My Super Bowl Trip & How Belichicks System Should Work In Business
As seen on Bendaygo.com
Being a New England Patriot fan, seeing Tom Brady make it to the Super Bowl is nothing new. He’s been there half the time he’s been playing. Literally. If you’re not a Patriot fan you’re probably sick of seeing it but I’m certainly not. It never gets old.
I’ve had so many opportunities to head to the big game and I’ve always let the chance pass by. There’s always excuses to not buy plane tickets or disrupt the schedule, especially with running this business. But this year it had to be done especially in a stadium like Atlanta.
So I went and got a ticket in the first level. It set me back pretty good, but if you divide the ticket price by the 18 years of service from TB12 it was worth it. The fact they were even in the big dance for the 9th time is mind boggling. In the age of the salary cap, how does this organization constantly give themselves an opportunity to win?
I love following the Patriots and I’ve picked up a lot of small nuggets from them that really have made me think about how I work. I think my favorite quote from Belichick was in an interview. It didn’t make any headlines but it carried weight with me. I couldn’t find the exact quote but it was along the lines of “I just really want to coach the people that I want to work with.”
There’s a lot up for interpretation on that one but I really think he’s saying that he only wants players that love the game and want to be part of a common goal that’s bigger than themselves. He’s echo’d that sentiment plenty of times.
The organization is constantly working with guys that “fit the system.” A lot of sports media has made that a dirty phrase. They move the narrative to Belichick’s cold, military like style that makes players replaceable. Sure, he’s created an environment that is competitive but what it does is allows the cream of the crop rise. The cream of the crop is talented players that utilize their talents to contribute to their goal of winning.
The Patriots a lot of time will pass on massive talent that comes with baggage. Baggage being players that come with massive contracts (risk) that don’t have the ability to fit a role. A lot of times they’ll move on from talent that may contribute big numbers but doesn’t empower the people around them.
That sounds pretty familiar to me. There are a lot of companies tied to production of individuals and that may come with baggage. A lot of the time they won’t see the impact on the entire team as a whole. We’ve all worked with the jerk in sales who doesn’t put any of his worth into impacting the team positively and only cares about his own short term bottom line. It makes me wonder how many companies think like the Patriots.