7 Lessons Fractional Executives Can Learn From The NFL

What You Can Learn From The NFL’s Approach To Winning

Only 0.023% of high school footballers make it to the NFL. Competition is fierce when there are only 1,696 roster spots (plus an additional 512 practice squad spots available). Of these, only 30 players are selected as All-Pro. And every year, a maximum of only 8 players (5 modern era and 3 senior) can be elected to the Hall of Fame.

It’s the definition of a Darwinian environment where only the best of the best make it and only an infinitesimal number reach the pinnacle of their profession.

Being blessed with genetic gifts of having extraordinary athletic abilities is necessary but far from sufficient.

Being willing to work hard goes without saying but that isn’t enough.

Staying healthy is table stakes (as Head Coach Mike Tomlin of my Pittsburgh Steelers is fond of saying, “The Best Ability Is Availability.”).

To become a winner, an NFL team follows a process designed to get the best out of the best on a continuous, predictable basis. If one team has a process that gets 0.1% better performance, all else the same, compared to their competitors, they will win more often than not.

In the NFL, innovation is constant but the advantage is fleeting. In no time, every other team will copy what works best. They don’t call the NFL a copycat league for nothing.

Win the Super Bowl and everybody can take credit for contributing and there is still credit left over. Lose and the fingers of blame come out despite your team finishing in the top 6% of the League. Losing means loser.

To reach your potential, here are 7 lessons fractional executives can learn from top NFL teams and players who achieve success.

1. Repetition → Learn → Improve → Repeat Relentlessly

Every season, 90 players are invited to each team’s training camp but only 53 will make the team with another 16 signed to the practice squad. Every participant will tell you the most important thing they need to do is earn reps. You can only make the team if you get a rep, learn, improve and repeat this cycle as many times as you are able.

Your Takeaway: Each interaction with a prospect or a valuable member of your network is a rep. Take time after each engagement to reflect what you’ve learned and what you are going to do next time to be better. Repeat this relentlessly.

2. Practice Before You Play

The NFL season consists of a series of steps designed to create the best team performing to its full potential. Key phases and their objectives include:

1. OTAs and Minicamps — install the playbook, develop team chemistry, improve individual skills, and allow coaches to evaluate the roster.
2. Training Camp — improve conditioning, practice intensively, determine who makes the team, and who the starters will be.
3. Preseason Exhibition Season — simulate real game conditions and evaluate player performance in live-action scenarios.
4. Regular Season — win to earn a spot in the playoffs.
5. Playoffs — get to and win the Super Bowl to claim the ultimate prize of being the best of the best.

Your Takeaway: Implement a rigorous process to expeditiously and effectively accomplish the concept of repetition → learn → improve → repeat to reach your full potential as a fractional executive. Maven uses the approach below to increase the conversation rate of prospects to clients from a starting point typically of 10–20% to an elite level of 80%:

1. Lay out your buying process step by step and practice it on your own [OTAs and Minicamps].
2. Role play with others (coaches and colleagues) to get better [Training Camp].
3. Meet prospects at the fringe of your target market and practice in a real sales situation. If the meeting is virtual, record it and review it with your coach to improve. You’re focused on improvement not on conversion [Exhibition Season].
4. Get in front of your ICPs (“Ideal Client Profiles”) and convert them to clients. Develop specific strategies for each prospect. Continue call reviews to continue to get better [Regular Season].
5. Fine tune your buying process to capitalize on your intellectual property and the authenticity of your personality [Playoffs].

3. Performance Metrics and Accountability

NFL players and teams are constantly measured against performance metrics. You can’t manage what you don’t measure and the numbers don’t lie.

Your Takeaway: Measure your performance for each step of your marketing and buying funnels. Maven creates performance dashboards for our client’s go-to-market and buying processes and reviews the results in detail every month. You will maximize your rate of improvement by taking responsibility for your results. Point the finger back at yourself and ask what you could have done to get a better result.

