SUPER BOWL

Feb

2024

Leadership Lessons from the Gridiron Part III

It is Super Bowl Sunday as I write this. This year is a battle between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. Two storied franchises. I was originally going to look at another coach, but instead I read and found some principles that have helped the coaches of these teams get their teams to the Super Bowl.

Trust

While researching I found an article highlighting what Andy Reid did in the beginning of his tenure at Kansas City to turn the team around. He intentionally built trust by creating a leadership committee with the players. Being around sports for many years personally I saw this was an effective tool for building leaders on the team.

This type of “committee” creates an environment to build open communication. When there is open communication with the leader issues can be addressed more quickly. Open communication will increase trust. When a team moves at the speed of trust, they can move much faster.

Culture

One article I read highlighted the culture that the 49ers have explicitly developed. Reid has developed a culture of trust and Shanahan has created core values to guide the team. Values such as mutual respect, competition with collaboration, empowering players, and focusing on fundamentals.

A team that is clear on its values will be able to make decisions more effectively. Take Johnson and Johnson in 1982 for example. When they decided to remove all Tylenol products after they learned people died from it being laced with arsenic, this was guided by their values. Values create the foundation of a team’s culture.

Strategy

Football is a game of strategy, not just during the season, but also in the off-season. Who will they keep? Who will they trade? Who will they draft? All these decisions, informed by a clear picture of the culture they want to create, are strategic.

People have differing opinions on the 49ers leadership, but as one writer reflected back they could see how their off-season personnel strategy has gotten them where they are. Once the season starts each team must trust their coaches, build the culture, and execute a strategy that is often adjusted along the way.

Consistency

Each team has gotten to this level because of consistency. The Chief’s players know what they get with Andy Reid. Some criticize Shanahan’s lack of emotion, but he is consistent. This is not an exciting word, but as leadership expert John Maxwell puts it . . . “Consistency compounds.”

If people feel they are walking on eggshells with you as a leader then you probably are not consistent. When people on the team know they will get a reliable response, whether in good or bad times, this builds trust and confidence and a willingness to take risks that will bring about growth.

As you look at these four areas, which one do you need to develop? Take a minute to reflect on these four areas and pick one to develop over the next week or two. People do not become champions by accident. Consistent cultures that develop trust and have a clear strategy they execute daily will climb the mountain of success. Keep growing and climbing and if I can help you think into your results contact me for a powerful coaching session. Lead Well.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/08/how-kansas-city-chiefs-coach-andy-reid-builds-trust-with-players.html

https://people.com/sports/all-about-andy-reid-kansas-city-chiefs-coach/

https://www.newspressnow.com/sports/chiefs/reids-leadership-paying-dividends-for-veteran-players/article_a8b8983a-c6d3-11ee-86e2-2b139006ce48.html

https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/drawing-leadership-lessons-from-the-49ers-super-bowl-run-b41dc090efdb

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/49ers/article/top-10-moves-49ers-leadership-duo-john-lynch-18387127.php

https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/the-49ers-have-a-leadership-problem

Feb

2024

Leadership Lessons from the Gridiron Part II

In less than seven days many people will be watching the latest battle for the Lombardi Trophy during the Super Bowl. Last week I shared part one of a three-part series on leadership lessons from Super Bowl coaching legends.

Since we are approaching the Super Bowl I thought it would be appropriate to highlight leadership lessons from the one the trophy is named after. . . .Vince Lombardi. Coach Lombardi was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers in the 1960’s and won five National Championships in seven years including the first two Super Bowls.

In his book Run to Win Donald T. Phillips highlights many leadership lessons from Coach Lombardi’s career, but I will focus on just three in this post.

Teamwork

“People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses or the complex problems of modern society.”

Vince Lombardi

Building a team can be a challenging process. As a leader you must take a group of individuals with their own agendas and get them working together toward a common goal. Lombardi loved the idea of getting group of individuals to work together as a unit. What helps us do that?

Put the team in front of our own individual agendas. Human nature causes us to naturally consider our desires before others. As a leader the challenge is to provide a big enough “why” that everyone wants to align their agenda toward the teams. The job of the leader is to create a compelling vision that unifies the team and keeps them unified.

