Were You Drafted in the First Round?

When I was young we used to play hockey on the street (that was before they outlawed it!) yes if you can believe it they have tried and in some cases been successful in outlawing street hockey. That is another story altogether. So we all lined up on the street, tallest to shortest, choose two captains and voila a few choices later we had two teams. I have to admit I was never the first choice and was generally picked towards the last round.

There was a new research paper put out by the world- renowned economist from The University if Chicago Richard Thaler. In his research, he looked at NFL draft picks and the outcomes that occurred with the athlete's career success over the past 10 years. The areas he concentrated on included draft position, salary and pro performance. In his findings with his 62-page summary, he determined that the high drafts were not a guarantee of success. " The top picks were worth a lot, but not generally as much as everyone thinks" In most cases the owners overpay early round picks and routinely get way more value with the lower draft picks. The sweet spot in the drafts happened to be the top 1/2 of the second round.

Career success has many factors related to successful outcomes, obviously if you graduate from Harvard with and MBA it enables you to open a lot of doors and get "drafted" sooner. That said, according to the Carnegie foundation 85% of a person's success is directly related to soft skills; something a Harvard MBA doesn't necessarily measure.

I have worked with many clients who may have started off slowly behind their colleagues, only surpass them as they grew along their career.

You know, as much as I was drafted low in street hockey, I still showed up every time there was a game, did my best and enjoyed ever second. Life doesn't get much better.

Along the road with you...