All Posts Tagged With: "football"

I’m in Milwaukee this weekend visiting family and friends, and today we’ll gather around the TV to watch our beloved Green Bay Packers take on the St. Louis Rams. The team is having a pretty darn good season so far (11-2), so the excitement level in Packerland is high.

To top it off, in early December Packers quarterback Brett Favre (and Half-Full Hall of Fame member) was named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year”.

Amongst all this football hoopla I discovered an excellent leadership lesson I wanted to share with all of you. In the SI piece honoring Favre, he was asked about how he defined leadership. Here was his response:

“It’s somehow getting 52 other guys to raise their level of play. To get them to believe in what we’re trying to do. You do that by setting an example, by doing things the right way. I’ve always shown up, I’ve always been prepared, I practice every day. I practice hard. I study. No matter what happens on the field, I never point blame at anybody else. Everything I do comes back to leadership, the example I want to set.”

As someone who has thoroughly enjoyed watching him lead by example on the field for 17 years, it was no surprise to find out how Brett Favre chooses to practice his craft.

What was interesting, however, was how easily this definition could be “ported” to any other business or profession.

Yep, everything we do as managers should come back to leadership. Talking the talk, AND walking the walk.

Now if he could just get us to another Super Bowl……….