Leadership’s his language
“A lot of things in the book really resonated with me and gave me even more confidence being myself.” — Mitch Trubisky on ‘The Captain Class’
Walker spent 11 years examining the 17 greatest sports dynasties of all time. His “Tier One” includes some teams American fans know well: the Yankees (1949-53), Canadiens (1955-60), Celtics (1956-69) and Steelers (1974-80). And some they don’t, like the Australian international women’s field hockey team (1993-2000) and the French international men’s handball team (2008-15)
Walker concluded in his book: “The most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains greatness is the character of the player who leads it.”
His analysis of those 17 respective team leaders was a warm blanket for Trubisky.
Commonalities among captains such as Spurs center Tim Duncan and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady fit Trubisky’s personality more than leadership conventions some coaches thrust upon him during his amateur career.
That stereotype is well-established. Be the loudest voice in the room. Be combative on the field. Show unbridled emotion. Be the superstar.
Trubisky was never totally comfortable with that. The vision of what he was supposed to do didn’t reflect who he really is.
“He’s the kind of person who was overjoyed to see that there’s another way to do things,” Walker said.
That elation and relief stemmed from Trubisky’s understanding of leadership’s most important requirement.
“It has to be genuine,” he said. “It has to be real. A lot of things in the book really resonated with me and gave me even more confidence being myself.”
Empowered by Walker’s new leadership blueprint, Trubisky began to internalize it as he would a playbook. He began to practice it as he would his footwork. Leadership is, after all, a skill that can be sharpened.
He befriended Walker, who has since become, essentially, the Bears’ leadership consultant. Walker has visited the team four times since last October, including a twohour leadership workshop with the entire scouting department in Bourbonnais on July 31.
He regularly communicates with Pace and even more frequently with Trubisky. They text on average a couple of times a month, and the rate will increase during the season.
In one of their offseason discussions, Walker broke down the video NFL Media captured of Trubisky on Christmas Eve, when he wore a microphone during the Bears’ 20-3 victory over the Browns.
Trubisky scored on a quarterback draw by diving into the end zone. When he stood up, Bellamy, the veteran Bears receiver, was right there in his face. “Do a snow angel!” Bellamy yelled four times.
Trubisky complied, but only after obviously hesitating. He had planned with Whitehair before the game to score and let his center punctuate it with a spike. But Whitehair was stuck under a pile of bodies.
In Walker’s breakdown, he applauded Trubisky’s instinct to let his teammate do the celebrating instead of doing so himself in a manner that commanded attention.
Walker challenged Trubisky to explain his thought process not because he has a prescription for celebrating but to encourage mindfulness about such details.
And, as Walker and Pace have found, Trubisky has embraced that component of his evolution as the franchise quarterback.
“Mitchell has a respect for the sort of unquantifiable, mystical elements of football and what it takes to win,” Walker said. “I think that’s a huge advantage down the road.”
The apprentice
On a hot, sunny Friday morning during training camp, Trubisky zipped a 25-yard touchdown pass to new tight end Trey Burton. The defense blew the coverage and Burton was uncovered on a post route. If only it were always that easy.
Trubisky waited for Burton back near the line of scrimmage. A detail needed attention, one of a zillion required to build coach Matt Nagy’s offense.
The two players met face to face, close enough to smell training camp on each other. Trubisky rested his hand on Burton’s shoulder for the entire conversation.
It’s no coincidence that Walker keeps at his fingertips a 45-second montage of Duncan interacting with teammates in the same manner. The 15-time All-Star who led the Spurs to five NBA titles from 1997 to 2016 was a master of communicative gestures, such as wrapping his arm around a teammate’s waist or making piercing eye contact.
Trubisky aims to do the same. Eye contact, body contact and hand gestures can help a leader get his point across and show his investment.
“When I’m communicating with a teammate,” Trubisky said, “I want them to realize that I care about them, and that what I’m saying means the world to me and to them because I want the best for them and this team.”
Nagy and other players sense Trubisky’s growing comfort in that regard. It’s evident during team meetings in Trubisky’s conviction when he tells receivers what he needs. And it’s apparent when he calls himself out for mistakes.
Receiver Taylor Gabriel, who played the last two seasons for the Falcons with quarterback Matt Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP, constantly feels Trubisky’s passion.
“He’s commanding and a perfectionist,” Gabriel said. “Mitch is not just a guy who does what’s normal. He does more than what’s expected of him. He makes me want to work hard.”
Walker would point out those are descriptions of “captain class” material.
Brady and Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert are the only two NFL players in Walker’s 17-member “captain class.” The group includes Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, Barcelona FC defender Carles Puyol, Celtics center Bill Russell and — who could forget? — Syd Coventry of the Collingwood Magpies teams that dominated Australian rules football in the late 1920s.
In comparing those 17 leaders, Walker concluded they shared seven traits. Trubisky keeps a screenshot of the list in his phone:
■ 1. Extreme doggedness and focus in competition.
■ 2. Aggressive play that tests the limits of the rules.
■ 3. A willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadows.
■ 4. A low-key, practical and democratic communication style.
■ 5. Motivates others with passionate nonverbal displays.
■ 6. Strong convictions and the courage to stand apart.
■ 7. Ironclad emotional control.
Some of them Trubisky already excels at. He’s working on others. Of most importance, they mesh well with his DNA.
