3 Lessons business leaders can learn from NFL team leadership failures

The second annual NFL Players Association Report Cards were released yesterday, February 28, 2024.

Our beloved hometown Kansas City Chiefs ranked 31st out of the 32 teams, which is down three from last year. (Link to the Chiefs Report Card)

The team won the Super Bowl last year and earlier this month, yet their scores are at the bottom of the League.

What’s up with that?!

Here are three lessons for leaders who want to outperform the Chiefs when it comes to leading their teams:

1) The Chiefs players were promised a renovated locker room after last year’s poor report and Super Bowl victory, and all they got were chairs at their lockers. The owners did not follow through on what they told the team, according to the Report.

Lesson for leaders:
Follow through on your commitments. No excuses, especially when the excuses would be lame anyway.

2) The Chiefs gave the players chairs in 2023. It’s mind boggling to think the team’s owners thought benches and stools were reasonable for grown men in the NFL for 65 years, isn’t it?! They won the Super Bowl and went from stools to chairs with backs. Additional examples of insufficient resources revealed in the Report include players sharing hotel rooms when traveling for games, average weight room facility, and poor access to rehab and training staff.

Lesson for leaders:
Take care of your people. Don’t make them ask for reasonable things that would help them perform their jobs better. YOU should be looking out for THEM! Anticipate their needs and reward them for cool accomplishments instead of thinking, “I hope they don’t ask for equipment that’s better than Planet Fitness!”

3) The Chiefs team owner received an F- grade. The Report said it is for not investing in the facilities. The Hunt family does not invest in its team, and they do the bare minimum for the community, unlike some of the players. For example, after one person was killed and more than twenty people were shot at the celebration of the recent Super Bowl victory, the Hunt family and Chiefs organization they own joined with the NFL to donate a total of $200,000. Total. Between the three. $200,000. According to Forbes, the Hunt family is worth nearly $25 billion.

Lesson for leaders:
Dance with the one who brung ya. Show loyalty to the people who support you, cheer for you, and help you succeed. Do not just take from them; help them succeed too. If all you do is gouge people to get the highest ticket prices, parking fees, and tax cuts, one of these days, they’ll realize you’re not worth it. Competition is fierce, so don’t take the ones who love you for granted.

When you’re 95 years old, you’re not going to care who won the Super Bowl in 2024. You are going to care if you matter to people.

You are not going to care if you have a billion dollars at 95yo either. You are going to care if you matter. You will care about how you will be remembered.

Be leaders who matter. Be leaders people want to work with and would want their kids to be like. Create your leadership legacy by keeping your word, taking care of your people, and being loyal to those who are loyal to you. Those three are a good start.

Whether you lead a company or project team, being cheap with the budget and focused on the short-term won’t pay off in the long-run. Focus on what really matters. Businesses of all kinds, even in the NFL, need leaders like that these days.

The most selfless act ever by a teammate in the Super Bowl

What is the most selfless thing you have done for your team lately?

Some people think they are being super teammates when they buy pizza lunch for the whole team or send a coffee gift card or let someone take off an hour early to pick up a sick kid. Some think they are ideal teammates by doing their work on time.

What’s your experience? What’s your expectation of yourself and your teammates?

Truly selfless behavior takes presence of mind, awareness of the big picture, and determination to achieve the team’s goals above individual goals.

Jerick McKinnon, Kansas City Chiefs running back, exhibited the most exemplary selfless act ever in the recent Super Bowl. With the game tied, and less than two minutes left in the game, McKinnon got the ball on the 10-yard line. He could have scored a touchdown, but slid at the two-yard line instead. He stopped short of the goal line on purpose!

That’s right! McKinnon could have scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl! Every kid’s dream!

Instead, McKinnon did the selfless thing to keep the clock running and set the team up for a game-winning field goal.

The Eagles had only eight seconds on the clock after KC’s field goal. They are a talented team, but scoring was a long shot with just eight seconds left. However, they would have had a real shot to tie it or win if McKinnon scored with 1:40 left on the clock.

McKinnon had the presence of mind and heart to put his team first.

In the heat of the battle, he put the team first. He did not have time to analyze, weigh pros/cons, talk with his coaches or team leaders, or do any soul-searching. He did was came naturally to him. He put his team first.

He was able to put his team first because he knew what to do. He had thought about that kind of situation in advance. His leaders anticipated it and the team practiced it every week.

After the game, McKinnon said, "We practice that every week. I didn't really think too much of it because that's how we are coached." He took no credit for his selfless slide.

He gave credit to his coaches.

