What is the business equivalent of street cred? Confession: the NBA playoffs have sucked me in. I have always been a big hoops fan, but with few exceptions over the last 10 years my affections have been exclusively for the college scene. This year, despite not having any particular allegiances, the NBA playoffs have more than fulfilled my junkie-esque need for basketball in my life. On the plus side, there are apparently lessons for HR hidden in the NBA. 

Throughout the playoffs, my buddy, a fellow sports junkie, and I have talked about the ups (Boston-Chicago overtime series), downs (all the ridiculous traveling and other poor officiating issues), and ridiculousness (the ratio of tattooed to un-tattooed skin) of the playoffs, and the NBA in general. As I watch Delonte West and Chris “The Birdman” Anderson I have to wonder – does the % of skin covered by tatts correlate with the street cred for a given player?

On the other hand, what is street cred if it can’t be backed up? West and Anderson have played critical roles on their respective teams this year, and that has nothing to do with their tattoos – or as my buddy would say: hieroglyphics. I see Kevin Garnett in the background of every game talking as much trash as possible to anyone on the other team within earshot – but, when not injured, he has the game to back up his big mouth.

I laugh a little at the hieroglyphics and the trash talk, but it is the same posturing that I see throughout the business world. Instead of body art, maybe it’s the latest, most fashionable suit. Instead of talking smack about your game and how you’re going to school anyone standing in your way, it’s boasting about how many back-to-back meetings you are booked for and how many voicemails and emails you need to respond to before leaving for the day.

What do you do to feel like you have street cred? What are you doing to back up the talk? Did you throw that nasty oop to Lebron? Did you come in like the SWAT team and toss Dirk’s shot into the third row? I’d like to hear more about what people are doing to change their business, change their industry, or even just excel in their role. Let’s all talk less about how many papers we shuffled today. Hold yourself and those around you to higher standards of performance. Make your organization great - hold the business to higher standards. You don't see Lebron or Melo letting Delonte or Birdman off the hook just because they have hieroglyphics painted all over.