I Never Met a Leader I Didn't Like

"I Never Met a Leader I Didn't Like"nnWill Rogers on teamworkn(with an assist from Randall Reeder)nnI wrote in my syndicated newspaper column one time: "I never was Chairman of anything, or even on the Executive committee. In fact, I am a mighty poor group worker. I mean well, but I just don't do anything." nnYou may be thinking, "With that kind of record you should've been in Congress."nnNow, to clear up one thing as I get started: I was born in 1879. You may have heard I died in 1935, but apparently not because it’s 2007, and I’m here writing this article. It’s been many years since I was in a movie or entertaining on a Vaudeville stage with a lasso. But I still write, and if they let me, once in a while I’ll give a speech.nnI was asked a while back to write an article about teamwork using my own life experiences as an example. Well, I pondered over it a while, and since my life has been longer than most of yours I figured I could come up with a something you might find useful, or at least mildly entertaining.nnOf course the teams I’m most familiar with is horses. It’s a proven fact that if you get a good pair of draft horses harnessed and pulling together, they can accomplishment more than twice as much as they can individually. You know, it’s the same with people.nnPerseverance, new and younger ideas on the teamnnNow, I have survived a number of horse falls, airplane hard landings and assorted accidents in my adult life, but I almost never made it past 20. Another young cowboy and I accompanied a trainload of cattle to the Hearst Ranch in California, then went into San Francisco to relax. We got a room at a nice hotel that featured new-fangled gas lights instead of the usual kerosene lamps. That night I turned in early, and when my buddy came back and went to bed he blew out the lights. Whoa. The next morning they carried both of us out of the room to a nearby hospital. Carbon monoxide poisoning. My friend came to fairly soon, but the old doctors gave up on me. Too far gone. Fortunately this was a teaching hospital and the young medical students weren’t experienced enough to know I was supposed to be dead. They kept working and eventually brought me around. It took a few weeks of recuperation to get all that poison out of my system. nnSo don’t let your team give up. Bring in new thoughts and new ideas. Don't stifle ‘em. nThomas Edison didn't give up after several hundred light bulb designs failed. Adding new people to your teams keeps bringing in new ideas, keeps the organization fresh, keeps the lights on. nnnFocus on Strengths of Team members nnI first met Betty Blake at the Oologah railroad station in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and that chance meeting eventually led to the best "teamwork decision" I ever made. We got married eight years later when we were both 29. But in maturity I was about 10 years younger. She brought stability to my life, kinda set me straight, let me know when I was going in a wrong direction. In the Rogers household she was the financial manager. That let me focus on what I do best.nnNow let me direct this next comment only to the men: don't you agree, most of you, that when you got married your life improved? You got more focused?nnThe day I roped Betty was the best catch of my life. I joked once that Betty raised to adulthood four youngins – three by birth, and one by marriage. I hold the distinction of being the only actor in Hollywood that came out of the movies with the same wife he went in with.nnBut this romantic bliss almost got derailed long before it left the station. nnSee, in early 1902 I took off on a trip to the Argentine. I intended to return in a few months, but more than two years later, after working with Wild West shows in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, I got back just in time to perform at the St. Louis World’s Fair. I found out Betty was there with a sister and cousin, and I wanted to impress her in my first show. So, instead of my usual cowboy attire and small Stetson hat, I decided to wear a special outfit made for my performances in Australia as a "Mexican rope artist". It was a skin-tight, red velvet jumpsuit with gold braids decorating the sleeves and pant legs. As I galloped into the arena and did my rope tricks and fancy riding, Betty took one look at the gaudy costume and sat there stunned. Here I thought I was doing something special for her, and she was in shock. Well, afterwards I explained my thinking, and we got back on good terms when I vowed to never wear red velvet again. And I never have.nnIf you are thinking of doing something special, out of the ordinary, ask your teammates first for advice. You want strong team members, ones that will stand up and tell you "No" once in a while. See, I needed someone to say, "Will, you're a cowboy in a Wild West Show. Save the red velvet jumpsuit for when you join the Ballet."nnWe can't do it all by ourselves. As you add people to work on a project, ask: Who else do we need on the team? What skills do they have? Will their personality fit in with the others?nPick out good partners, even if you don't intend to marry 'em.nnKeep Growing as a Team, take advantage of your opportunities nnAmerica is a land of opportunity, and don't forget it. Don't stop growing, looking for new opportunities. I was a world-class trick roper by age 25, but you probably never would have heard of me if that was all I ever did. You can't just keep doing what you did 5 or 10 years ago and expect to be successful. Don't rest on your laurels. Teams must keep the sense of adventure and keep moving on. n nTrick roping got me into Wild West shows and then Vaudeville; I changed from doing a silent act (just roping) to talking about the rope tricks, and then the news of the day. (All I know is what I read in the newspaper.) That led to movies, which were silent at the time. Some newspaper folks caught my act, and decided I ought to write a weekly column. That led to an invitation to write a shorter article six days a week. These syndicated articles were carried in up to 600 newspapers. Then the movies started talking, and I made 21 of them. I was a mediocre actor in the silent movies, but when I could talk the audience ignored my acting. Meanwhile I was giving speeches. At times I was on the "lecture circuit", averaging one a day for 2 or 3 months. I ain't telling you this to brag, just to encourage you to take advantage as new opportunities appear.n nAre you still making silent movies? nnBuild up Your Teammates for a Stronger TeamnnFor a while I was the top paid actor in Hollywood, eventually knocked out by a 5-year old girl, Shirley Temple. But no matter who got top billing, I always tried to give bigger, more important parts to co-stars, let them shine. Not only let them but help them shine. In lifting other people up, letting others grow, they feel more a part of the team, getting everybody working hard toward the goal instead of just letting one or two "stars" carry the load. nnSometimes we stereotype people, put them into a "box" based on where their parents were born, their background, religion, all sorts of inconsequential attributes. Some fine African-Americans appeared in movies with me, including Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Lincoln Perry, who was better known as Steppin Fetchit. As entertainers, they were usually “boxed in”, but I made sure their characters were important and contributed to the storyline. We didn’t call it “valuing diversity” then, but that’s what it was.nnGoing back to the title of this little article, you're probably thinking what I really said was, "I never met a man I didn't like." And that's right. When I said it, I was mainly talking about the "prominent leaders of my time". Of course if I was saying it today, ladies, it would be, "I never met a person I didn't like." Whether you're leading or following, everybody has an important role on the team. Keep laughin’, keep learnin’, and keep pullin’ together.