June 24, 2019

Remember, Play For the Team with the Name on the Front of Your Jersey

By Paul Bieber

Now what am I talking about? Is this another Paul Baseball wacky idea? Almost.

A baseball player has two identifying marks on his shirt: the team or city on the front and the player’s name on the back. There are some players, whether on the ball field or at your glass company, who play for the name on the back (theirs). Yet it is the name on the front of their jersey that pays their salaries, gives them benefits and promises to keep the whole team working and earning. Once a player doesn’t believe that team is more important than the individual, he or she is lost and is hard to regain. This is what you strive to maintain for your team and your glass company.

Yes, there are individuals who make a team shine stronger than others. This is true of every aspect of our lives. Glass is a team sport and always will be. Remind your team of this often. If there is a member of your team who needs his or her ego stroked every day, they are not doing well for your team overall. Those individuals believe that their names are most important. And a penny against a dollar, they will not learn that the team comes first. If you have this person at your company share a heart-to-heart talk. Try teaching. If these plans don’t work within a reasonable time frame, make changes to your workforce. The longer they stay with you, the more they infect the rest of your company.

And to boot, you paid for the shirts with their names on them.