Desire Over Ability

“I’d rather have a player with fifty percent ability and one hundred percent desire, because the guy with one hundred percent desire, you know, is going to play every day, so you can make a system to fit into what he can do.”

Vince Lombardi

People need ability, but the challenge as a leader is to discern where their desire is. Hiring people can be one of the more challenging parts of leading. It may be tempting to hire the talented person even if you don’t know their desire level.

I have worked with individuals who are talented but lazy. Ultimately it ruins the culture and brings others down. On the other hand, an individual who is willing to learn, work, and grow can develop skills, and if they are on board with the vision, will continue to be an extremely valuable team member you will always find a place for. Your job as the leader is to find the best fit with what skills he or she has.

Culture of Discipline

“[Lombardi] established his authority by setting the rules, explaining them clearly, and enforcing them evenhandedly. . . creating a culture of discipline on his team.”

Donald T. Phillips

Culture will eat leadership for lunch. As a leader you mold the culture. Just as a football coach creates the culture on his team, so as a leader you can mold your team’s culture. Phillips gives us three keys: set, explain, and enforce the rules.

Within your organization or team are the expectations of how you do things clearly explained? Are they clearly enforced? If not, it may be a sign you need to get clear on what expectations you have for your team. Clearly explaining what you expect and holding people accountable to those expectations will create a culture of discipline and results.

How are you doing in these three areas? Which one do you need to work on in the next week? Need accountability or help thinking into your leadership? Contact me for a no-cost-powerful coaching experience. In the meantime, lead well.

Feb

2023

NFL Teamwork

I was sitting with a friend of mine and we were discussing how we have coached our kids in sports. He shared with me an idea that I thought was tremendous. . . . Ask the kids what it means to be a teammate and focus on that all season.

Effective leaders build strong and healthy teams. Since this is Super Bowl weekend I used our friend Google and stumbled upon thoughts from Hall of Fame NFL athletes on teamwork. The link to the video is below, but here is a summary of some of their thoughts.

Unselfishness

This one can be manifested in unique ways. As the leader, we may think our way is the best. Unfortunately, we then keep doing things we shouldn’t be out of a desire to control or get all the glory. When we wrap our identity in what we do or think our way is best, self-centered pride sneaks in. Just as the prima-donna athlete eventually hurts the team so will our selfish desire to have things done our way.

Sacrifice

As a leader, you understand sacrifice because you have sacrificed to get where you are, but this is a different kind of sacrifice. Athletes understand that when they take a play off or hold back in effort it hurts their team. They are willing to put in work and sacrifice their personal agenda for the good of the team. Healthy teammates will, within reason, sacrifice time, energy, and other resources to help the team succeed.

Understanding

One of the Hall of Fame athletes emphasized that a good teammate will understand his teammates’ strengths and weaknesses. When we understand others we are able to help the participants be in positions where they excel. Not only does this help the team’s performance, but it also is enjoyable for the individual. Understanding individual strengths enable everyone to excel.

Trust

Football players experience extreme highs and lows. There is great emotion and in order to openly share the emotion trust is essential. Healthy teams that move fast have trust at the foundation. Stephen M. R. Covey states it well when he says:

“The trust we have in people . . . comes, in part, from believing that they do care.”

With trust in your team, you will accomplish more, faster.

Family

A football team is a community. They suffer together, they train together, they fight together, and they support one another. They are like a family who realize they are all together in this. When a team not only says they are a family but acts like one and has one another’s support on or off the field great things happen. Some of the championship teams that have existed came together as a family and supported one another through adversity and celebrated victories.

Take a minute and look at your team. How healthy are they? Does your team live out these qualities? If not, where do you need to help them grow as a team? Want to dive deeper into this idea of teamwork? Contact me and let’s talk about how I can help you grow your team. Lead Well.

https://www.nfl.com/videos/the-inspiration-project-hall-of-famers-emphasize-importance-of-teamwork

Feb

2022

Super Bowl Loss Leadership Lessons

Recently I was watching The Falls of Buffalo which is a documentary on the Buffalo Bills seasons from 1989 – 1993. If you aren’t a football fan you may not know they are the only team in the National Football League to go to four Super Bowls in a row . . . . and lose.