“He has a rare quality that he can really understand a lot of different kinds of people,” Walker said. “He’s incredibly sharp and intuitive, and I think he has very strong emotional intelligence. I see in him that quality Tim Duncan had: the ability to meet people at their level.”
Burton echoed Walker’s perception without being prompted.
“He can relate to all backgrounds, and not everybody can do that,” Burton said. “He knows how to act. A lot of people think quarterbacks have to be the yellers or cussers. That’s not the case. You just have to show people respect. People respect him not just because of what position he plays but because of who he is off the field and on the field.”
The off-field component is crucial, partly because it’s an element of the process Trubisky can control. And considering his obsession with process is becoming clearer to those around him, it’s no surprise Trubisky says the third trait — willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadows — is one of his favorites.
Trubisky resisted listing examples when asked.
“It’s work in the shadows, so you don’t talk about it,” he quipped.
But he borrowed Brady’s description from the book, saying they’re steps he takes to ensure he does his job at a level that makes it easier for his teammates to do theirs. Things such as evaluating video, spending time in the training room taking care of his body and talking to teammates about details of the offense, which account for the extensive hours he spends at Halas Hall.
“Nobody knows everything that’s going down,” he said, “but it’s between me and the grind. You can’t cheat the grind, and not all of it has to be talked about.” Building it to last
Walker waited on the sideline July 31 as the typical post-practice commotion buzzed around him. He wore a navy Bears golf shirt instead of another shirt he packed for his trip to Olivet Nazarene University from his home in Manhattan. The Bears had issued it to their guest.
Trubisky made his way over and smiled as they caught up. Hours later, Walker met with the Bears college and pro scouting staffs to discuss his ongoing research about leadership functions within a locker room.
Walker still is working through his analysis, but he has pinned down approximately 14 roles, including the mentor, the sheriff, the water carrier, the den mother and one he calls the “companion animal,” essentially a confidant for the captain, who can’t do it all by himself.
The Bears are beginning to account for those functions in their roster-building process. It’s a progressive mindfulness that Walker believes eventually could help them avoid the pitfalls encountered by many successful teams that don’t understand the basic chemistry that got them to the top.
“They start making free-agent moves or strategic decisions that really undermine the fabric that allows the team to push through tough times,” Walker said. “I think that’s what the Bears are waking up to — this idea that you have to prepare for what happens when that breakthrough comes.”
The notion that Pace is planning to build a house on the mountain top while the Bears have been stuck at base camp might seem incongruent or unnatural. But Pace and Walker believe the climb and staying power are not mutually exclusive. Pace’s goal is to add players who help both causes. That’s what he means when he talks about building the Bears culture.
Walker and Bears scouts discussed how they could identify what specific leadership function a player might fill. So often scouts run into dead ends in the form of coachspeak. A player is simply a “rah-rah” guy or a “lead by example” guy.
“They’re appropriately skeptical,” Walker said of Bears scouts. “They know this is important. The real question going forward is: How do you actually build or create a system that figures out how to identify people and cultivate them and how to plan for this over the long term?”
The Bears are willing to experiment. They’re not electing permanent captains, for example, in hopes of fostering an organic evolution and emergence of team leaders. Walker is helping to water those seeds.
“I appreciate it because it is a different perspective, and I really do value Sam’s opinion,” Pace said. “He’s on the periphery, but I think he’s a valuable resource for us.”
Keeping it real
As the Bears begin their climb under Nagy, let’s be clear: Success in Trubisky’s second season depends much more on his command of X’s and O’s than his eye contact with teammates. On that, Walker, Pace and Trubisky agree.
The point, though, is that Trubisky embraces how leadership intangibles will help him become the force he seeks to be in the organization. And to that end, his work is ongoing.
“I think this is the year where he leaves the apprenticeship and starts to take over,” Walker said. “He has all the fundamental qualities of great leadership. He has all the basics down. I don’t know yet, because I don’t think there’s a big enough sample, whether his behavior will always match. I don’t think he knows necessarily what he’s good at and which of these things … he’s going to have to get help on.”
In that gray area is Trubisky’s baseline in-game demeanor. Walker contends there are only a few contagious traits a leader can express that are always positive: relentlessness, toughness and emotional control.
Excluded from that list is joy. Many young leaders are encouraged to play with joy, and, yes, it is contagious. But when things go badly in a game, it’s not sustainable and, even worse, could turn to anger, Walker says.
Joy is naturally part of Trubisky’s game because he loves football and loves to compete. But Walker believes he needs other emotions in his arsenal.
“That intensity is in there,” Walker said. “I see it in him all the time. Incredible intensity and competitiveness, which is deeply sunk. That needs to come out too. It’s a tricky balance. He’s very good at toggling between those, but that’s something all leaders need to mature into.”
In late August, Trubisky said he was grappling with that very balance. Interestingly, though, he indicated he had veered too far to the intensity side and wanted to recapture some of the joy to help energize his teammates.
Therein lies the experiment that fascinates Walker. The 17 “captain class” members sustained greatness without having the seven traits articulated so clearly. They figured it out on their own using a bounty of emotional intelligence.
Trubisky has that self-awareness. But he also has Walker’s blueprint, which could color others’ perception of his authenticity if he doesn’t consistently prove it.
But he is showing it, according to Pace, Nagy and several teammates.
“I love this game,” Trubisky said, “and when adversity strikes, I’m not going to be the one that’s shaken up. I just want people to know, especially my teammates, how much I care about this thing and how much I care about them. Winning is always an option because we work so hard.”