Full Tilt, Full Time

By Kristie Coneys Kuhl

New England is mourning another Tedy. The Patriots’ most loved player, Tedy Bruschi, retired after spending his entire professional career on the team. Mr. Bruschi was a rare athlete who is a family man, gentleman, professional, and, yes, role model. He made such an impact, that his normally stoic coach choked up when discussing Mr. Bruschi’s departure. Coach Belichick called Mr. Bruschi “a perfect player.”

He wasn’t the biggest or fastest linebacker. What made Mr. Bruschi perfect was his “full tilt, full time” philosophy. That meant that he gave 100% of himself to the current activity. He focused on the task at hand, found opportunities for his team to thrive and gave everything he had. When something bothered him, he addressed it with colleagues and management rather than jump ship to another team. That allowed him to grow professionally and not repeat the same mistakes in new locations.

Mr. Bruschi’s career provides lessons for all of us in the public relations and public policy space. We need to give our all to our clients, colleagues, and personal lives by staying focused on finding and creating opportunities for success.

Makovsky boasts an unusually high client retention rate, and as chairman of our quality commitment program, I’ve analyzed how we have achieved it. You might as well slap a number 54 on our backs, because it’s clear from the work product and feedback from our clients that we, too, live the “full tilt, full time” philosophy.

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