The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Lessons for executive leaders in football, life
A couple of weeks ago, I delivered a speech in Kansas City to a group of business executives hosted by engineering giant Burns and McDonnell. The day before my talk, the Kansas City Chiefs played the Houston Texans in a playoff game. The game could not have started worse for the die-hard Chief fans; they had fallen behind 24-0 in the first quarter. The stadium was so quiet, you could have heard the proverbial pin drop.
Now I was watching this game as I was putting the finishing touches on my talk. I asked myself at the end of that first quarter how my originally planned remarks were going to be received by a room full of depressed Chief fans. Fortunately for the Chiefs, their fans and me, things turned completely around, and the Chiefs went on to win that game. But I threw out my original talk and decided while watching the Chiefs’ comeback win that I should focus my remarks on the similarities between football and business.
Given the results of the game, I was certain to have a warm reception. But now as we approach the Super Bowl, the most watched sports event on the calendar, the topic is relevant to not only Chief fans, but a larger audience.
1. Both football and business are (or should be) goal-driven. Each football game usually has a winner and a loser. Business is a bit more complex. Winners can have devastating setbacks, and badly managed businesses can stay around far too long before competitive and internal forces relegate them to the trash heap. But in terms of decision making, leaders in both football and business set observable goals.
2. Both football and business are intensely competitive. In the NFL, teams begin the season with one goal in mind; winning the Super Bowl. This is a goal no matter how unrealistic that might be. But even bad teams on a good day can upset a better teams. In business, every competitor “fiends” for their competitor’s clients, best employees and technology. This competition takes many forms in business. And like in football, businesses are constantly thinking about how to create advantages that will lead to greater success.
3. In both football and business there are the “basics” — blocking and tackling in football; paying the bills, calling on clients, working with employees, engaging the community, paying taxes, and communicating in business. If you don’t do the basics well, you are certain to fail.
4. Organization — owner/ general manager/director of player personnel/head coach/assistant coaches/players; it’s the same in business organization charts.
In small entrepreneurial businesses, the owner often wears many of these hats, but make no mistake, these are distinct functions that with growth and success will eventually be done by separate individuals.
5. In both football and business, talent matters. A casual look at past Super Bowl winners will find great coaches and great players who play well together as a team. The same holds for great businesses.
6. In both football and business innovation is important. This year, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens set league records doing things from the quarterback position that have rarely happened. But like in business, teams and competitors catch up, so that it is rare that a single innovation lasts as a competitive advantage. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens will be watching the Super Bowl this year. Businesses also cannot rest on their laurels.
7. In football and business great leadership is indispensable. Daniel Synder runs a financially successful NFL franchise, the Washington Redskins. The Redskins are the seventh most valuable team of the 32 teams with the fourth highest operating income, but success and leadership also take the form of on-field wins. Since taking over the Redskins in 1999, the team’s record is 139 wins and 180 losses. In business, leaders can look great in one dimension, but fail in the important goal of accomplishing the primary mission.
8. In football and business, strategy is critical to success. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Strategy not only focuses on the goals, but the methods and principles needed to succeed.
9. In football and business, training and development are also critical to continued improvement and staying competitive. NFL teams practice and study their opponents in order to perform better. In business, leaders understand the relationship between the quality of their employees and the performance of the enterprise.
10. And finally, passion, the fire in the belly, that inner drive that resides in all members of the team to accomplish goals, personal and corporate, are necessary for success in football and business.
Enjoy the Super Bowl this weekend, and also take note of the lessons the game teaches us about business and life. With apologies to Giants, Jets and Patriot fans: Go Chiefs!