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Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Hi there, welcome to the business communication Show. I’m your host Bill Lampton, the biz communication guy, bringing you tips and strategies that will boost your business. And I bring you those tips and strategies and communication by hosting a conversation with a highly qualified guest. Today that guest is Harper LaBel. Based in Suwanee, Georgia. Harper excelled in four sports in high school. And not surprisingly, he’s in the Hall of Fame there in Sherman Oaks, California. Then he played football at Colorado State, where he remains the fourth all time leader and past receptions. Harper had gritty determination, he played 11 NFL seasons with five different teams as a long snapper and a receiver, as well as a special teams blocker. He uses his football experience and knowledge as a sports broadcaster for Georgia State University, the Atlanta Falcons and high school sports and an addition. He co hosts a regular podcast for Gwinnett Business Radio X, talking with guests about their professions. He’s a highly versatile guy Harper lapels work history includes being an assistant dock foreman, and a security guard. I can guarantee you at six foot four 250 pounds, I’m sure that he excelled in those roles to additionally, he worked 14 years and commercial sales in 1996 Harper Meritage recognition for his charitable contributions, an illustration of his well rounded life. So join me in welcoming Harper LaBel. Hello, Harper.
Harper LaBel
Greetings, Bill, thank you so much for having me on the show. It’s a thrill for me to be here. And I look forward to
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
it. Well, my privilege and my pleasure, and I know that our guests will benefit and I’m sure I will, too. And when I watch the replay of the show, I would imagine I will be taking careful notes of the good advice that you give us. You know, as I look back at your career, we’ve talked about college, we’ve talked about your pro career, we haven’t said anything about your high school career. And I do know from looking at your bio elsewhere, that during your high school years, you had a setback. Now, some people when they have setbacks, just let that be it. But in the 100 or so people that I have interviewed on this show, as I get to know them, I find out that they’re highly successful people that I’m interviewing, and that includes you don’t let setbacks just shut down what they wanted to do what they wanted to achieve. So tell us about that interruption of your athletic career in high school and what that led to for you.
Harper LaBel
Well, I agree with you, Bill, and that people that are able to get through or go around or find ways to turn a setback as you say, or some debilitating hurdle, prevent them from getting to where they want to go and everybody has a different story mine began when I was about 12 or 13. played little league baseball I was a catcher going through puberty at that time my body was really starting to grow and expand and ligaments and tendons getting loose and as a catcher put a lot of tension in that area. And the pain for me was pretty severe to where my mom my mother got a scheduled doctor appointment with Frank joke. Anyone that’s familiar with Tommy John surgery has heard the name Frank Cho. He’s the one who originated that about 50 years ago on Tommy John where he replaced his ligament in his in his elbow so he could pitch again. The the job Kirlian clinic out Los Angeles took care of the kings and the Dodgers and the rams and all these sports teams in that area where I grew up. So when I got the appointment, Dr. Job was is very deep voice. Very radio esque tells my mother Mrs. LaBelle, your son here. Harper has paws good slaughters disease and I highly recommend that he take at least a year and maybe two off. You should let the pain be your guide but when he said that Bill my mother, her two years even though I heard just one, so I wanted to play after my freshman year of high school. I didn’t win that argument. Mom,
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
this was terrible news. It was it was terrible news to a guy who’s in great physical shape loves athletics. And now they say, sit on the bench. But you didn’t do that. Tell us what you did instead?