You may wonder what can we learn from a team that never could win the “big one.” Before I go any further may I suggest even though they came up short four times they accomplished something no other team in NFL history has. Going to the Super Bowl four times in a row! Other teams have gone four times or more, but to keep a team working together to get to that level of success multiple years is an accomplishment. Let’s look at a few teamwork principles that can be learned from their experience.

Storming

Football is a sport that can attract some strong personalities and egos. This was quite evident in the locker room during the 1989 season. Personalities were clashing both privately and even in the media as star running back Thurman Thomas at one point complained about their quarterback Jim Kelly. This experience is normal for all teams.

Teams go through four stages and the second stage is storming. During this stage people clash as the roles and expectations get clarified. Both the spoken and unspoken culture are forming. Teams come out of this stage either more divided or unified through healthy conflict. A leader’s job is to help the team navigate this stage in a manner that brings everyone together and their coach Marv Levy was able to do that.

Know and Fulfill Your Role

Leadership expert John Maxwell describes the Law of the Niche in his book The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork. This law states that “all players have a place where they add the most value.” Like I mentioned these Bills teams had strong personalities but they knew and fulfilled their roles. During the 1992 Wild Card playoff game starting quarterback Jim Kelly hurt his knee and Frank Reich stepped in to rally his team back from a 32-point deficit to beat the Houston Oilers.

He is one example of an individual fulfilling his role at a critical time to help the team. When team members embrace their role and fulfill their role to the best of their ability for the team great things happen. For this to happen team members must have clarity on their role, buy-in to the vision, and value the team more than their individual accomplishments.

Support

One of the most fascinating lessons from this era of the Bills is the support they had. After their first Super Bowl loss kicker Scott Norwood was miserable because he felt he lost the game for his team. While watching this documentary you heard the support of his teammates who recognized many mistakes factored into their loss and not just his missed kick.

Not only did he receive encouragement from his team, but upon return to Buffalo the crowd of community members chanted his name to hear from him. The community of Buffalo was still behind him and was not blaming him. When a team has this kind of support from one another and from the community around them it ignites a passion to keep persevering and fuels them for the type of success necessary to have a four-year record of 59 – 19 and reach four Super Bowls in a row.

Maybe your team has had some continual setbacks. You may have had to adjust personnel and strategy as the Bills did, but where is your team performing well? Is your team in a stage of storming? Do you need to give them clarity on their roles or are they fulfilling their roles to their highest ability? What kind of support do you need to provide them as a leader? Need help creating an environment to assess challenges you are facing? Contact me to discover how I can come alongside you and your team to help them continue to thrive.

Feb

2020

Leadership Lessons from Super Bowl Winners

This was the weekend many around America sat around the television and watched football. Whether they like the sport, watched a game all season, or even care about the results they watch the Super Bowl. Maybe they want to see the commercials and eat junk food with friends, and this is a great way to do it.

This Super Sunday I went to my bookshelf and the leadership lessons from five Super Bowl winning coaches over the past five decades. (The books are listed at the end of this post if you are curious.) While I revisited my notes, three guiding leadership concepts were consistent among each of these coaches that can help all leaders.

Clear Philosophy

The late Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers called it his “standard of performance” and Pete Carroll describes it as his “win forever” philosophy. Each of the other coaches may not have a formal structure, but they all were crystal clear of what they expected of themselves and those they led.

“You won’t be a successful leader if you don’t have a clear of what you believe, where you’re headed, and what you are willing to go to the mat for.” Don Shula

As the leader we must be crystal clear on what we expect. The hardest person to lead is ourselves therefore we must know what we expect of ourselves? Are we clear on that? As our values and vision are clear we can more clearly articulate them to those we lead.

Culture

“The culture you create permeates everything you touch.”

Tony Dungy

Leadership and culture. This is kind of a chicken and egg question. The leader influences culture, but the culture can eat the leader for lunch. Both Bill Walsh and Tony Dungy spoke to this idea of culture. As the leader of a team each knew the culture they created would impact every result and their players had both on and off the field.

When the philosophy and expectations are clear this establishes the groundwork for creating a specific culture. When these are unclear a potentially chaotic or toxic culture may be created. As leaders we either intentionally create a culture or it develops naturally out of how we lead.

