The biggest similarity between the two is that they both use a popular sport in the United States as the blueprint for the story. "Penalty Kick" is baseball and "Draft Day" is football. However, I can’t understand baseball and don’t know rugby at all, but it doesn’t affect my appreciation of these two excellent movies, because both are excellent managers’ textbook movies. Yes, I’m talking about textbooks. , Because although the story structure is not the same, the development context also has its own strengths, but both are from the perspective of a team manager to tell their respective team management story. Therefore, for a person who considers myself a "pseudo-professional manager", I naturally like to interpret the film from a professional perspective and see what kind of demonstration the manager in the film has given us.
1. Loyalty
Maybe our domestic sports environment and sports culture really cannot reach the depth of the American and British empires. Whether it is soccer, American football, or rugby, baseball, or ice hockey, these sports clubs have a very mature business operation model, club business model, and the most valuable asset-loyal fans. How faithful is it? These fans are so cute that most of them will only like and support one club for a lifetime, even if the club they love does not have a superstar, and there is no hope of achieving excellent results in the short term, but loyalty means loyalty, which is like a perfect period. Marriage lasts a lifetime, and there is no chance for a third party to intervene. (I believe that in the current sports environment of our country, such a sports atmosphere is difficult to achieve).
The protagonist in the film was born in such a family of loyal fans. His name is Sonny. He is in his prime, his father is a Cleveland fan for his whole life, and even the coach of the team in his later years; and he is the manager of the teacher of hope, responsible for the team as a whole Operation and daily management. Although not long after taking office, his absolute loyalty and responsibility to his boss have allowed him to gain the trust of his boss, and take people money to do things for others. Sony is not picky in this regard. However, what is commendable is that Sony regards this job as "his" career. He feels that only the spirit of the Cleveland team is flowing in his blood, even though the heavy and complicated work pressures him a little breathless, even away from it. After getting married, the old father died with hatred because he dismissed him. His life became a mess because of his work, but he always felt that this job was something he was destined to accomplish well. Bringing a championship trophy to Cleveland was I am going to fight for my lifelong dream.
Loyal to the boss, more loyal to one's dream, this makes the world of commercial sports full of copper smell like this kind of people, they are lonely idealistic nightwalkers, the road under their feet can not be seen, but the inner circle is faintly flickering The flame became their only belief in advancing forward.
2.
The background of the story in the film is the annual draft day of the NFL in a certain year. As the name suggests, this is the only opportunity for each team to choose a star of tomorrow throughout the year. Players who have performed well in college will be selected and ranked by the professional league through scoring methods, and a sequence number for the professional team draft will be obtained. Players who are ranked first in all scoring will become the top picks of the year. Each professional team will be assigned a draft sequence number based on its performance in the previous year's game (the worse the score is, the higher the draft sequence number). According to this sequence number, the draft will be conducted one after the other. In other words, The higher the ranking of the team, the more priority they can choose their favorite players who are also ranked high. The protagonist of the story is the team manager. He holds the power of the draft. Even the team owner, the head coach, the technical analysis team, and the financial manager can only have the right to make suggestions. The final choice depends on the manager.
So the core contradiction of the story unfolded between the choices of the three draft players.
Bo Callahan is the No. 1 pick this year and the hottest star player in the United States. It seems that everyone loves him, all fans are chasing after him, and all team managers are eager to get him. He is a quarterback with outstanding achievements in college.
Ray Jennings, like Sony, firmly believes that Cleveland's blood is flowing in his body. His father is also a legend in the team's past and is an excellent wing offensive player.
Motai Mark is a defensive player with a down-to-earth style of play. He has no gorgeous skills or fans' pursuit. He has only two nephews that he needs to raise.
In terms of selection, Sony believes very much in its intuition and has its own unique evaluation angle. First of all, Motai Mark called him. He felt a little disgusted, because it was tantamount to pulling the relationship through the back door in advance, so he bluntly refused.
Then Ray Giannis' father called him and said that I have been raising my son well, and I believe he will not let you down, and Sony did not immediately state that it still needs to evaluate.
Finally, Sony personally called Bo Callahan's agent to ask about the situation. Of course, all he heard on the phone were gorgeous and perfect face talk, which did not help Sony in its selection.
