TCMMY Inspiration Station: Magnets and the Rooney Rule

Unlock the secrets behind true leadership and innovation as we tackle crucial questions about diversity in sports and beyond. Is the Rooney Rule in the NFL still a vital tool for fostering diversity, or has it morphed into a simple checkbox exercise? Join us on the All Purpose Pod as we dissect the intricacies of leadership and magnetism, exploring how surrounding ourselves with like-minded individuals can impact creativity and progress within teams. 

This episode explores the intersection of leadership and attraction, drawing insights from the Rooney Rule in sports. The conversation challenges listeners to evaluate their inner circles and encourages personal growth by embracing diversity and self-reflection.  

• Introduction of the Rooney Rule and its implications  
• Exploration of the concept 'like attracts like'  
• Impact of shared mindsets in leadership  
• Importance of evaluating attitudes in your leadership circle  
• Historical context of the Rooney Rule and its relevance today  
• Call to action for listeners to embrace diverse influences in leadership

Hope you enjoyed today's episode! You can find and subscribe to our show on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Theycallmemistayu

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Chapters

• 0:36 Leadership and Magnetism in Life
• 11:19 Evolving Leadership and Purpose Discovery

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:36

Thank you, hey, welcome back to the All Purpose Pod for an all-purpose life. Wherever you are and however, you're listening. So they call me Mr you and the Inspiration Station. Thank you again for making us part of your week. Excited to be back with you again for another episode. Hope this one ministers to you. Hope does have before this.

Speaker 1: 0:55

You know we talk a lot of sports on one of our main shows, our flagship show, and we talk a lot about life and life skills, personal development, that kind of thing, and every once in a while those topics blend together in one episode. This is one of those times. I'm going to have the title Magnus and the Rooney Rule. We're talking sports, we're talking about life as well, all in the same package. So hopefully I can express that effectively today. Of course, if you're listening to us and watching us via YouTube or simulcast on social media, or if you're just listening on Apple Podcasts, amazon Music, spotify either way, thank you, continue to support us. We are experiencing a good bit of growth. We're changing. You're hearing new music, you're seeing new graphics, you're seeing a lot of new faces in our audience and listenership. We're excited about what's going on. So thank you for continuing to do what you do and, prayerfully, we can keep doing what we're doing effectively.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Now, in regards to the Rooney Rule, for those of you who are not aware, it's a sports rule in the NFL, national Football League where owners, of course, they're all predominantly white, but they all have been mandated to interview at least one or two potential coaching candidates of color in order to stay diverse within their organization. In a lot of cases, they don't ever hire those individuals that they interview that are diverse, but they are obliged to do it because of the Rooney Rule. But they are obliged to do it because of the Rooney Rule. If you go back in time and look at the rule calls, you may understand why the Rooney Rule had to be in place originally. But there's some conversation now where it's like okay, do we still need to have that? Are we still at a place where we need to be mandated to do what should be natural and kind and compassionate and thoughtful and forward thinking? It's a conversation we can have in the comments section. If you find this episode. We won't touch on too much of that today, but it is definitely worth conversating about. I'm happy to have that conversation with you guys, but what's the root cause for this Rooney Rule in the first place? Was it racism or was it just because of magnetism? I'm going to explain that in a little bit For you guys that are into science.

Speaker 1: 3:35

I am a bit, but magnets attract metal. As a kid I had fun learning that law that magnets attract metal. They don't discriminate, but as people we attract what we emit. If you're around people who, or if you have the mindset that you think people are trying to steal from you, you can always hang around people who are thieves. If you're around folks who have a low self-esteem more than likely you probably have that as well we attract what we emit. Now, if you're a domineering person or you lack humility or you crave praise from men or you're an entitled person, you don't have to look any further than who you are as a leader to see why the people around you have that same mindset. High energy people think low energy people are lazy. Low energy folks think that high energy people are reckless and lack control or lack focus.

Speaker 1: 4:33

We got a lot of different mindsets that's flowing around us, but the one thing is the certainty is that magnets attract metal. It happens every single time. We are instantly attracted to those that have a similar background to us. We go into job interviews and we just instantly vibe with the person who's interviewing us. We share stories, maybe a similar upbringing, in the same area of the country. Geographically, people who are blue-collar mindsets tend to sit together. People who are white-collar mindsets tend to speak the same language. Those that kind of resemble each other are prone to connect. We see it on social media, in our communities, in our organizations, everywhere Like attracts like communities. In our organizations, everywhere Like attracts like.