What do you anticipate for your team? How do you prepare them? We can help you and your team prepare for strategic moves you might need to make in response to changes you will face with employees and customers.

Preparation leads to championships, especially when you have selfless people on the team.

When you’re ready, give us a call.

7 Leadership lessons from Super Bowl LVII

Sports are an easy way to learn about teamwork and leadership because we can literally observe both in action. I did just that last night, along with 200+ million others, while watching the Kansas City Chiefs v. the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.

NFL experts talked for two weeks about how talented both teams are and how much they had in common—including the coaches worked together. The experts anticipated the Eagles would win. The Chiefs quarterback was injured, so I did not begrudge their dismissal of the Chiefs.

Since it was going to be a tough game, I took notes during the game about what I noticed about leadership so as to not be influenced by the final score. The final score was Chiefs 38 - Eagles 35.

Below are the seven leadership lessons that business leaders could take away from the Super Bowl:

🟦  Visualize your life. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni shared in the weeks prior to the game that he listened to Whitney Houston’s rendition of the National Anthem to picture being there in that moment. He talked about all the work that goes into making it to the Super Bowl and that he wanted to appreciate the moment if he ever made it to the game he dreamt of since he was two years old. And he did make it there.

Seeing tears stream down his cheeks while Chris Stapleton sang the National Anthem was a beautiful moment for everyone. Here’s the video. Enjoy it. Then, visualize your own life. What do you picture for your life? Career? Team?

🟦  Lead with heart and focus. The Eagles and Chiefs played with heart the whole game. Usually, one team loses momentum and the winner takes over by the middle of the fourth quarter at the latest. But, last night, neither team gave up. They played with heart and focus the whole time. Literally, the whole time, as the game came down to the final seconds.

How do you show up when things are tough? Do you give up at the first or second sign of trouble? Or, do you play with heart the whole time? Think about how you act and what you say to your team during the tough times. Are you showing up the way that builds momentum or could you improve how you show up? Reflect on how you did during the pandemic if you’re not sure. A recession is coming, so your chance is coming again.

🟦  Take responsibility for mistakes. The Eagles quarterback, Jalen Hurts, is just 24 years old in his second year in the NFL. Obviously, he has strong leadership skills. One relatively minor indicator of his strength as a leader was after the Chiefs scored off a fumble, Hurts was shown talking to each offensive lineman. He took responsibility for the fumble and kept their heads in the game. Another Eagles player took responsibility for a holding penalty called on him late in the game.

How often do you see leaders take responsibility for mistakes? Is it more common to see them analyze the cause of the mistake first, even to the point where they place blame on others? Reflect on your most recent mistake, or one you caused. What could you fine-tune to be clear about the responsibility and keeping your team’s head and heart focused?

🟦  Choose your level of excellence. The Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had his ankle re-injured prior to halftime. He winced in pain that made everyone around me wince too, even though our ankles didn’t hurt. Luckily, halftime was almost thirty minutes long, so he had extra time to take care of his ankle during the break. He played the second half, even running a few key times. After the game, Mahomes commented that the ankle did not feel great, but he was going to play hard and leave everything he had on the field.

Great leaders do not make decisions like that on the spot. They think about it, visualizing it even. What’s your standard for yourself? What’s the equivalent “leaving it on the field” for your team? Can your team count on you to do everything you can to put them in a position to win?

🟦  Share the credit. After the game, Chiefs Coach Andy Reid said, " I'll give the credit to the big O-line, and Patrick Mahomes, and all those guys around them. Eric Bieniemy was phenomenal also…The great quarterbacks make everyone around them better, including their head coach.” Mahomes gave credit to his teammates and coaches too. Eagles Coach Sirianni acknowledged all of the people who help get teams to the Super Bowl.

How do you respond when given praise and recognition? Do you graciously accept it and name others who earned part of it? Or, do you minimize the praise saying things like, “That’s our jobs.” Or, do you accept the recognition for yourself and take all the credit? Reflect on your most recent experiences and see if there’s something to improve so it is clear you are sharing the credit.

🟦  Look forward. Whether you win or lose, act the same. Shake the opponent’s hand (or, hug if warranted), congratulate them for their season, and walk back to your team. After the game, Coach Sirianni said the game does not come down to one play and the Chiefs were better than the Eagles were today. He also said, “We’ll use this pain. We’ll use this failure to motivate us so we can make it a strength.”

 Mahomes said something similar after the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl two years ago. It worked for him and his teammates!

