Three Leadership Lessons from Cardinals GM Steve Keim | The GM Journey

The newest episode of The GM Journey took me and my van to Arizona, where I sat down with Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim. After 14 years across various executive positions with the Cardinals, Steve was named GM in January 2013. Steve's spent the entirety of his front office career in Arizona and is now considered one of the established veterans of the league, so it was fascinating to hear Steve's perspectives as someone who has truly risen through the ranks and navigated various organizational "eras" with one club.

Be sure to?listen to the full episode here .

Here are three of my favorite leadership lessons that Steve hit on during our conversation.

1. There's no cheat sheet to becoming an accomplished leader.

One thing that Steve touched on, and that's been mentioned by a number of other GMs as well, is that somewhat-daunting moment when you achieve the ultimate goal and assume the general manager role, and you realize there's no rule book, instruction manual, or cheat sheet that breaks down what you're supposed to do next. The reality is there's no one-size-fits-all approach to becoming an accomplished leader - each GM, and every leader regardless of industry, has to grow into the role in their own way and forge their own path one decision at a time.

"I go back to January 2013, I walked out of the introductory press conference with Michael Bidwill, and I'll never forget... I went up to my office, I sat at my desk, and I put my head in my hands and said, 'Holy shit, what do I do now?' I achieved the ultimate goal - since I was eight years old I told my mother that I wanted to be a general manager one day, and there was no book, there was nothing in paper or in print that told me what to do. So obviously, I had to go back to all the sort of core philosophy built over the years, that we had done the job, the scouting, all the preparation, all the time on the road. And I had to sit down and think about hiring a coach."

2. You have to keep your foot on the gas at all times.

Steve has made some ballsy moves in his career, especially over the last few years when the Cardinals drafted quarterback Josh Rosen 10th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, drafted quarterback Kyler Murray 1st overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, traded Rosen to Miami in 2019, and signed legendary Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and standout Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green in 2021. While those moves were splashy headline-makers, Steve emphasized that the organization is never sitting back satisfied - they're always pushing forward and always strategizing how to further improve, which is a crucial part to leading a team.

"You have to be aggressive. And the whole mindset that you know, the Arizona Cardinals this year, they got J.J. Watt, A.J. [Green], they're going for it. We're going for it every year. When do we have the opportunity to sit back and go, you know what, life's pretty good? You know, we'll just wait, we'll sell our fans on the notion that we're building. Just give us some time. Nobody wants to hear that. You spend $250 for a ticket, you spend $20 for popcorn, $10 for beer... nobody wants to hear that we're building."

3. Remember to pay it forward.

I loved Steve's shout out to the people who came before him and helped set him up for success, and the importance of remembering to pay it forward to the next generation as well. None of us are able to achieve our biggest accomplishments completely alone, and Steve came in with a great reminder to thank the ones who helped you and to offer a hand to the ones coming up behind you.

"In our positions, I've had to challenge myself to remind myself as a person, and as a general manager in the National Football League, that we have a duty and that duty is to pay it forward... There are other people that, for example, Rod Graves, the general manager before me, if he didn't sit and teach me life lessons, and lessons within the National Football League, how would I have ever put myself in a position to succeed? If you didn't have people along the way to grab you and believe in you, then you would have never gotten to where you were. So [it's important] not to forget about all those people that lended a hand to you, and to make sure that we're continuing to pay it forward to the younger audiences and the people who truly care in life."

Big thanks to Steve for taking the time to join the podcast.

Joining me in the next episode of The GM Journey: Jon Robinson, GM of the Tennessee #Titans !

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