Hiring The Right Players

Last weekend my hometown of Detroit had the honor of hosting the NFL Draft. I subsequently learned that this is really a huge marketing event centered around hiring 257 of the best college football players into the National Football League. All 32 clubs had an assigned order to make one “pick” in each of the seven rounds.

The picks were the result of careful consideration of the pro teams on (1) their strengths and weaknesses, and the positions they needed to fill; and (2) the performance of the top college football players, along with their personal styles, to determine which ones would be the right fit. Often, for the top picks, the player and teams already had conversations so that clubs understood whether the player was interested in being on that team. In that context, it was a two-way street. (more…)