Years ago I played on a very competitive softball team.  Tuesday night games, Thursday night doubleheaders, weekend-long tournaments, state qualifiers, and even a state championship. It was serious softball – you get the picture.

We had a guy on our team (I’ll call him “Donnie”) who was your prototypical “gloveman”.  Donnie was pretty good defensively but not a particularly gifted hitter; even for slow-pitch softball.  In a sport where offense is the name of the game teams rarely have the luxury of carrying players like that.

Late one game  I was sitting in the dugout waiting my turn to hit. Donnie was up and after hitting a weak popup to the infield he trotted back to the bench.  As he entered the dugout I noticed that he uttered something and three or four of the guys at the far end of the bench started to laugh.

Donnie made his way down and taking a seat next to me he said, “Bob, if you’re not good you had better be funny.”  I remembered that all of these years because to me it was Donnie’s way of saying that you have to find a way to contribute.  No matter if you’re on a softball team or a member of a company, you have to do more than just show up. You have to add value.

I’ve always liked that story; and I have to admit when I tell it people don’t always seem to appreciate it like I do.  Maybe I don’t tell it right, maybe you had to know Donnie, or maybe the message is too obvious.  Anyway, I try to always remind myself to look at jobs and even life that way.