Harper LaBel
Well, yeah, I mean, when you’re told by the guy, Hey, guess what you want to play, but you can’t. So what do I do? The therapy back then was kind of rest and let the pain be your guide. Lots of ice. I couldn’t run as much as I wanted to. But I eventually ended up getting to throw the shotput and track. I played baseball, my but I couldn’t catch my sophomore year and I played basketball. And I got to where by my junior year I was able to do everything. So even though I lost the argument with my mother in terms of one year versus two, the additional time that I took off was really more of an asset than anything else in the long run and that it got me ready to where I needed to be, as opposed to prolonging and making the injury and the recovery and everything that’s a part of that lasts longer than what it should. So by my junior year, I was able to play all three sports, the baseball, basketball, obviously football, and then I got to do a little bit of track as well. So I ended up thriving from it, as opposed to using it as a D habilitation.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Okay, and football though. You You didn’t you went up in college as a receiver, but you became a long snapper in high school and that’s not a position everybody just covets. Getting into what what led you to become a long snapper? Well,
Harper LaBel
during that freshman year when I couldn’t play, I went up to our head coach about the second or third day of school. And I said to him, his name was John skis. I said, Coach, I’ve got this Osgood slaughter thing. And he was very familiar with it. So he was more understanding than I figured he would be long story short, as I said, Is there anything I could do to help the team out, I can’t play but I’d like to at least learn what you’re teaching and experience what it is that everybody else is going through so that when I am ready to play, I’m ready to play. And I actually said that to him, he goes, Well, I need a manager, I need somebody to be out there and take the bags out, get everything ready for practice, help the guys with their equipment. If you can do that, then you can be a part of the team. And so I did that for two years. And one day he asks me to go over and help out our field goal kicker, I held for him for just a little while I put the ball down and he didn’t think I could hold for him. I wasn’t very good. But I mean, how good do you need to be as long as you’re not loosey? With with Charlie Brown, you know, I didn’t do any of those things. But the quarterback came once and he goes, Hey, that’s my job. I’m the holder. And so I asked what I could do to assist further and I came up with it. Well, why don’t I snap for you guys. And so without being coached, without really being prompted by anybody else. I learned long snap for two years. Without any pressure. You know, it was all during practice, but I got pretty good at it. And so by the time I was ready to play as a junior, I ended up doing it well enough to where I could go and play in college and I ended up lettering all four years that I was at Colorado State. The main reason being is because I could snap so I found a way to get on the field and stay on it.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
That’s a marvelous story. My plan I think of, of the long snapper I think of I think of a friend of mine. I taught at University of Georgia and I probably had been to 40 seasons of Georgia football. I’ve known the coaches have known the players and I remember one player who was and still is a good friend who played offensive right guard. He played three seasons and he told me the only time that my name ever got mentioned on the PA system was if I made a mistake. And that I think is true with with somebody who plays what I consider one of the toughest jobs in football and that’s setter and especially long snapper. People will not know you unless you get on the PA system. And that’s because you throw it to the writer you throw it too high and you throw it into the ground and then everybody knows the long snapper. So it’s a pressure position because of the responsibility and I remember many years ago, I knew CEP. I’m from Mississippi originally and I knew several people who played football at Ole Miss. And one of the things I found out was and I know that you know this is that on an extra point or a field goal, you have only two seconds. From the time the ball is snapped until the ball leaves the kickers foot and heel Longer than that, and it’s probably going to be blocked. So it’s, it’s something that doesn’t get that much attention unless it goes wrong. But to me, your story of adjusting, being willing to play any position, and not just sitting down for two years as your mother might have wanted, but really going ahead, and there’s a great life lesson there for us. And to me, one of the communication facets, and I deal a lot with both for myself and for my clients, is what I call self talk. And your self talk was so valuable there because you could have said, That’s it. Harper, I’m out of here. I might attend the games. But that’s it. But no, your self talk was very positive, affirmative and supportive. And I know you’ve been in sales for 14 years, your self talk was very vital there before you went to every appointment Washington.
