Fields of Success Audio Book Available Now
Joe Profit Profile
Developing Success Through Principles
Even if you get the right team all in the same boat, if success is the goal, what’s the next step? You’ll go nowhere if you don’t have a set of good principles and have not given good instructions or have developed a goal, team work is foundational. Investing in people is what brings genuine success. In the corporate world, there has been an increasing emphasis on hiring the right people. While it certainly helps to have a staff that is motivated and competent, it is the commitment of the leader to develop the staff that brings sustained and beneficial excellence.
Those who are ready to become servant leaders should have a genuine desire to help others to do and be their best. Once again, it’s all about contributions to the common good. One of the greatest roles a servant leader can play is to identify the strengths of their followers, encouraging them to maximize those strengths. Since we all have gifts and strengths, it’s possible to offer this kind of support to virtually anyone.
“In the workplace, when an organization’s leadership fails to focus on individual strengths, the odds of an employee being engaged are a dismal 1 in 11 (9%). But when an organization’s leadership focuses on the strengths of the team, the odds soar to almost 3 in 4 (73%). So that means when leaders focus on and invest in their team strengths, the odds of each person being engaged goes up eightfold.” -Tom Rath, Strengths-Based Leadership
When a team member becomes engaged, the work of the leader multiplies exponentially. When coaching leaders, I often address them by saying, “If you have to touch it in order for it to move, you are not a leader, but rather a person in a leadership position.”
After being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1st Round of the NFL draft , the Steelers have always taken seriously their role to develop and shape my life completely, and not just with reference to my on-the field performance. While other Pro Players have built their philosophy primarily around winning football games my goal has always been to prepare myself for life’s work.” I believed my role was to achieve success in all fields of life, not just focusing on the football field. I believe that success and leadership in our families, house of worship, business, communities and occupations long after their football career had ended.
ULM great Joe Profit Recounts Life in New Book
Written by :Tabby Soignier | Feb. 11, 2013 | Source: thenewsstar.com
Most of the time when Monroe natives hear the name Joe Profit, they almost always associate it with the running back’s career at then-Northeast Louisiana University.
The first African-American athlete at the school played from 1967-70 and became the all-time leading rusher in the Gulf States Conference, ended his career as ULM’s all-time leading rusher at the time and was named an All-American, as well as the conference’s Athlete of the Year.
Profit remains the university’s only NFL first-round draft pick. The running back was selected by the Atlanta Falcons as the seventh overall pick in the 1971 draft.
Profit is proud of his accomplishments on the gridiron, but his new book, “Fields of Success, Raised Expectations,” highlights his experiences from “the cotton field, to the football field and into the business field.”
Profit released his 271-page biography two weeks ago after years of people prompting him to write a book of his life stories he often shared with his Falcons’ teammates and later while traveling around the country giving speeches.
“I talk about how all these various fields or areas of life somehow all connect and stressed in the book that success shouldn’t be dependent upon one goal or dependent upon achievements,” Profit said. “We should have success in various areas of our lives.
“We should have success in being a good daughter or good student and being the best person in your position. That’s success, and then you should aim or raise expectations and the level of achievements.”
CHOOSING NORTHEAST
In Profit’s book, he seems to hold people to a high standard from very early on in his life.
He played for the undefeated Richwood Rams from 1963-66 and was a part of a 66-game winning streak under legendary head coach Mackie Freeze.
He was one of 12 student athletes who continued their football careers after high school, but he was the only player to not attend Grambling or Southern.
Profit started his collegiate career at Alcorn State but caught a bus home after he grew tired of the head coach lying to him.
His father, Simon, asked him what his next move was, expecting his son to say Grambling or Southern. Profit caused his father to drop a bowl loud in the sink when he said, “Northeast,” because at the time it was known as the “white school”.
In the book, Profit explains his first meeting with NLU head coach Dixie White. He asked his high school track coach Abe Pierce to drive him to the campus to meet with the coaching staff and stood his ground when he was laughed at for the mere thought of joining the football team.
Profit received his fair share of taunts from his teammates, which led to several fights on the practice field, and spent his dinners in the cafeteria eating alone, until Lewis told his team that Profit was never to be seen eating alone again.
“I learned from my days in the cafeteria that you can learn so much about life from talking to just about anyone,” Profit wrote in his book. “Even today when I go on business trips all around the country, I’ll go into a restaurant and ask a random person if I can eat with them.”
GROWING UP ON THE GRIDIRON
As his teammates came around, Profit still endured nasty name-calling from fans.
