Neck Up or Neck Down

As a kid, I always thought that I was a lot smarter than I actually was. I believed that I was too cool, too good looking, too smart. There were times I wouldn't listen to my mom. She knew that a stubborn teenager wasn't going to listen to his mother. I had too much pride. My mother, being the intuitive woman she was, would always find a way to send me a message. 

There's a story I want to share...

I always tell coaches, parents and managers that I am mentoring to STOP MANAGING AND START SELLING. Yes, even if it's your own family and your own people. The fact is, as a manager, it only matters if the people agree with what you are asking them to do. The same thing goes as a parent – it doesn't matter how great your information or advice is. Your child has to listen to you for it to matter. My mother would use other people to sell me rather than tell me what she wanted me to know.

When I was in middle school, I struggled wand did not love school. In my head, I was a GREAT basketball player. I thought one day I’d play in the NBA. My mother, who came to one game in my luxurious career at the JCH, came to watch one of my games. After the game, her summation was that I was a 5’7" Jewish kid from Brooklyn, and she didn’t know anybody like that in the NBA and that I should probably be more serious about school. I thought that if I could find somebody my size in the league, maybe she’d believe me, but in the meantime, I should pay more attention to my academics in case the league didn't work out.

One day, our next door neighbor, who worked at CCNY as the Director of Custodial and Janitor Services, told me to go with him to work for a day. His job was to keep the school and grounds clean, open/close buildings, etc. He was a good friend of my mother. We went to the Bronx and he showed me the campus and introduced me to a number of the people cleaning bathrooms, cleaning floors, landscaping, painting and all the rest. He turned to me and said, “Brandon, you have to decide. Do you want to work from the neck up, or neck down?"

There is absolutely nothing wrong with cleaning and fixing. They are essential. The question is, do you want to manage? Do u want to be in charge of running a company one day? Do you want to be the boss? Only you can decide.

I decided to take school a lot more seriously.

The question is: do you want to work from the neck up, or the neck down?

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Quote of the day: "Sometimes you change your mind...sometimes your mind changes you"

Song of the Day: “You Say" Lauren Daigle