Tuesday, June 19, 2012

There’s No “O” In Team…..

By: J Robert Giles

@JRobertGiles

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”  - Ken Blanchard

Anyone who has ever been a part of a team knows that success requires discipline. Success requires a clearly defined mission and absolute preparedness. Success requires sacrifice and exhaustion but more than any of those things, success requires trust. No matter what the endeavor, the success of a team requires that all the moving parts trust one another. In business this is true. A CEO will carefully select each and every member of his or her executive team. Each member will be selected based upon their specific skill set and what the CEO sees as a unified vision where the company itself is concerned. It doesn’t matter what color their skin may be, or what TV shows they like. It doesn’t matter what school they went to or where they grew up. All that matters is that they know their individual assignment. They have to know their role and understand how their role fits into the overall mission. In sports, it’s the same way. In order to win a football game, every man on that field must know his individual assignments and execute them flawlessly. Not only that, but they have to trust each other. They have to trust that the man next to them has worked just as hard as they have worked themselves. Take away that trust and the rhythm of the game is disrupted. Resentment toward the unprepared teammate festers and grows as the game progresses. Blame becomes apparent and eventually, the team walks quietly back into the locker room, heads hung low, shoulders slumped, and defeat emanating from their pores.

Nowhere is the inherent trust of a successful team more important than within the ranks of our United States military. Precision, attention to detail, and focus are the difference between life and death. Hesitation or doubt is significantly more dangerous than any enemy or weapon could ever hope to be. When the difference between success and failure is measured in microseconds, doubt often results in death. Soldiers follow orders because they trust the chain of command. They trust the man delivering the orders to them just as that man trusted the man who delivered them to him. The mission is never questioned. Orders are executed and assignments are clearly defined. This does not always insure victory but it sure as hell hasn’t led to defeat. What happens if our military starts to distrust the orders they are given? What happens if the orders themselves start to be questioned?

We’ve seen it a million times in sports. The aging quarterback we’ve followed for years, hangs on one season longer than he probably should have. Our last memory of a once noble warrior is a slow, weak knee-kneed, interception riddled performance in which he simply seemed to be out of his element. The game itself has simply passed him by. Perhaps it was the competition adjusting for his greatness over the years, but most of the time it’s just a stubborn need to compete that sends him out there despite doubt among those depending on his input. The backup quarterback waits patiently on the sidelines, just waiting for his chance. The newspaper and sports shows start running more and more stories about the backup quarterback until finally, a legend’s career ends with a towel over his head, sitting on the bench, listening to the roar of the crowd as they applaud the heroism of his younger, more effective replacement. Those players who truly value team over self will display one, last act of public heroism as they stand on the sidelines and cheer sincerely for the success of the team. For someone who is truly committed to the mission, victory is more important than personal glory. Strategy is more important than selfish agenda. Of course they would rather be out there on the field, but they would much rather see a victory celebration.

Barack Hussein Obama is not your teammate. Barack Obama is the quarterback who hasn’t completed a pass yet, hasn’t even gotten a grass stain on his crisp, gleaming, white jersey but he somehow has a multi-year contract and several big endorsements. Barack Obama is the quarterback who shows up late, refuses to participate in practice, and blames every mistake on someone else. Barack Obama is the quarterback that throws seven interceptions in the first half but as he runs off the field at halftime, tells a reporter “these receivers gotta get open and our defense has to stiffen up.” Well guess what, partner…..your defense (Republican led Congress) didn’t throw the ball (Taxpayer Money) to six different defensive backs (1. Solyndra 2. A123 Systems 3. Chevy Volt 4. Ener1 5. ObamaCare 6. Unions) for 42 points ($5 TRILLION in debt).

The United States of America is a team. When you are part of a team, your concern is not with the opinions and off-the-field decisions of your teammates. What matters is that when they show up to play, they are one hundred ten percent focused on the mission at hand and the execution of their own specific responsibilities. His Barackness is committed to one mission and one mission only. That is the mission of the liberal agenda. He will sacrifice each and every one of you if that is what it takes to see his vision come to fruition. The victory celebration he sees in his mind will be just as grand whether you’re there or not. His vision is very different. Whereas America the team pursues victory for itself, Obama only sees victory as the possession of those who follow him. He’s charming. He’s eloquent. He has actually managed to convince several (millions) of our teammates (fellow citizens) that victory can be achieved without effort or sacrifice. At least not ‘their” sacrifice. He’s managed to convince several of our teammates that victory can be obtained without strength. His Barackness believes himself to be bigger than the mission of the team. In fact, His Barackness believes that he should be the mission of the team. He believes that the team needs him more than he needs the team and he has clearly shown that opinion at every opportunity. His mission is to perpetuate his own image and his own success. If America won’t deliver it to him, he’ll accept it from another source, but he will be granted the world he believes is owed to him.

It’s time to bench this showboating diva before he ends our season in training camp. I’m not ready to say that America is in her fourth quarter, staring down the barrel of playoff elimination. No. I believe America is just getting warmed up. Barack Obama will not be our starting quarterback as we head into the regular season. Barack Obama will be traded to another team and our new quarterback will be more focused on the success of the team than his own advancement. Our next quarterback already has the lucrative contract and the successful track record. He’s not flashy. He’s not going to get a lot of quotes pasted up on the chalkboards of other team’s defensive locker rooms. He’s quiet and sometimes shy, but when it comes time to fire the ball, he never hesitates. That’s what this team needs right now.

Re-electing Barack Hussein Obama would be the equivalent of letting Jerry Jones (Owner of the Dallas Cowboys) manages the Philadelphia Eagles’ Draft Day decisions. Sure, Jerry is smooth enough to make us all believe that his actions would be fair and in the best interest of the entire Eagles organization but his picks would surely benefit the Cowboys more than the Eagles. Each and every one of Obama’s “picks” have benefited himself, his friends, his supporters, or his ideology. Each and every one of Barack’s “picks” have served to further illustrate the fact that America is his opponent in so many ways. The trade deadline is rapidly approaching, folks. Make the deal before we suffer through another horrendously heartbreaking season.

As always, thanks for playing!

J Robert Giles

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