4. Focus

NFL players often specialize in specific roles and positions, becoming experts in their areas. There are no All-Pros who are generalists. Teams draft, sign, and trade players based on the particular position focus they have. The best of the best focus on becoming elite at a specific position and role. Being a jack of all trades does not put you on the path to success.

Your Takeaway: Don’t approach your business with a mindset of scarcity. Scarcity causes you to obsess about leaving any possible opportunity on the table. You won’t get hired if you aren’t differentiated from others who do what you do. Relentless focus allows you to develop your insight into your ICPs and establish authority in your area of specialization. The more you focus, the higher your value, the higher the price you will command, and the stronger your pipeline will become.

5. Strategic Game Planning

NFL teams spend countless hours analyzing opponents and developing game plans. The margin between winning and losing often comes down to one play made or missed. Planning and preparation is often the difference.

Your Takeaway: So many fractional executives invest significant time in their go-to-market to arrange meetings with prospects and then just show up and wing it during the meeting. When you are marketing, you are talking to an avatar that represents your ICP. But sales is a series of 1–2–1 conversations with a specific ICP who is a unique person with business issues and challenges that they often believe are uncommon. You will only achieve an 80% conversion rate when you take the time to research in-depth each opportunity you have and create an engagement plan unique to that prospect. One size does not fit all.

6. Your Coaches, Trainers, and Team Are Difference Makers

Great coaches are essential to take someone with the best genetics and work ethic and make them elite. Each player has to focus on how to execute each play required to win at their position. Because the difference between winning and losing is tiny, each player has trainers and coaches who work one on one with them to drive improvement. The players are then put into small groups to work with position coaches that coordinate the activities of those with common objectives. At the next level up, there is a coordinator (offense, defense, and special teams) who orchestrates how the entire unit comes together to achieve their game plan in every contest. Finally the head coach manages the team’s on-field performance and the general manager focuses on assembling the right collection of players subject to the constraints of budget and time. In the NFL, every team is working with the same budget. But some teams win year after year and some teams make a habit out of losing. The caliber of coaching is the difference between making the playoffs and picking first in the draft.

Your Takeaway: Being a solo fractional executive or consultant is a team sport. Being great at what you do requires you to focus on detail and nuance. In other words, the magic of your delivery occurs in your trees and weeds. While you might be able to see the forest for your clients, you are not capable of seeing your own. In 1546 John Heywood, the English playwright and author, coined the expression, “You Cannot See The Forest For Your Trees.” To be successful, you need a team of coaches to help you create a successful business while you work the magic of your delivery. Business development, tax and accounting, IT, and legal are among the areas that every successful fractional executive works with others to help them achieve their full potential.

7. Resilience and Mental Toughness

The NFL is a highly competitive and pressure-filled environment. Players must be mentally tough and resilient. Even elite NFL players don’t win the majority of the plays. T.J. Watt, the All-Pro edge rusher for the Pittsburgh Steelers, led the NFL in quarterback sacks with 19 for the 2023 season. That works out to 1.12 sacks per game played. He achieved a sack on 2% of the snaps he played. He is a former defensive player of the year and perennial all-pro. Yet he missed 12.8% of the tackles he should have made and only had a QB pressure (sacks, hurries, knockdowns) on 5.4% of his plays. Being elite doesn’t mean you win all the time. It means you win when you’re supposed to win at a level matching your potential.

Your Takeaway: You won’t close every prospect that you want. You won’t retain every client you’d like. You won’t always get paid at a rate you think reflects your true value. You will have slow periods. You will struggle more than you would like at least some of the time. The challenge for you is when life kicks you in the teeth to get up off the ground, learn, improve, and do it again. You will need resilience, grit, and determination to reach your full potential as a fractional executive. You need to get up each and every day and say “bring it” because this time you will win.

You don’t have to love football to learn from it. Every industry or position that is Darwinian uses the same process as the NFL because it works. The only thing that changes in sports, entertainment, or business is the nomenclature. The process is the same process because the goal is to be the best you are capable of being. If you want results, follow the process.

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