Harper LaBel
Yeah, let’s go back a second, I want to go to the grove. So if you can tell me where to go at Ole Miss to go hang out at the grove I’ve never been that’s on my bucket list to do. self talk is a very interesting aspect. And we could get very, very serious quickly regarding that there were several times where, whether I’m snapping, or I’m in a sales environment, and I’ve got a phone in my hand, or I’m knocking on somebody’s door, where you can easily think and please forgive my language, I suck. I’m not doing very well, I need to get better. This has to improve. Or else I’m not going to be able to stay on this on this path anymore. Those conversations are genuine, they’re real. You have to rate yourself consistently coaches certainly do it bosses certainly do it. And you have to be willing to adjust. I always explain, you know, the person that says I need to lose 40 pounds, My correction to them is let’s lose five first. In other words, let’s make a small incremental gain in what your your final goal is, and see if we can meet that before we ended up saying I didn’t lose 40 pounds, it was a total failure. Well, you may have lost 25 and then quit. But the 25 to 30 is not easy to do. 30 To 35 isn’t easy to do. Making that call getting that lead, getting the contract in somebody’s hands. Those are all stages of development that you need to go through and being able to do that and eventually get into play in the pros it for me, it was after hundreds of rejections and people saying no, you’re not good enough. There’s no room for you at the end. You can’t play at this level. So a lot of different ways. And Phil, you’re exactly right, you’ve got to get through it. And the person that can do it in between their ears without psyching themselves out has a distinct advantage. There’s
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
a phrase now that you just reminded me of and I’ve been seeing it the last four or five years and that is they call it now the imposter syndrome. And the imposter syndrome is exactly what you described, where you said, Oh, this, this just isn’t me. I can’t do this. I don’t have the talent. I don’t have the skills. I don’t have the training, I don’t have the personality, bla bla bla bla bla, I’m just an imposter. And I’m want to mention for our viewers and our listeners, to me, the finest book that I’ve read on that subject Shad Helmstetter. His book, what to say when you talk to yourself, I first read this book about I have a guess at least three decades ago, Shad Helmstetter. I recommend that you go to YouTube, there are interviews with him on YouTube. He’s 92 years old now, at least on the last interview I saw. So read his book, what to say when you talk to yourself. We all do it. We have other items that we want to cover and then we’re going to talk next about communication and how important it is. And pro football. We’ll be back in just a second.
Speaker 1
Do you wish you felt confident about giving speeches? Do you want to deal with difficult people constructively? And what about becoming more persuasive in sales? Then keep listening now to Dr. Bill Lampton he spent 20 years in management, so he knows that.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Okay, here we are, and we’re going to talk now about communication and pro football. And I’ll start it by saying that several months ago I watched a Netflix series the title of it is quarterback. I believe it was 13 episodes Harper and it focused on Patrick mahomes and also two other quarterbacks Chris Chris cousins and another one and took them through a season and what struck me the most and I have followed football ever since I was a very small kid. So many people think it’s not. It’s not a game of intellect. But when I watched mahomes through in several of those episodes, and I found out that to confuse the opposing team, every play that my homes would call, it didn’t have just something like 50 right are 75 left and unknown, each, each signal had four words to add. And the players really had to work on his team to even remember them themselves. So tell us a little bit I’m sure as a professional athlete, and as a college athlete you had you had to face this image that many people have this supposition that oh, it’s, it’s just a game of brute force. But it’s much more than that. Tell us how significant and relevant and vital Good communication is in pro football or college football?
Harper LaBel
Yeah, what a broad question that can go down many different paths, and how it would apply to anybody else that’s not in professional sports, or even collegiate or high school level. Most football is the language is carried over from a militaristic type, origin or background, where you’re trying to code things in a manner where you can say as much as you possibly can with as few words as you need to, whether it be hand signals, or just a simple word or two or an abbreviation. It’s absolutely vital. You’re trying to get 11 guys on a football field to all do the same thing, or at least be a part of a play. And then 40 seconds later, you’re going to run another play. And you’re going to have the same 11 Guys, or in some cases when you substitute people in, and you have to tell them what to do. Red right 23 Texas eight scat is one of my favorite plays of all time. All 11 Guys on offense know exactly what to do when they hear that simple read, right 23, Texas eight scat, but that’s different from the hundreds of other plays, that exists. So the ability to share what you need to, to talk about it, to write it down, to be able to understand it, and go out on the field and either walk through or go through it a a slow pace, and then speed it up, do it against air and then do it live against the defense. That’s the progression. That’s what guys like Bill Walsh wanted to teach when he was with the 40, Niners. That’s the way he learned how to do things, you show somebody either through the book or on a screen, what you need to do, and eventually you’re running it in the Super Bowl, and you’re scoring touchdowns with it. It’s a amazing process. And it works in a football environment, it works in basketball, it works in every type of business organization, where you have a plan, you have a goal in mind, you have a place where you want to take people from where they are right now to where they want to be. And you have to be able to kind of fish excuse me to swim like a fish through rugged waters and find better paths to get you to your goal or to your endpoint where you need to be. So the process itself carries over in a lot, a lot different ways. But the vitality, I mean, it’s so critically important to be able to express what you need to do to listen and to be able to share what you need to do practice it and then get it right. It’s it’s just part of the process.