Recently Brett Favre, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, broke the all-time NFL touchdown record. As a fan of football and Green Bay (I grew up in Wisconsin) I've had the opportunity to watch Favre over the years, and I also realized how his career provides some valuable business-building lessons.
How? Because success is success, whether you've built a multi-billion dollar company, written a dozen best-selling novels or are a famous quarterback. Many of the same mindset and principles are the same no matter how the success manifests itself. What's nice about sports is first, it's public (the games are televised and the players are forever being interviewed so you can get to know them a little) and second, you can see things unfold in a short amount of a time. An entire game is completed in 3 hours, compared to business where you don't always see success or failure that fast (although sometimes it feels like it!)
That said, here are 6 principles (both good and bad) you can learn from Favre to become a more successful business owner.
1. Favre is willing to take chances. Watch Favre any given
Sunday and you'll see him throw into double coverage, triple coverage, or just
in the general direction of a player wearing green and gold. And, more times
then it should, it works. The receiver makes this spectacular catch and the
rest of us all wonder how on earth he pulled it off.
That's what successful people do. They take chances. They
see an opportunity and they seize it. And they do it fast. They make a decision
and it's done. They see an opening between the defenders and they whip the ball
in there for an amazing play.
2. Favre's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness.
As a Green Bay fan, you end up holding your breath as you watch Favre throw.
Because it's a toss up whether you'll be cheering a spectacular throw or
groaning because he just threw an interception.
It's really no surprise that 2 weeks after he broke the
touchdown record, he also broke the record for most NFL interceptions. And, I'm
sure he's not done piling up either the touchdown throws or the interceptions.
(In fact, his very first throw in the NFL was an interception that was run back
for a touchdown.)
Why does he throw so many interceptions? Because of that
willingness to take chances. He makes throws he has no business making, and
sometimes it bites him.
Now, there are two lessons here to learn. One is, keep an
eye on your greatest strengths because if you overuse them, they're also your
greatest weaknesses. I'm not saying don't capitalize on your strengths, I'm
saying keep your eyes open and be willing to admit when your strength has led
you down the wrong path (and be willing to do something about it.)
The other lesson is of perseverance. Would Favre had broken
the NFL record for touchdown passes if he allowed all those interceptions to
get him down? No. And not only that, it never even stopped him from taking
chances. He'll throw an interception, get right back into the game and take the
same chance.
Not all the chances or opportunities you take in your
business are going to work out. You'll have losses and set backs and heartaches
and everything else. And what you have to learn to do is not allow it to stop
you. Sure, maybe the chance you seized yesterday was a total disaster, but that
doesn't mean the chance you seize tomorrow will be the best thing that ever
happened in your business. And if you let yesterday's failure prevent you from
tomorrow's success, you'll never break that touchdown record.
3. Favre plays to win, not to not lose. Favre wants to win.
Period. That's why he takes chances. That's why he makes throws he has no
business making. Because he's out there to win. He's not out there to not lose
the game.
This may sound like a subtle difference, but it's actually
huge. When you play to not lose, what happens? You suddenly get very
conservative on the chances you take, the opportunities you go after, and even
all the choices you make. If you're playing to win, now it's a whole different
ball game. Even just saying it, playing to win, has a whole different energy
level. It feels more alive, more passionate. Now you're making entirely
different choices because you want to win -- not to not lose.
4. Favre is a great leader. Right now, the Packers are the youngest team in the NFL and they have a 7-1 record. To further put this feat into perspective, they have no running game to speak of. If you don't follow football, let me explain. There are 2 ways for an offense to move a football down the field -- you run and you pass. If you don't have anyone who can run the football, you pass. And you end up being lopsided because all you do is pass, and defenders KNOW all you're going to do is pass, and it's harder to fool them. Despite that, Favre is successfully throwing the ball down the field and the receivers are successfully catching it.
How can this be? Because Favre is busy coaching and leading those young receivers. His experience is making up for the lack of experience surrounding him. And it's working.
As an entrepreneur and business owner, you need to be a leader as well. In fact, when you start building a team, that's what your team is going to expect from you. A vendor once told me she had left her previous position because the owner had lost his vision. Your team wants you to have that vision, that's what draws them to you. They want to be a part of something bigger. So give them that.
5. Favre is still passionate about the game. Favre is 38 years old, which is about 207 in NFL years, and still plays like a kid. It's clear how much he loves to play. Sadly, because he's surrounded by guys playing for fame and money, it truly makes him stand out. (When he was one touchdown pass away from breaking the record, he told an interviewer "it's not going to make any difference if I break the record and we don't win the game." And after he broke it, and did his celebration, he was back on the sidelines looking at photos and getting ready to get back on the field. That's true passion.)
You need to be passionate about what you do. When you are, it's obvious. People are drawn to you and want to work with you based on that passion. Plus, when you are passionate, you're having fun. (The Packers are probably having the most fun of any NFL team right now.) And, in the end, isn't having fun what's it all about?
6. Favre does what needs to be done to win. It doesn't happen too often anymore (now that Favre almost needs a walker to get on the field) but Favre used to block. Yes, the quarterback would occasionally get out there and throw a good block to get the running game going. This is pretty much unheard of, quarterbacks blocking, because it increases the odds they can get hurt. Yet Favre would do it. And, when it worked, he'd be the first one jumping up and congratulating the runner.
He does what needs to be done to win. He doesn't worry about his record or his ego or what else is going on, just as long as the Packers are winning.
As a business owner, this is especially poignant. One of the biggest differences between successful people and unsuccessful people is successful people do what needs to be done to be successful. Not just the fun stuff. Not just what they feel like doing. They do the things unsuccessful people don't or won't do. And ultimately, that makes them more successful.
