David

Pollay

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October 15, 2007

‘Lay Your Towel Down’ to Surpass Expectations and Ensure Your Success

Many people lose their jobs. It happens every day. And when it does, many will ask why it happened to them. They will question how they could have been laid off or fired. Here’s the most common reason: They did not surpass the expectations of their boss or organization. 

You are vulnerable at work if you are not certain that you are exceeding your objectives. When you leave your success open to interpretation – someone could say that you are not performing – you are ceding control of your career to someone else. This is a risky proposition for your career and for a good life.

My dad told me a story 33 years ago that helped me successfully navigate through eight mergers, six reorganizations, two consolidations, three layoffs and 14 bosses in my career. It’s the story of Jesse Owens, one of the greatest athletes in American history.

Jesse Owens was competing in the long jump at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Jesse was a track star from Ohio State University representing the Americans. And one of the competitors was Luz Long – a blond, blue-eyed athlete – from Germany. Hitler desperately wanted Long to win to support his propaganda for the "master" race. Jesse was African-American. 

Jesse had to jump a qualifying distance of 24-and-a-half feet to make it to the long jump finals. As was his practice before the start of an official competition, Jesse took a practice jump dressed in his warm-up clothes. As he stepped out of the sand pit, the judges raised a red flag: The judges counted Jesse’s practice jump as his first official attempt. Jesse could not believe it. How could they count his practice jump? After all the reports he had heard of Germany’s hatred for Jews and blacks, Jesse wondered if the German officials had made the call to help pave a victory for Long. In the meantime, Long qualified easily.

Jesse knew that the qualifying jump was an easy one for him. He was the reigning world record holder. But he feared that the officials could take victory away from him with one more bad call. So, on his second attempt Jesse was extra cautious. And this time Jesse crossed the line, earning a second red flag from the judges.

It was now down to one last jump. Jesse had to jump the qualifying distance to make it into the finals with Long. As Jesse kneeled in thought before his last jump, Long approached him. He put his hand on Jesse’s shoulder, looked at him, and told him to jump a half a foot behind the take-off board. If he did, Long advised that Jesse would eliminate the possibility that an official could disqualify him for fouling. Long then put his towel down at the exact spot from which Jesse should jump.

Jesse did what Long said and left the towel in its place. Jesse then took off running down the runway for his final qualifying attempt. When he reached the towel, Jesse planted his foot right behind it in plain view of the judges, and jumped. Jesse landed, watched the officials measure his jump, looked up at the judges and waited with everyone for the news: He made it! And Jesse set an unofficial world record!

The day of the finals Jesse and Long battled for the win. On Long’s final jump of the day, he broke the world record and was one step away from the Gold Medal. Jesse had just one more jump to try and overtake Long. So Jesse readied himself for his final jump. He then sprinted down the runway and leapt high into the air. And to the astonishment of everyone in the stadium, Jesse landed nearly six inches beyond Long’s final jump. Jesse set a new world record and earned the Gold Medal for the Americans. 

Jesse eventually earned four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. While Hitler never personally acknowledged Jesse’s record-breaking feat, he received a ticker tape parade in New York City when he returned home. He was an international star and an American hero. 

Dad’s story about Jesse Owens taught me to never leave my success to someone else’s judgment. Don’t leave your career to chance. Find out what your organization expects of you. What do they want you to achieve (your results) and how do they want you to achieve it (your behaviors)? If they don’t tell you, ask them. If they are not sure, ask others. Make sure you know what success means in your organization. Clearly surpass your goals.

Lay your towel down. 

David J. Pollay is a syndicated columnist, a television host, an internationally sought-after speaker and seminar leader, and the author of “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” Mr. Pollay is the founder and president of TheMomentumProject.com, a strengths-based training and consulting organization with offices in Delray Beach, Florida and Washington, D.C.   Prior to founding The Momentum Project, he held senior leadership positions at Yahoo!, MasterCard, Global Payments, and AIESEC. Mr. Pollay holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and an Economics Degree from Yale University. E-mail him your stories at david@themomentumproject.com

© 2007 David J. Pollay. Distributed by North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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