How to do it? There is a voice from the outside world that both the owner and the fans hope that Sony will work hard to sign the champion, and his own coaching staff has different opinions. The head coach thinks that the team already has a good quarterback and cannot use the team for the next three. The year’s draft picks were exchanged for a rookie champion who had overlapping practical uses and greatly increased the team’s budget; the technical analysis team believed Callahan was the perfect player. Any data analysis shows that the team has no reason to abandon such a player. The financial manager thinks that the team’s overall salary budget should not be exceeded by any means; the boss came to put pressure on it, which probably means that the team wins or loses is something to be said, and it can attract big-name star players, stimulate the market, and satisfy fans. Is the most important.
After constantly communicating with senior scouts in the circle, inquiring about news, and even going to Callahan’s university to get to know the situation with his enlightenment coach, Sony got some information that can be referred to, such as Callahan’s birthday party. One of his teammates came to participate. For example, Callahan lied in an integrity test and repeated the lie after being exposed in order to complete the lie record. In addition, he repeatedly watched a game recommended by Motel and saw Callahan’s psychological quality. Factors of instability.
In the process of investigating Callahan, he was also understanding the background of the other two players. He found that Motel is a caring and responsible player, while Ray Jennings is an absolutely loyal player that the team desperately needs.
In contrast, Sony has come to the conclusion that his hiring methods are obvious.
Bo Callahan is a typical guru. Although he is eloquent, good-looking, and has a certain technical strength, his success is more dependent on the team. Being dishonest, likes asking for credit, and nightlife is corrupt, it makes the relationship with others extremely poor. Such a person who is artificially labeled as a star and whose surface is radiant but is actually empty inside is an invisible bomb in the team. It may be able to play some role in the short term, but in the long run it is by no means the core of the team.
The honest, upright, loyal, simple and professional Motel and Ray should be the cornerstone of the team.
3. Coordinating internal and external relations. The
film used several conflict scenes to highlight Sony's management style and personal charm. It is indeed a required course for professional managers.
1. The first is the reaction to Motel's first call. After being closed-door, Motel posted Sony’s attitude on Twitter (similar to our Weibo and Moments). Although Sony was very angry after learning about it, he still called back as soon as possible, admonishing Motel if he wanted to be in a professional club. In the middle of nowhere, managers will not like players with such big mouths and who like to spread gossip. This is professionalism: you can have opinions on my choice, but please take care of your own mouth, and don't hurt your every way to be blocked by your own saliva. The tolerance of young people and the indoctrination of professional ethics are professional habits that I admire. Even if you don't like my choice, as long as you want to mix in this circle, you must learn to respect the industry and abide by the rules.
2. The team’s original main quarterback, Bryan, heard that Sony planned to sign the champion Lang Callahan at a high price (Callahan is also a quarterback, and his arrival means Bryan will be beaten into the cold. , Because Brian suffered from his knee injury in the past two years, and failed to show his normal strength), was very angry, ran to Sony’s office and smashed it for a round. Note that this is an employee who ran to the CEO’s office. Smashed, in my opinion, is simply unreasonable and unforgivable. But look at how Sony handles it. After arranging the tedious work, he went to the physical coach to find out about Blaine's recovery from injury, and the answer was that Blaine was stronger and better than before the injury. Then he calmly walked to Bryan who was still in a state of volcanic eruption. Although he hadn't spoken yet, Bryan said: Trade me out! But Sony was still very calm but firmly said: I heard that you just smashed my office?
Bryan: Yes, I am very upset!
Sony: Okay, but I don't care if you are up or down, you should call your agent and ask him to talk to me. This is his job.
Bryan: No, Sony. Talk to me yourself. This is a conversation between men. You owe me.
Sony: What do I owe you? Remember? I picked you on draft day! And you had a knee injury at the time, and no one wanted to sign you. I will give you a salary increase and contract renewal because I believe in you!
Bryan: Then why did you choose Callahan to replace me?
Sony: You know why.
Bryan: Then trade me out!
Sony: No, I only do things that are good for the team.
Brian: Barbara Barbara talked about a lot of his efforts during the recovery period, showing his loyalty and ability...
Sony: Are you finished?
Brian: No!
Sony: Then quickly finish, and then continue your training. If I want to trade, you will trade, but if you don’t want it, you won’t. You just need to worry about yourself! Don't worry about Bo Callahan! And the most important thing is that you handle your own affairs well, don't bother me with your affairs, I still have a lot to do!
