Sunday, July 12, 2009

The wrestling industry knows how to develop talent

Growing up I watched World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for mindless pleasure in the back and forth battles between good and evil wrestlers. Now my interest is with the backstage news and politics that developed talent that transformed a local promotion into a global business.

As reported from Ewrestling News the experienced wrestlers (Edge, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio) are working really hard with the newbies in the business (John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Mike Knox). These newbies are being viewed as potential Superstars a change “to the veteran mentality in the past where the opinion of newer talent was that they haven't paid their dues or are missing something important to become a star.”

The relationship between the two groups is grounded in the common goal to provide the customers with a quality product. The mentoring relationship is critical to this success and that of each individual and of the organization. What drives the Superstar to mentor is the recognition of being a locker room leader and is rewarded with television airtime and pay per view opportunities. What is unique in WWE is that worth ethic is evaluated by how well you make your opponent look good during a performance. Can you imagine if our educators were evaluated with the same criteria? This connection will have me looking for similar relationships with our classroom teachers. Just what is the veteran mentality? What will inspire competent and qualified teachers to mentor? Are new educators viewed as potential superstars? Does the success of the team outweigh the success of the individual?

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