Speaker 1: 5:20

But I want to ask you this from a leadership standpoint, because even with the Rooney Rule, we have some questions and challenges about how that's implemented and whether it's being done kind of as just a way to satisfy the rule itself and not really walk in the spirit of the rule. But in leadership it's kind of the same thing. We talk a lot of leadership on our show, so don't be surprised. But we talk about how leaders with similar values are going to be attracted to each other. You're going to bring people into your organization who think like you, who act like you, going to bring people into your organization who think like you, who act like you and honestly, it doesn't sound bad on the surface. But it is because we can't have a situation where everybody thinks the same way you do.

Speaker 1: 6:08

Because if you're the kind of person who is more of a, of a of a strengthener and support person and everybody in your group, in your circle is like that, who's going to get stuff done, who's going to initiate new projects, who's going to go full speed ahead on certain initiatives? Nobody will, because everybody be just like you, just being a support but not being the uh initiator or the pioneer or go-getter in specific areas. Excuse, excuse me, so you see that everybody can't. You know, like attracts like. We cannot give in to that mentality and let it become an absolute in every area of our life. I'm trying to compile months, weeks and months of ideas and thoughts and research into a few minutes, or bear with me, maybe we can do another episode on this in the near future. But like attracts like, what kind of leader are you? If you're the kind of leader that you consider yourself an introvert, you can't hire or staff a group of introverts into your group and attach that into your model. It is not going to go well. Somebody has to be the introvert, somebody has to be the one to talk to people, promote the ideas, initiate new plans and projects. Somebody has to do that. What's the point of all of this? Hope I'm getting to it really quickly, hopefully. Thank you for bearing with me.

Speaker 1: 7:34

But you see it. I see it everywhere, but you see it in organizations, maybe in your community, in your personal circles. If your followers and your protégés have nasty and snotty attitudes, you got to ask yourself where's that coming from. If they're entitled or bigoted against certain types, you got to ask yourself where's that coming from? You might be extreme examples, but I see those in regular day life and maybe you do too. Whatever character you possess is what you will find in the people who follow you. I'm going to say that again for those in the back. I'm sure they didn't hear me. I'm going to say it a little bit louder Whatever character you possess is what you will find in the people who follow you. Now, if you have people that are followers and protégés that have these kind of attitudes toward other people, maybe you can't answer that right now. Maybe you're not ready to deal with where that's coming from, if either they learned it from you or you may enable them, indirectly or directly, to act that way without any kind of repercussions. You're going to see what they show you.

Speaker 1: 8:43

At times, a lot of times, people are in the midst of people who are in their leadership circle and their inner circle, don't even realize that they are who they are. You're so busy with your projects and your plans and your dreams and your goals and your vision perhaps you don't even realize people around you might be a bit malicious. They might not be 100% exemplifying the kind of values that you uphold in your life. So, just as an exercise, don't ask them. Do you have a bad attitude? It's good to watch them, but don't ask them. Ask somebody else about your people. Ask somebody else about your friendship base and note the responses. Ask somebody else about your people. Ask somebody else about your friendship base and note the responses. Ask somebody else who's outside of the situation that you recognize and that you're in and ask them about your people. Ask them about your friends and your associates and note the responses.

Speaker 1: 9:42

Honestly, the Rooney Rule in sports may have been needed At the time. It was implemented Because of the rash of racism In the country at the time, and especially in professional sports. But there is an angle in this that we need to understand, and none of us are exempt from it. Whether you're of color or not, like attracts, like you are attracted to, from whether you're of color or not. Like attracts, like you are attracted to people who you're comfortable with, maybe similar backgrounds, maybe similar experiences in life in the professional world, maybe you have shared history in a certain geographical area and we tend to lean in to who we are comfortable with. You can go into a room full of people and you'll find people just like you. They don't have any shiny lights around them, they're not wearing a certain color, but you'll always find them every single time in a crowded room. Because like attracts like.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Final point, it's unavoidable, it's inevitable. At some point we have to become the change you want to see, not just with the Rooney rule in the NFL and in professional sports, but even in your organization, in your inner circle, in your friendship circles, in your bases, wherever you are. It's inevitable. At some point we have to become the change you want to see. We have to become the kind of person that we desire to follow us. If we're not doing that, we need to start doing that right now, because if you're not doing that, you're probably not walking and fulfilling the purpose that you're supposed to be walking in.

Speaker 1: 11:19

We're going to have another episode real soon about leadership and finding our purpose. Please check into that. We don't have a title for it yet, but please check into that. It's going to be coming up very, very soon after this episode is aired. So, like I said, at some point we've got to become the change we want to see and become the kind of person that we want to desire to follow us, and that means we've got to break out of the magnetic habit, if you will, of being around folks who make us comfortable but surround ourselves with folks that challenge us and ask us tough questions and cause us to be better than where we are before they came along. Thank you again for your support. Listen to our show. Have a great day, enjoy the music. We're out.