As you think about your career strategy, how do you see yourself?
Are you bigger than your job, or is your job bigger than you are?
I had not really considered this career strategy question until the end-of-season speculation about which NFL coaches would be fired immediately after the regular football season's final weekend. The discussions seemed sad, as if NFL coaches at poor-performing teams could do nothing but sit around and wait to be ushered out the door. In those situations, it seemed clear these coaches' jobs were bigger than they are.
Tom Coughlin was one striking contrast among departing NFL coaches.
In his final press conference as coach of the New York Giants, Tom Coughlin demonstrated what it looks like when someone is bigger than the job. Coughlin "resigned" after fifteen years with the New York Giants, twelve of them as head coach. He led the team to two Super Bowl wins, and was on the coaching staff for another one.
Rather than playing back what Tom Coughlin had to say, you can read the transcript of his remarks.
I would encourage you, however, to watch the press conference video.
You will get a sense of someone who, while obviously devoting himself to his job, his organization, and his players, definitely realizes his job is not bigger than he is. - Mike Brown
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