 The leadership lesson is to look forward. The loss was not a failure. It was preparation for the next season. The Eagles will be even better next year because of how they feel today. How does your team handle losses and failures? Does it get better or wither? What’s your role as the leader? Can you do more to help build forward momentum, even when something does not go according to plan?

🟦  Praise generously. FTR, I’m not the halftime show’s target audience. I would have loved to hear U2’s new version of “One” or Chris Stapleton for fifteen minutes. However, Rihanna deserves heaps of praise for her halftime performance. Unless you can swing from the rafters, dance, and belt out songs when you are four months pregnant while taking care of a nine-month-old at home, keep your criticism to yourself. Her voice is phenomenal. The criticism I saw was personal toward her, not that the $1.5 billion business women cared about those folks.

Reflect on how you criticize and praise. Can you be more generous with praise and keep some criticism to yourself? Does every negative opinion have to be shared? Remember, what you say affects your reputation.

I had more notes about leadership showing up in various plays, opponents talking after plays, the Kelce brothers, and Terry Bradshaw’s behavior toward Coach Reid, the referee decisions, but those seven are the main points leaders in all fields could learn from those who took the field last night. 

One of the worst moments of the 2022 AFC Championship inspired one of the greatest

They say adversity builds character. I have said for years that adversity reveals character too.

As a Kansas City Chiefs fan, the AFC Championship victory over the Cincinnati Bengals was thrilling. A lot of character was revealed January 29, 2023, the days leading up to the game, and the days since.

Here are a few examples:

🔴  If you follow the National Football League (NFL), you already know about Patrick Mahomes and his character. The Chiefs quarterback worked hard to care for an ankle sprained the week prior to be able to play in the AFC Championship game . He overcame his injury, along with injuries to several top players, to lead the KC team to victory.

🔴  On a different note, the Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow, arrived in KC wearing a shirt with a cute teddy bear that said, "Sorry in advance." His attitude went from swagger, which generally inspires a team in big games, to arrogance. After being sacked four times, he really was sorry. Maybe he learned something about the difference between hubris and arrogance? Maybe about character too.

Beyond those two most talked about players, one other player was talked about right after the game and the days since: Bengals defensive player, Joseph Ossai.

With seconds on the clock and the game on the line, Ossai made a mistake the Chiefs capitalized on to win the AFC Championship. The Chiefs will play this coming Sunday, February 12, 2023, for the Super Bowl championship, and the Bengals season ended.

The Bengals rookie was on the sideline in tears after the game. He blamed himself for the Bengals missing the Super Bowl.

Several teammates and coaches consoled Ossai immediately after the game and in the locker room, where his heartache continued. One teammate even stood right next to Ossai for post-game interviews. The protective teammate was not going to let anyone ask Ossai "dumb questions." A lot of character was revealed in those moments.

One of Ossai's teammates blasted him as they walked to their locker room after the game. He apologized Monday, acknowledging he himself was not a great teammate. Learning from his outburst showed character.

Bengals head coach, Zac Taylor, told Ossai and the press that one play did not cause their loss. In fact, one could list several missed opportunities the Bengals had to score during the game. The Chiefs had plenty of misses too. It was a tough game.

When Ossai spoke later that night about the play, he owned his error and spoke with deep emotion about learning from it.

Ossai's reaction showed character. Heck, he played with heart to the final seconds. That showed character too, right? Wouldn’t you want a player like that on your team?

Where did Ossai’s character come from? He has it inside already.

Ossai was born in Nigeria and moved with his family to Texas when he was ten. That's one big character-building experience. He played football for University of Texas, was drafted in 2021 by the Bengals, was injured in a preseason game and out for his first season. So much character-building!

Ossai's mistake was not malicious, and, while Mahomes ended up on the ground far out of bounds, he was hurt (whew!).

A few days after the game, Ossai’s sister posted appreciation for all the love, support, prayers, and kind messages. Her post was viewed more than 500k times and had thousands of likes and replies. Most of the replies were from Bengals fans, and I shared a heartfelt message about Kansas City fans’ care for him too.

Ossai will wrap his head and heart around that one play soon. Ossai is just 22 years old. He will have a lot of character to bring to leadership roles in wherever his journey takes him.

When adversity reveals character, believe it, especially when it is about yourself. Whether you like what is revealed or not, learn from it.

That always builds character.

Everyone can learn from Ossai in this situation.

Look for the lessons from his teammates and coach too. How do you show up for others who make mistakes? Character is revealed then too.

(Source: Inside Bengals’ Locker Room, Teammates Know Loss Wasn’t Joseph Ossai’s Fault; Sports Illustrated; January 30, 2023)