“The culture precedes positive results . . . Champions behave like champions before their champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”

Bill Walsh

Be A Teacher

Former Super Bowl champion coach of the New York Giants Bill Parcells said “be a teacher, not a drill sergeant,” but what does it mean? The same as all five of these coaches have said . . . teach. The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden saw himself as a teacher above all else. As leaders we may see where we want to go and what we want done clearly. We may even see how to do it, but we must slow down, come alongside those we lead, and teach them.

“Be a teacher, not a drill sergeant.”

Bill Parcells

Ken Blanchard in his book Everyone’s A Coach with Don Shula provides some practical steps on how to be a teacher as a leader.

Tell people what you want them to do.
Show them what good performance looks like.
Let them do it.
Observe their performance.
Praise progress and/or redirect.

These are easy to read, but in order to implement them we must slow down, connect with those we lead and patiently walk the path with them. Eventually we end up multiplying our leadership and instead of developing followers we multiply leaders.

Winning a Super Bowl is not easy nor is leading any organization or team to top performance. As you look at these three areas, how can you improve in your leadership? Do you need a thinking partner to help you think into any of these areas? Contact me to explore a complimentary thinking partner session to help you raise your leadership level and improve your results. Lead Well.

Ken Blanchard & Don Shula Everyone’s A Coach

Bill Walsh The Score Takes Care of Itself

Pete Carroll Win Forever

Bill Parcells Finding a Way to Win

Tony Dungy The Mentor Leader

*Each of the above are affiliate links.

Feb

2018

Three Keys To Leading a Team

I am writing this on the day of arguably one of the greatest sports spectacles known . . . Super Bowl Sunday. This is a day where the top two teams in the NFL compete to be world champions. This is a day where leaders get to prove themselves. Leaders on the field who make great comebacks and plays. Leaders on the sidelines who coach their teams to victory and challenge them through the struggle of this final battle. Even leaders behind the scenes who support and assemble the teams.

Since I knew this day was coming I gathered some information for today’s post. I have the privilege of being in contact with many individuals who have coached teams for years. Specifically sports teams. Since this is Super Bowl time I asked these coaches one question: What are three keys to leading a team?

The coaches graciously replied with a wide array of responses. Some of the responses were: being flexible and adaptable, creative, willing to learn and grow, passion for what you do, serving, dedication, attitude and more. Out of these responses and more, I want to highlight the three responses many of these coaches agreed were key elements to leading a team.

Clear Vision. One coach put it this way: “starts with a vision for what he wants for himself, those around him, and his team to become.” Whether the team you lead is a small youth sports team or a multi-million dollar organization, you must have a clear vision. Notice this coach said the vision is not just for the team, but for where he wants to be as well as those directly supporting him as the coach. As is evident with any championship caliber team nothing happens without a clear picture of where they are going and high quality co-leaders and team members to make it become a reality.
Lead by Example. Multiple coaches stated this as critical and one even put that as his three keys “example, example, example.” I recently had a situation where this principle clearly applied. I was leading a meeting and the goal was to provide feedback for some content we were creating. One individual had put together the first draft and I requested participants to provide feedback on how we could improve the content. I am comfortable with silence, but the silence I felt in those moments after was the silence of people thinking “I don’t want to be the first person to be critical” so I stated the first observation to get us rolling. You see I was the one in charge and I had to be the example. If a leader expects their team to do something, they better be willing to do it themselves and if they are leading others will follow that example.
Relationships. Although I have put this last, this response more than doubled the other two answers. Why is this? Leadership is about people and helping them along the path to get to the goal. Management is dealing with systems and processes which people follow. Leadership is influence. How do we have influence? We must develop relationships. Two words that came up often were: love and know. In order for the team to follow the leader they must believe they are loved and known more than just as a number. This takes time and intentionality in the fast paced world we live in. Find out about your team beyond their performance, do you know when their birthday is or what their favorite activity to do in their down time is? Do you know what gets them really excited? Take time as leadership expert John Maxwell states “walk slowly through the crowd.”

These three principles are easy to understand, but not always easy to implement. What do you need to do to grow in these areas? Do you need to think into what exactly your vision is for yourself and your team? Do you need to adjust your life so you are demonstrating what you expect of your team? How can you be more intentional about developing relationships with those you lead? Write your thoughts below and in the meantime continue to lead well at work and home.