Build it like Beckham

A lovely story in The Guardian newspaper this morning – and if BJ’s allowed a baseball analogy, no-one’s going to stop me quoting a soccer story that sparked some proposal-related thoughts.

Bill Beswick, a sports pyschologist, was brought in to work with Manchester United when their star player was David Beckham.

Before training one morning, he tried to motivate United’s players by telling them a tale of three bricklayers. Asked what he was doing, the first replied “laying bricks” and the second said “earning £10 an hour” but the third said he was “helping to build a beautiful cathedral where I will bring my kids”.

Apparently Beckham promptly scored a wonderful goal on the practice pitch and celebrated by screaming: “Cathedral 1 Bricklayers 0.”

Makes me wonder what proposal managers are doing each day. Are we “getting a document out of the door”; are we “paying the mortgage”, or are we “telling the stories that bring in business and keep our co-workers employed”?

This article was written by Jon on 5 May, 2006 and filed under Musings. If you found it useful, you can with others. To receive automatic updates, subscribe to The Proposal Guys via RSS or Email.

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