Then Brian, who was speechless, turned around and left.
Perfect negotiation! Sony clearly expressed a few points in this brief and powerful conversation:
1) Please observe professional ethics, if you have opinions, ask the agent to talk to me about the transfer, and do not bring personal emotions to work;
2) Express Trust, even though you are recovering from a major injury and your performance in the new season cannot be evaluated, I still trust you. I chose Callahan because of pressure from all parties, not to drive you away;
3) Not because of your emotions Influencing my decision or choice, I only do what I firmly believe is beneficial to the team;
4) Players should focus on training and competition, and do not interfere with my management work beyond the boundaries.
3. When I heard Motel’s suggestion, Sony instinctively felt that Callahan had a problem, but for a while, I couldn’t tell where there was a problem. So I went to the technical analysis room and the analyst asked to re-study all Callahan's game videos. In the face of analysts' perfunctory (constant gossip about Callahan and picking up girls), Sony showed great tolerance and a bottom-line counterattack. Including the head coach who has always opposed his choice. The coach has always used the championship ring and resignation he has to intimidate Sony to follow his own selection advice. Faced with the champion coach who has spent 30 million signed by the boss, Sony Those who can't come hard, can only constantly change the topic and elaborate on their principles of selection. And in many confrontations and negotiations, repeatedly emphasized: U do your job, I do mine!
Performing their own duties, these simple words, how difficult it is to do, only managers in the center of the whirlpool can understand. When a team is facing an important turning point or major project, it is important to have a clear division of labor, individual responsibility, initiative and self-consciousness, and perform their own duties. And blind optimism, laziness, prevarication, empiricism, and powerism are so undesirable. In fact, the distance between these 8 idioms is not very large. When the team is swaying between them, the person at the helm needs to grasp the subtle psychological changes between people like a scalpel, and find the best entry point. Eliminate the disease, so that the entire team is in a healthy state of operation.
In these conflicts, Sony could not vent his emotions and depression, and could only communicate with different people in a more comprehensive way and based on their different personalities. He treated the players' rage calmly and showed his attitude; He doesn’t understand the technical analysts, he insists on his own opinions and gives orders strongly; aggressive to the coach, he negotiates with both soft and hard; to the boss’s instructions, he is ready to go and prepare food and grass; even to a new operator in the team , He has maintained great patience and tolerance. As long as Sony breaks out in any of these links, it will definitely collapse. In this regard, I can only admire Sony's extremely high professionalism and personal cultivation, and sigh.
4. Business Negotiation Skills
Sony’s telephone consultations with managers of other teams on draft day are a classic of telemarketing. The movie uses split-screen presentation technology ingeniously. The people on both sides of the phone are on the screen. Both sides appear at the same time, which allows the audience to observe the facial expressions and the expressions in the eyes of both sides of the conversation while listening to their negotiations, which is very interesting. Since there are a lot of spoilers involved, I will not list the classic dialogues, but just summarize and display:
1) In the negotiation, which side first reveals the bottom line, which side loses first.
2) Although it is a business-level negotiation, if you can learn more about your opponent outside of the negotiation (such as the opponent's personality, the influence of the surrounding environment, the habits of doing things, etc.), it will definitely help you win this Negotiation;
3) For those who rob you and cheat you when you have the opportunity to fight back, you can treat them in a human way. But don't rush to exterminate them. To leave a way for others is to leave a way for yourself;
4) In the market, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal benefits.
5) Calmness is the first element of business negotiations. Don't lose your calm mind at any time.
6) Any business decision must ultimately follow people’s hearts, be loyal to people’s beliefs, and respect human nature. Otherwise, human nature will definitely punish you.
After talking for a long time, the topic of "professional managers" can come to an end. This talent is sparsely learned, and there are only a few things that can be seen and enlightened in the movie. I hope it can be a little helpful to readers.
Finally, I have to praise the movie and the story itself. This story is said to be adapted from real events. Whether you know rugby or not, it will not prevent you from understanding and liking it. The characters with distinctive characteristics are organically connected by Sony played by Kevin Costner. The whole story has a clear context and develops around the process of draft day. The closer you get to the node where you have to make the final choice, the more nervous you are. I was nervous about Sony's choice, and I was very addicted to the turn of the final story and the settlement of the dust. I hope you don't miss such a good movie.
——Big Shuai
September 1, 2014
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