People Power - February 2010

By Scott Humphrey

If you’re a consistent reader of my columns, by now you know that I’m big on learning lessons from life. You’ve likely also concluded that I’m an avid sports fan. Over the past few weeks I’ve been focused on college football bowl games and professional football playoffs. It is amazing the lessons one can learn that are applicable to both life and business when we dive into other examples of superior performance and success.

Here are ten lessons I have learned from football over the last few weeks that you can apply to your plan for success as you set out both personally and professionally to win in 2010:

Have a game plan. Success rarely just happens, and on the rare occasion when it does, it is likely short lived and seldom appreciated. The football teams that made it to the bowls and the playoffs did so because they prepped for their competition before each game, especially their season ending competition. What’s your plan for success in 2010? Do you know who your competition is? What are their strengths and weaknesses?

Your success plan must be well rounded. It is not enough to have a good offense or defense. The Arizona Cardinals, led by Kurt Warner, had no problem putting points on the board in their first playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. Unfortunately, their defense had a difficult time keeping the Packers from doing the same. Your success plan must be well rounded. In today’s economic uncertainty, it’s important to focus forward, but make sure your backside is protected. Where are you headed? That’s your offense. What are your most vulnerable areas? That’s your defense. What is your contingency plan?

Don’t let up until you have accomplished the goal. In the same playoff game between the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers, the Cardinals led by as many as 21, only to see that entire lead evaporate. It would have been easy to lose focus, frustrated by their inability to keep distance between their competition and themselves. Often this occurs when our goals are vague or lack the reach necessary to cause us to stretch outside our comfort zone. Goals like, “We want to do even better in 2010” are very difficult to quantify. A small improvement can become too easy an opportunity to check a goal off the list as completed. Instead, goals should be specific, communicated, and revisited on a regular basis.

Don’t let your passion for success cause your decision making to become emotional. Coaching is an art…so is leadership. Good coaches know that if they can get inside the head of their opponent, there’s a very good chance they will come out the victor. Emotional decisions are rarely rational and often reactionary. A good portion of all personal foul penalties are based on an emotional response to circumstances.

Live your life with the full knowledge that the camera is always on. I’m not suggesting that you live in a paranoid state, but rather with a consistent awareness that your actions will be viewed, scrutinized, and discussed with those around you. This is even more likely if you’ve been blessed with a position of leadership. “To those whom much is given, much is required.” I’m not sure what causes the mind set that leaders function under a different set of rules. I have heard it jokingly said that the higher your level within an organization, the thinner the air, thus clouding one’s decision making ability. Whatever the reason, there’s an abundance of ego that needs a reality check out there. I’m amazed at the foolish personal decisions that are made by people of prominence. The current story of the day is the Tiger Woods fiasco, but smaller scale versions of his scenario happen every day as people begin to believe that they function under a different set of guidelines. As a leader, parent, and individual, we should model the behavior we long to see instead of managing under the mandate of “do as I say, not as I do.”

Every position matters and deserves the best personnel you can afford to retain. This is best seen in the fact that each person’s mistakes can, and likely will, impact the overall success of the team. Even more detrimental is how these mistakes can impact how you and your business are viewed. Trust and respect are slowly gained and easily lost in today’s society. I should also note the importance of being ready when your opportunity presents itself. In the Texas-Alabama national championship game, Texas’ starting quarterback was injured early. Texas hadn’t planned on this but they did have someone prepared to take the helm. There were certainly tense moments and freshman mistakes, but without the leadership of a true freshman who likely never thought he would see action, the score would have been much more lopsided.

Don’t over analyze your mistakes. As you’ve likely read from me before, it is certainly fine and expected that you would learn from your mistakes, but there’s a major difference between learning from the past and living in the past. That’s a mistake you can’t afford to make. Frustration with past plays only clouds a coach’s mind to their current situation. Table issues that seem to sideline you until you can give them the time and focus they require. As leaders, it’s essential that our primary focus is where we are leading our families and organizations. It is impossible to chart a straight course forward when you’re looking back over your shoulder.

It’s always about the next step, play, or decision. Your team is counting on you to chart the course and to set the path for future successes. Celebrate your accomplishments as a group. These celebrations become important milestones when the challenging times come. They remind us that we can accomplish what we set out to do. But what our families, employees, and communities need are leaders with a vision. By casting our vision of success with those around us we reinforce the fact that we have confidence in them and that we see our success tied to their performance as well as our own.

The score still matters. We live in a time and era when society wants to convince us that the score doesn’t really matter. Are you kidding me? The score is the way we measure the daily steps toward accomplishment of a given goal. Not keeping score is OK when my triplet daughters are playing six year old soccer. But even six year olds know the importance of giving your all. Do you know the first question I get when a soccer game is over? That’s right, “What was the score?” We don’t need a generation of children or employees who are unwilling to keep score. What we need is a generation of leaders who are willing to step up and explain why the score truly matters. Do we really think that our competition isn’t keeping score? Can you imagine two NFL teams going out on the field and their coaches saying, “Just go do your best, the score doesn’t matter”? No, the score still matters; maybe now more than ever.

Don’t rest on yesterday’s successes. This may seem a bit redundant, but after following the NFL playoffs again this weekend, I think it’s important to state that not only should past failures not hold us back, but we also need to make sure that we are not bound by yesterday’s successes. Winning round one of the playoffs is an accomplishment, but it’s not the goal. It may seem unfair, but in today’s fast-paced world, we really do function under a mentality of “What have you done for me lately?” The danger of spending too much time reflecting on our successes is that we tend to reinforce that the steps that led to our past successes are the same steps that will lead to our success today and in the future. Remember that the successes of today become the standards of tomorrow.

In closing, I do want to say a word of thanks to those who responded to the last column on “Becoming a Quitter.” I received more comments on this column than any I have written in the past four years. I really enjoy hearing from you, and would love to know if there are topics you want to see discussed..

Until next time, here’s hoping that you are playing to win in 2010!

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