Texas A&M’s electric quarterback Johnny Manziel, will take the field tomorrow for another episode of “Johnny Football”. He might be the most exciting player in all of college football.

His football instincts and ability to make the big play on the biggest of stages has defined him and added to hislegend. On the field, he takes his craft seriously.

Have you read the book or seen the movie Moneyball? It’s really a story of Big Data.

Below is a favorite scene of mine from the movie. In case you don’t know the talent acquisition side of professional baseball, each club has an army of scouts that evaluate new talent forthe upcoming season. Billy Beane, the General Manager and main character, is listening to his scouts make their recommendations for the draft and free agency.

“Tim needs to listen more and stop talking over his classmates. While we appreciate his enthusiasm he needs to give the other kids a chance to participate, too.”

I’m not sure exactly when this started showing up in my report cards but I can certainly remember back to at least the 3rd grade. My hunch is that it’s been there even longer.

Over the summer, I joined the Indiana chapter of Young President’s Organization (YPO). It’s been great for sharing ideas and experiences with the 80 or so other members.

A few weeks ago I attended the annual chapter retreat, held this year at Purdue University. We had a private dinner with former Indiana Governor and current Purdue President Mitch Daniels. The athletic director talked about the business behind NCAA sports. And head men’s basketball coach Matt Painter spent an hour walking us through the life of a “D1” coach, the recruiting process and pressure to perform in big time athletics.

With Grandparent’s Day on Sunday, I want to honor my last living grandparent, ninety year old Dorothy Gerber. Not only is Grandma Dorothy an amazing woman, she also is officially the biggest and most devoted fan of my blog.

She devotedly commented on my first ever stab at blogging. It was entitled “Defining and Living Core Beliefs” from January 30, 2013. Using her original free Juno email handle from the early 1990s, she found her way to my site and then posted this: “Good job Tim. I am proud of you and Gibson.”

A few weeks ago I was heading to a morning meeting with a client. My home is just off an old federal highway that connects me to their small town about thirty-five miles away. It runs through several “lake villages” and some pretty scenery.

There is also an interstate running east/west between us. It’s about five miles south to access the interstate and then another five miles north again to get to their plant. I have always taken the interstate because I know at just under 80 miles per hour I will more than make up the extra distance. It has to be faster and I don’t leave time in my schedule for “pretty”.

You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses. Where did such profound words come from? Well, cartoon hero Ziggy, of course!

One of our core values at Gibson is Optimism Reigns. We can’t deliver the very best client experience if we’re acting, communicating, or even thinking in a negative, defeated manner. We know that attitude and outlook have a direct impact on the results of our employee-owned company.

Many companies realize their most important asset is their brand. A brand influences the perceptions of clients, potential clients, partners, staff, the media and, of course, the general public. So managing and maintaining that image can be considered one of the most important elements of a business process.

Recently I sat down with our new operations executive, Jerry Scott. He is working closely with our Commercial Risk Management team after many years on the “buyer” side of the equation. His background includes years of senior level work in operations, human resources, and leadership development.

As he began to debrief on his experiences and observations since coming on board, our discussion turned to Gibson’s leadership legacy including my personal leadership style and strategy. He talked about something called “Level 5 Leadership” – I vaguely remembered reading about it in Jim Collins’ book Good to Great a number of years ago.