It was billed as a clash of titans – the greatest of all time against the young upstart. Analysts spent the run up exploring match ups and prognosticating.
The forecast: Chiefs should win (more about that here and here).
There were good reasons to believe that this could happen, most pointedly perhaps the week 12 drubbing that the Chief’s gave the Buc’s (27-24), where twice they jumped out to 17 point leads.
In the run up to this year, it appeared that the Buc’s were a mediocre team with an abundance of one year free agents.
Clearly the Buc’s didn’t get the memo.
In case you missed it (you might have, since it was the lowest rated game since 2007), the Buc’s won 31-9.
What accounted for the different outcome from week 12?
I’ll let the sports writers tackle that one (pun intended), but my high-level view is that the Buc’s were able to assert their game plan and force the Chiefs out of theirs. When a team is able to stay in its sweet spot and push the other team out of theirs, a win happens.
For anyone that watched, the Buc’s played as a disciplined team, on script, and they made the Chief’s lose their normal swagger in the first half.
What, as business leaders, can we learn from this to pull off a major win with our firms?
#1: Leadership
You need to give significant credit to Tom Brady, a leader who had the conviction, talent and clarity to execute so the team could get it done. He also understood just how important it was to put up points early and play from the front for their defense to neutralize the other team with assertive play. He was willing to become the avatar of success – and take the heat that came with it.
Bottom line: Brady became the model of the shift that the Buc’s needed to make.
Coaching Point: It starts with ownership and belief. You need to have a culture of excellence in results that is built on peer leadership. It was clear from the outset that each player would need to play at their peak and that doesn’t happen from the top down, but the inside out.
Application: Leadership selection & leadership development is destiny
Leaders that can set the bar and bring others along are a necessary ingredient to success. It was definitely an amazing match to place Brady in the mix with a mid-level roster at best. Note that research shows it’s about the fit, which in this case was great.
#2: Rate of Learning
In my work with leadership development in high-stakes organizations (with three letter acronyms and classrooms they refer to as “vaults”), one of the areas of emphasis is After Action Reviews (AAR’s). Far from touchy feely exercises, these sessions contain accurate and truthful feedback, and an attitude of humility and commitment to growth on the part of the receiver. AAR’s multiply the group learning geometrically.
Good AAR leaders remember to:
- Be specific and avoid generalizations
- Be thorough
- Not dwell on issues unrelated to mission accomplishment
- Focus on actions
- Relate performance to the accomplishment of training objectives
- Identify corrective action for areas of weakness
- Continually summarize
Bottom line: The Buc’s learned more from week 12 to week 16 than the Chiefs did.
Coaching point: Run these cycles more often and more effectively than your opponent and you win. Tom Brady is known for his unvarnished feedback (even of himself) and putting the results ahead of decorum.
Application: Learning cycles and rate of learning is trajectory
It’s very hard to outrun a competitor that’s learning you. To get a culture of outlearning, you need to have coaches that can truly see the opportunity and develop players to excel. This comes through AAR and micro alignment.
#3: (enough) Strategy + (outstanding) Execution
The Buc’s had a solid game plan, but what carried the day was outstanding execution play after play. They had minimum penalties, a defensive line that got penetration and an offensive line that kept the Chiefs defense off balance the entire game. They played hard in the first half and it got them into a good spot – they stuck with the game plan and won. Bottom line: You could have given the Chiefs a copy of the Buc’s strategy, and they still would have won. Great teams get it done on the field.
Coaching point: What I’ve found in client after client is an immense amount of effort around strategic clarity, and only tactical, linear strategy for execution.
Strong execution involves having sufficient talent focused on the right task, at the right moment. The right task, at the right moment is about having put in the preparation to know what’s coming and activate it at just the right time through superior communication between team members.
Application: Develop enough strategy, then go all in on strategic execution
Literature and experience is incredibly clear. Simple (not simplistic) strategy, that is well executed, wins everytime. A great strategic implementation places your team in its “game plan” and strengths, allowing it to prosper.
2021 is a year of high expectations and very high demands on teams. It is very clear that “return to normal” is not a strategy. The role of leadership, learning and value harvesting is going to make the difference between those who thrive and those who fade.
How I Help
I work with clients who are experiencing margin and competitive pressure and need to set their team up for success.
Having identified the create-execute gap through years of experience with large matrixed firms, I use diagnostics, coaching and workshops to come alongside leaders and teams. We work collaboratively to find the keys to releasing fresh value and strong growth.
If you’d like to talk, please use this link to put a call on the books or reach out to me at scott@scottpropp.com
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