Super Bowl & Winning in Business
Last night’s Super Bowl game is an amazing example of #winninginbusiness.?
What does a football game have to do with business.?A lot of things.?However, it is not the warrior class arguments, and being in battle or the trenches, which frankly can be very offensive to the individuals who have really done battle with bullets and missiles flying at them.?
Having been an athlete I know that playing sports is rough, and you may end up, bruised, scratched, bleeding (many times in my life coming out of a basketball game couldn’t tell you where all the marks came from) but it is not a battle.?Business is the same thing, you roll up your sleeves, fight for customers, compete, your family’s food and survival are at stake but at the end of the day you still get to have some sense of safety or comfort, albeit that sense of safety could be stretching it a little at the start of a business.
The Super Bowl and Business though do have a few things in common and are a great example of #winninginbusiness.?I’m not talking about the business of football or how successful the NFL put something together, all very good points, and probably one of the bets Super Bowls from an execution standpoint in a long time.
What I am discussing here is some correlations that as business owners we don’t realize we do, and these are what correlates.
·??????The Opening of the Super Bowl – A few players were highlighted for making it to the top.?However not because they breezed through everything, but because of their struggles, getting fired (Jalen Hurts), being told they will never be successful, play a different sport (Mahomes) and a few other stories.?Business owners are told all the time they will not succeed, they are a failure, sometimes we tell ourselves that.?The thing that struck me here was they all used it to push themselves.?I push myself every day, in all accounts I should not be here: abused as a child, several broken bones causing issues and creating a disability, being autistic, ADD, Dyslexic, and so much more.?However, we must fight through everything and succeed.
·??????Being the First:?In no means am I diminishing the fact that this is the first Super Bowl that started two African American Quarterbacks, this is an amazing accomplishment and should be celebrated.?In business, though we are often first at something, sometimes more in first than we want to be.?How we handle being at the bottom is important and can drive us, but how we handle being at the top is even more important.?Patrick Mahomes came in here playing two Super Bowls previously, winning two Regular Season MVPs, and made the comment, I played horribly before I brought me to the game, instead I need to let the game come to me.?He did that in 3 of 4 quarters, especially the fourth quarter.?
·??????You don’t win by yourself - The two best teams in the NFL this year, by the numbers, were in the Super Bowl.?In fact, their numbers were almost exact, Both Seeded 1st in their conferences, 650 points scored in the season, #1 in Offense in their conference, and they both had a Kelce.?They were evenly matched, but it was the execution of their teams that were vital.?Earlier in the game Harrison Butker missed a field goal, at the end of the game they would not have been tied, the lead would have been 3, and eventually 6, but the team was supportive and understood they all needed to play hard.?The Defenses were solid, and made it difficult for the opposing offenses, but those offenses were slightly better.?The teams worked together.
·??????Details Matter – This was probably the best halftime show I have seen in a while.?RIRI did a fantastic job, but she really made sure she could be seen, her dancers could be seen, and that everything was seamless.?In business we need to the same thing.?We need to have a vision and then we need to execute.
·??????Everyone knows their role - The best example here is the Kansas City Player at the end of the game, who broker free with 1:25 left, got the first down, could easily have scored a touchdown, but instead, slid to go down at the 1-yard line.?He gave up individual glory to win team glory.?We need to develop a culture that makes everyone want to win as a team and as a group.
·??????Sometimes you must be lucky and admit mistakes – There was a controversial call at the end of the game, should it have been called??That will be an argument for the ages.?The defensive player admitted it was a hold and felt it was justified, but it was minor.?Kansas City benefited from a call that may have been questionable for the timing, but we must take advantage of that luck and capitalize.?At the same time if we make a mistake, we need to admit it and move on.
These are all corollaries we can put into business.?What is your plan??Let’s go win in business this week and grow.