He recalls one trip to Stephen F. Austin as a freshman as one of the worst taunting crowds, but he quickly turned it around.
Profit scored the only touchdown of the game on a 9-yard reception on the way to a 10-0 victory on Sept. 23, 1967 — a little more than a month after Profit’s 18th birthday.
“They were called the Lumberjacks, and they had these hammers in the stands,” Profit said. “I was really scared. I was a rookie. I was afraid. I’d never really been away from home, but that game stood out because I really grew up that night.”
Profit recalls the stands turning from taunting to cheers of, ‘Go Joe Go,” as he broke free from four tackles on the touchdown reception.
“I’ll never forget coach Dixie White, and he said, ‘Son, that’s how you change attitudes,'” Profit said. “You’ve got to win. That’s the most compelling success that I had. In that one play, it made all the difference in the world to me and my teammates and obviously to the fans that were there.”
Former Atlanta Falcon Publishes 1st Book
Former NFL Football Player/Businessman Dr. Joe Profit pens poignant message of persistence, patience and perseverance
Atlanta, GA.—Highly-acclaimed entrepreneur, philanthropist and former NFL football player (Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints), Dr. Joe Profit shares a sometimes, heartrending, yet poignant story of the power of persistence, patience and perseverance in a memoir form called “Fields of Success – Raised Expectations.”
Dr. Joe Profit, humble and honest, believes in the old saying, ‘what you see is what you get,’ and that is how he has lived his life from day one to now – through his high school and college football career, his NFL career and in the last three decades as a businessman.
And in “Fields of Success,” he pulls no punches as he shares stories of his development into the successful entrepreneur he is today.
Joe Profit had not had an easy life – but it had not been anything out of the ordinary, really … except he excelled where most men only dream of succeeding – he had earned high regard as an outstanding college athlete, and until the above mentioned life-changing beginning, had been a well-sought after football player – landing high in the NFL draft for the Atlanta Falcons.
His story begins like most born in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Times were lean, and times were changing. Racial equality was on the horizon, and being a black American, Joe Profit was one of the first to experience publicly the change.
Through hard work, dedication and a ‘never say can’t’ attitude, Profit did what he knew best to make it in life, and that continued even when he was a professional athlete -where he really didn’t have to work so hard. Not only did he play football, but he was a thriving businessman, getting his hands dirty and sweating along with his employees.
Taking the life-lessons he learned, beginning as a child in the cotton fields to a teenager and young man on the football field to a man carving out his niche in the business ‘field,’ Profit has crafted an epistle that can serve as encouragement, an affirmation, confirmation and perhaps, even a guide to help others.
Fields of Success, written by Dr. Joe Profit, ISBN/EAN13: 1480293091 / 9781480293090
How to order a copy of the book:
- CLICK HERE!
- Visit Amazon.com
- Email: jprofit@onemcgroup.com.
Former NFL Football Player/Businessman Dr. Joe Profit pens poignant message of persistence, patience and perseverance
Atlanta, GA.—Highly-acclaimed entrepreneur, philanthropist and former NFL football player (Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints), Dr. Joe Profit shares a sometimes, heartrending, yet poignant story of the power of persistence, patience and perseverance in a memoir form called “Fields of Success – Raised Expectations.”
Dr. Joe Profit, humble and honest, believes in the old saying, ‘what you see is what you get,’ and that is how he has lived his life from day one to now – through his college football career, his NFL career and in these last several years as a businessman.
And in “Fields of Success,” he pulls no punches as he shares stories of his development into the successful entrepreneur he is today.
Joe Profit had not had an easy life – and it had not been anything out of the ordinary, really … except he excelled where most men only dream of succeeding – he had earned high regard as an outstanding college athlete, and until a life-changing injury, had been a well-sought after football player – landing at number one in the NFL draft for the Atlanta Falcons in 1971.
His story begins like most born in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Times were lean, and times were changing. Racial equality was on the horizon, and being a black American, Joe Profit was one of the first to experience publicly the change.
Through hard work, dedication and a ‘never say can’t’ attitude, Profit did what he knew best to make it in life, and that continued even when he was a professional athlete -where he really didn’t have to work so hard. Not only did he play football, but he was a thriving businessman, getting his hands dirty and sweating along with his employees.
Taking the life-lessons he learned, beginning as a child in the cotton fields to a teenager and young man on the football field to a man carving out his niche in the business ‘field,’ Profit has crafted an epistle that can serve as encouragement, an affirmation, confirmation and perhaps, even a guide to help others.