Cheer-Leadership or All I Need to Know About Business I Learned from Cheerleading

Thanks to teen movies, many people have this stereotypical idea of cheerleaders as being ditzy and mean. However, there are a great many life-lessons that can be learned during your time on the team that have surprising application in the business world.

1. Getting to the top of the pyramid means taking a few risks. The person at the top of the pyramid is the one who is willing to take the risks, usually in the form of a backflip or a layout. It helps to be light, nimble, and flexible. Since you are the person with the farthest to fall, you have to be able to rely on the stability of the team suporting you.

Fortunately, in business no one actually tosses you ten feet into the air and expects you land on your feet.

Well, almost never.

2. Step lightly on your way to the top. You can't simply manipulate and coerce your way to the top of the pyramid. Well, you can, but then when it comes time to perform a trust fall, you may have a slight problem.

This corollary of point number one seems to have escaped quite a few people. Some seem to think that "underlings" are meant to be stepped on, climbed over, and not-so-subtly kicked on the way up. It's one thing to accidentally land on someone's foot, but some people leave a trail of crushed clavicles and contusions. These are the same people who discover that when they are in trouble, no one will return their calls.

Make sure you know the difference between who is "underneath you" and who is "holding you up" - it's a big one.

3. Keep cheering loudly, even you are winning. This is a marketing lesson if ever there was one. So you've landed the big client. Maybe you've landed several. Don't stop marketing your company and looking for new clients just because you are currently busy. Projects end, businesses change, decision-makers come and go - make sure you've got new clients lined up. It's the only way to keep your company growing, your cash flowing, and V-I-C-T- oh nevermind.

4. Having the lead at halftime doesn't mean you can slack for the last half of the game. So you were first to market with your product, or maybe you built a better mousetrap.

Right now there is someone out there thinking about how they can capture your market share with a bigger, better, faster version.

Besides, in business the game doesn't actually end - you might be winning at a given moment, but you never can say you've "won."

(I know: that was a stretch for cheerleading. But cheerleaders need to stretch.)

5. As mom used to say, "if you are going to do a backflip in a miniskirt, you'd better be wearing your best underneath." Actually, when mom said it, I think there was a bus involved somehow, but close enough.

Don't call attention to practices that you don't actually want scrutinized. Better still, don't get involved in practices that can't stand up to scrutiny. Sooner or later someone is going to examine what's behind the hype.

Sometimes it's vapourware, and sometimes it's fraud. Sometimes it's just a matter of making an announcement of your latest greatest product so far in advance of it actually coming to market that the buzz comes and goes without paying off in terms of sales.

Whatever the cause, get your house in order before throwing the doors open. Sooner or later, someone is going to ask that question.

For more details, see: Hollinger, Enron, or Worldcom. Of course, it's best not to get mental images of Bernard Ebbers wearing a miniskirt.

© 2005 Gisela McKay. Gisela McKay is Chief Technology Officer of pixcode Inc. Gisela envisions new applications for technology, and then makes sure they become reality. Some of her projects include: NaturalHealthcare.ca, CanadaEventsCalendar.ca, and BusinessPartnerships.ca. Gisela wrote this article to combat that common exclamation: "YOU were a cheerleader? But you seem so smart!"

---

Sweet Vengeance Purrfected

I love animals but cats are my favorites. There's just... Read More

Setting History Straight

Have you ever heard the name Will Schwenk? Or the... Read More

Psychiatric Psychiatrist - A Joke on Psychiatry

A few weeks ago I went to see a psychiatrist.We... Read More

Humor Quotations - Top 35 Funny Quotations by Famous Comedians

"Education is worth a whole lot. Just think - with... Read More

Internet is My True Agent

You know the type -- that doodling type. Every time... Read More

When It Rains, It Pours: Creating a Plan

It's time for me to announce that I have a... Read More

Dog Poo - And You Thought You Had Problems

In Southern Germany in a town by the name of... Read More

If Real People Ran the Bank - I (a spoof for the heart)

Banish Loans ForeverIf ordinary, hard-working, people ran the bank... the... Read More

I Got to Play an April Fools Joke Before I was Born

I will start this by saying that yes, I did... Read More

Not Your Average Sunday Morning

Just recently my ex-husband stopped in to visit during his... Read More

Painful Lessons from the Maternity Ward

Whoever dubbed New York, New York "the city that never... Read More

Bed Bugs Bite

I just turned on the news a minute ago and... Read More

Nine Movies That Make You Want To Yell, Stop Saying That

Movie moments are nice things to share with the people... Read More

The Army Corp of Engineers Having Issues Fixing Breach

The Army Corp of engineers is having a tough time... Read More

How to Build a Cobblestone House

He huffed and he puffed and he blew the house... Read More

Mexican Spaminator

When we decided to move to Mexico, one of the... Read More

Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

My next-door neighbors found a human bone in their backyard.... Read More

Your Stars Part 3

LibraHit TV show 'The X Factor' is back on our... Read More

11 Alternative Garden Games

Tired of the same ol', same ol' when it come... Read More

A Lawyers Favorite Lawyer Jokes

Lawyer JokesQ: How does a pregnant woman know she is... Read More

When Humans and Dogs Collide: Negotiations for Todays Changing Times

This morning I decided to find myself. I originally looked... Read More

Poor Rixs Almanac 8-27-05

Hey, Poor Rix: What do you think about school food?... Read More

Valet Parking: Theft with Consent

This column is long overdue. To put it in library... Read More

The Top 10 All Time Worst Jokes About Piano Players

Here, for your barfing pleasure, are the top ten worst... Read More

The Hidden Driveway

I won't lie: there are a lot of things I... Read More

Restaurant Manager Gives Out Sexual Favors As Performance Bonus, Raise

While many restaurant workers worry and sweat in anticipation of... Read More

Voodoo Munchies

Looking for a lighthearted and fun way to remove the... Read More

Cheer-Leadership or All I Need to Know About Business I Learned from Cheerleading

Thanks to teen movies, many people have this stereotypical idea... Read More

Lactose Intolerant? It could be a good thing

Lactose Intolerant Individuals may prove a bonus in Space Missions.... Read More

3 Surefire Ways To Combat Rising Gas Prices

I have heard the rumblings of many of you in... Read More

Military Wives

I... Read More

The Restaurant Chronicles, Part 1

Have you ever heard that saying, "The show must go... Read More

How To Get Attention, or: As You Read This, You Feel an Irresistible Urge to Go On Reading!

We all want attention. As children we crave the attention... Read More