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I really commend the applications that you’ve made there for business and life. You and I are both on LinkedIn. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but one of the very active participants on LinkedIn is Fran Tarkenton. And Fran Tarkenton takes many of the lessons that he learned during his stellar playing career. And he applies them to business. He’s had a as well as a stellar athletic career. He’s had a stellar business career too. And he, he often says what he learned in athletics that has made him so successful in business. Let’s split switch now to your career. Another part of your career and that’s sports broadcasting. Tell us about the broadcasting that you do and what you’re trying to accomplish as a broadcaster. Well,
Harper LaBel
as a part of a book that is not yet written, but it’s in here. My, my book title would be what do you do when you’re done? And the reason that that would be applicable for me and maybe others is that at once that career in one area of your life, and for me, it was professional football. I’m in my mid 30s. And I’m looking at the world where I have to begin and start all over. I don’t have the same work experience as somebody who’s come out of college and been with an organization, a big company of fortune 500 firm. For 1015 20 years, I had to start fresh. So I needed to learn as quickly as I possibly could. And there’s some great things about the business world don’t get me wrong, but my passion was athletics. So when I first heard that there was a place where I might be able to talk about sports, as a guest host or as a guest on a show like what I am with you, I jump at the chance and the opportunity. I enjoy speaking in front of people I’ve been at little groups, big groups, I’ve been in churches, I speak been in speaking atmospheres that I really enjoyed it. And I tried to be articulate, I tried to have a message and I thought can I apply that to the sports world and do it on air? I got a job up at WD when at 5:50am in Gainesville, Georgia up near
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
where you are my home base Yes. With
Harper LaBel
Joe Williams with with Bill and I was with Ross Davis and we were doing a pregame halftime postgame show and I learned to love it. It was football at its very purity. You high school football. Yeah, high school football, please. Yeah. And the the opening billboard was four minutes long with with Mike’s tire shop and the local eatery. And the whole community was involved in one way shape, or form, or at least it seemed like that and they were all rooting for either the red elephants or the Trojans or the Tigers, the Vikings, it didn’t matter. Any team out there in high school still at its simplest form. And I learned to love it again. I love the sport and I I hopefully got good enough to be able to take that to other levels. And right now I’m still doing Georgia State Games. So I’ve been doing that since 2010. Their first season. I’m on Atlanta Falcons pregame show I was on pregame postgame last year and absolutely love being able to talk from the high school to the pro level and anywhere in between.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
That’s a wonderful way to stay in touch with the game that you loved as a kid played so successfully at the collegiate level, and also at the professional level. And so you now get to bring your expertise and interpret the game for others. I’ll tell you very quickly, I’m sure you know the name Bill Hartman. Bill Hartman was a Sports TV personality in Atlanta for decades. I had the privilege of hosting bill on this show about a year ago. And he said his greatest thrill and sports and he he broadcasted at every level, he said his greatest thrill was broadcasting high school football. And he said the reason was that this is so special for these kids, many of them will never play at any level above that. And Bill Hartman said, I remember myself a touchdown that I scored when I was in high school, and I didn’t play college ball. But he said this for many of these kids is it and to be a part of it with them was so exciting. Harper speaking of exciting, this definitely has been an exciting and informative interview, we’ve only covered a little bit of what I hoped we would cover. But we’ve gone in great depth. And that means one thing, that means we will host you again when we can when we can fit into your schedule. We’d love to do that. That’d be
Harper LaBel
great. Yeah, there’s a lot that I feel like I’m only talking about myself. I apologize for that. But being able to apply whatever I’ve learned and and observe like when when you mentioned bill just a moment ago, what a thrill it is, for me right before kickoff. There’s nothing quite like it. There’s that little bit of a pause. And everybody has you don’t know what’s going to happen. You have no idea. It’s not scripted. You know that there are rules that you got to abide by. And you know that it’s going to start with a kickoff but it’s just it’s a great place. And I get to go to it 1112 13 times a year, 20 times a year, if you include preseason games with the Falcons, and it keeps me young. And I know it does with a lot of other folks. They have very, very special memories of the first team that they were on, whether it be in high school or even before that and it’s relatability is timeless.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Very, very well said hopper. I know that many of our viewers and listeners will want to get in touch with you. So please give us your contact information.
