What Can We Learn From Football?

By Drue Lawlor, FASID
Director of Coaching, Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting & Design Success University

To many across the country, fall means football! And actually a successful football team has a great deal in common with a successful business.

• Understand the competition: Football teams realize the value of understanding the competition. How do you win if you don’t understand the competition? As you build your team and develop your strategic plan, be sure you understand the key economic indicators and, just as in football, do the research about the competition, understand what makes them successful and also what differentiates your company from them.
• It’s not about individuals but about the team – It’s important for coaches to motivate and encourage their team, and the same can be said of small business. You should hire with the idea of building a strong team. As the CEO, encourage, motivate, and show your team that by working together for the success of the firm, you all benefit. You can do this by offering benefit programs and encouraging the opportunity for career growth by providing training to help strengthen their skills. Your investment in them is an investment in the success of your firm.
• Partner passion with motivation. As in football, a key element in building a successful team is your ability to inspire, to develop focused, hardworking team members in addition to helping them develop a passion for their work. By connecting their passion to their motivation, you can help them partner that passion with a strong belief in your company’s culture and brand.  If they take pride in the accomplishments of their team and the success of the firm, they will be happier employees who will enjoy their work, and will also understand that success for the firm is directly connected to the work of each member of the team.
• Success is directly related to having short and long term goals. A coach may set a goal to improve defense in the next game and in order to reach that goal, they may set short term goals in workouts before the next game. In business you need to make short and long-term goals to move your business forward. Where do you envision your business in 3 years? What goals do you need to reach in the next 12 months to get there? What are 3 goals you can reach in the next 90 days to help you reach those 12 month goals? Establish these goals and get your team on board and you will be on your way toward making solid progress in achieving those goals.
• Be prepared for obstacles. Football teams don’t give up when they lose a game. A good coach just as a successful business owner obstacles as an opportunity to learn what can be done better next time and seek guidance by consulting experts – mentors, business coaches, etc. Obstacles are great learning opportunities.

So you might want to look to football and adopt some of these traits of successful coaches if you are building a winning team and plan to take your business to the Super Bowl!