three years together in the front office. He was the Assistant General Manager for my first two years and the Interim General Manager during year three (1982-83). My boss was the type of person that was so mechanically gifted. He was much more than your usual sports team jock even though he was voted as one of the ‘25 Greatest Players’ in the history of the Detroit Red Wings and was also inducted into the Buffalo Sabres’ Hall of Fame after his playing days. I loved my boss very much. He was my mentor. He knew that when he called me “JIMMY BOY” every morning, it filled up my work tank for an entire day! But he also wasn’t bashful to provide moments of “tough love” when I needed it.
Towards the end of my first year with the
Capitals, a meeting took place between Roger and myself. One that changed my
life and over time inspired me to see the whole picture and become who I am
today! This meeting was more about the
making of a new me! It was the lecture of all time. Once I walked into his
office, the door quickly shut behind me, something that never happened before
in the hundreds of meetings that took place between the two of us.
I sensed something was wrong. No small talk
or personal stories did he tell. Roger just threw it at me in an instant with a
tone in the voice I had never witnessed before. He blurted out: “Jim, what do you want to be in your life:
SOMEONE or SOMEBODY? And know that my door will not open until you give me
the right answer!”
I sat there. Nervous as all get up. His
facial expression never changed. Actually, he started to look at some paperwork
on his desk while I sat there with this ‘deer in the headlights’ look on my
face and stunned by the moment at hand. Minutes passed. Roger blurted out again
“the door’s not opening until I hear the right answer!!!” I looked at him,
knowing the moment of truth arrived. I said, “Roger, I don’t know what you
consider to be the right answer, but I am going to tell you what my gut says is
the right answer”. Roger said… “go
ahead”. I looked him in directly in the
eye and said “I want to be SOMEONE!” He,
without hesitation, went into this tirade and said “Jim, you’ll never be
‘Someone!’
He then paused. Thought of something. Picked
up the phone. Called the operations department. Asked them to bring up the
Mascot character’s head. Told me to put it on and tell him what I see? Looking like an idiot, I had this big
character’s costume head on over my face. He told me to use my hands and show
him what I was seeing? Out of my muffled
voice, I stated “I can only see straight ahead” (Note: if you’ve never put on a Mascot’s head before, you do only see
what is straight ahead. You can’t see left, right or below unless you turn your
head completely to see).
After I made my statement of only seeing
straight ahead, Roger went into another rant and quickly stated: “That’s right
Jim, that’s why you will not be SOMEONE in your life. You can’t see anything to
the left or right or even below. All you worry about is what’s in front of you.
My boss knew that I was a comfort zone type of person. The type that did not
venture outside of my responsibilities. But
Roger saw a bigger picture in me and was trying to mold me into a Future Team Executive.
Roger’s lecture inspired me to see the whole
picture. To be that “Someone” in my
industry, I needed to learn how marketing could make PR… how PR could make a
marketing idea sizzle… how community relations could be your best promotion,
etc.… My boss then asked me to attend all of our department head meetings for a
period of time. To just listen and take
notes. It was the start of my actually getting a college degree, one that I am
so grateful there was a person in my life that realized the potential I had and
cared enough to coach it out of me!
Continued tomorrow …
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