Harper LaBel
Sure, well, I’m working on a podcast with my son, we don’t have it all officially yet, but within a month, we’re going to be doing that. That’ll be where, you know, I think that my skills and talent along with my sons, and having a different generation that we get to talk to you about Atlanta areas, but it’s going to be called to talk in Atlanta sports. And I look forward to that. My phone number is 678-557-4894. And if anybody would like to get in touch, or at least find out future plans that we have, regarding our show, and what we’re planning on doing, I’ll be more than happy to get in touch with him.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I will tell our biz communication show guests, those who are viewing and listening that I’ve had the privilege of meeting Harper a few months ago. He’s a very, very approachable guy, which you can tell from our conversation today. So I definitely encourage you to get in touch with him. And now since Harper has given his contact information, I’m very pleased to give mine first of all, my YouTube channel. If you go to YouTube, and you go to the search bar type in my YouTube moniker, which is Bill Lampton PhD, and then you’ll have access to it, this is everybody’s favorite word, you’ll have access to free instructional videos, more than 450 of them by now. The initial ones were solo performances, presentations from me, but in recent years, I’ve had the great opportunity to bring in experts like Harper LaBelle, and they share their communication with you. So while you’re on my YouTube channel, be sure and hit that subscribe button. And then my website since I’m the biz communication guy, logically, my website is biz bi, Z biz communication guy.com. And on there, notice that you will be able to subscribe to the podcast, and I encourage you to do that. Harper gave his phone number I’m very pleased to give mine as well. 67831643006783164300 encourage you to call me and talk to me about your communication challenges and opportunities. And I’ll be glad to see how I can assist you and strengthening your communication. Harper What a delightful opportunity. This has been in 30 seconds. How could you pull together what we’ve thought about today? Well, first
Harper LaBel
and foremost, I’m so grateful that you had me on, you know, our listeners here and viewers don’t realize that you sent me an email, we had some conversation previously. And we talked about listening skills, and you sent me a real quick little link. To learn more about that. I just wrote down the name of the book that you told me. Say When You Talk To Yourself, you’re full of tips you’re full of knowledge, there are a lot of times where somebody just needs to tweak something you don’t need to get yelled at, you don’t need to be told, okay, you’re just doing fine. There’s a little bit of area where you can improve. Whether you’re it’s You’re still saying less but getting more out of it little tips that you have that I’m so excited that people who want to get better would would connect with you and and learn what it is you mentioned free, I’ll take three if it’s free. That’s our old motto and the NFL. If it’s free, I’ll take three. So if you have some free services that you have, folks take advantage of that and get a little bit better each and every day, you’ll be so much more aware of what’s going on around you and you’ll be able to help others reach their success and their goals in a manner that is so rewarding. So that was more than 30 seconds. But thank you both for your time and I value it and I really appreciate you having me on.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Thank you. Thank you so much. You know, from earlier in your life on the value of coaches, whether it’s in athletics, our business, our communication, our technology. It’s very, very rare that we can learn it all by ourselves. And I’m so privileged that when I became an entrepreneur in 1996, I found the right coaches and two of them are still with me. I refer to them often. In fact, one of them is the CO producer of this podcast and I thank Mike Stewart. I know I I know that Harper has been in touch with Mike Stewart. Yep, lav mics, Mike Stewart, and I’ve been working together since 1996. And he’s still a great resource for me. Thanks again to those of you who joined us on the biz communication show, especially Harper LaBel, and thanks to those of you who are with us as viewers and listeners, we encourage you to be with us for the next edition of the biz communication show. And for now, this is Bill Lampton, the biz communication guy, thanking you again and encouraging you to be with us again.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
