Life Lessons Learned Through Football

I am excited that Atlanta is hosting Super Bowl LIII. This is another great opportunity for the city to show millions of visitors, viewers and residents that this is an amazing place to live, work and play. Furthermore, it will demonstrate to an international audience that this is a great place to do business. The economic benefit to the area from hosting the Super Bowl will be amazing.

I love football. In fact, I’m a total geek about football. In my library at home you will find old playbooks from some of the great football coaches in history – Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Tom Landry – just to name a few. 

Football has played a big role in my life from my childhood to today. I can recall sitting together with my family as a young child and watching Notre Dame football highlights on television, then heading out to the yard with my brothers to throw the football around for hours.

It doesn’t matter if it is at the youth, college or NFL level, the anticipation of an opening kickoff still thrills me whether I’m in the stands or on my couch watching on TV.

Some of my fondest memories are from my days playing football through my high school years and the decades I spent coaching youth sports, particularly football. While the goal was to guide my teams to victory, the purpose was to teach principles such as teamwork, discipline and leadership to prepare those athletes to become the type of citizens who make our communities a better place to live because they are there.

I had three rules for my teams: do the right things; do them to the best of your ability; have fun. That is the kind of execution I like to see at Southern Company.

As an energy provider, we make, move and sell energy. But equally important is our interaction with each other. It’s our effort. It’s our extension of leadership into the community, making sure it is a better place because we are there. Our impact and meaning extend well beyond a simple summary of what our company is.

Something all successful coaches learn is that everyone is different. You must figure out how to bring the best out of each individual, then blend that together to build the best team. That is how we think about developing people here at Southern Company. When we think about a leader, we are not only thinking about who might be among the most accomplished, but also someone who can build the right people into a team that will perform the best on behalf of our customers, our shareholders and our community.

One of the greatest things you can learn playing football is how to get knocked down, then get back up and put your heart and soul into the very next play. The way I translate that into the workplace is, essentially, there are days where you have these setbacks, and somehow, you must find the energy. Find the fire within yourself to make today better than yesterday, and tomorrow better than today.

To those visiting Atlanta this week, welcome. I know you will have a great time.