Tom Brady on Key Principles of Team Leadership

??????????? In this Harvard Business Review article, retired and still controversial NFL star Tom Brady and Patriots season ticket holder Nitin Nohria (Harvard Business School) reflect on the lessons Brady learned about leading teams during his 23-year career. Brady believes that leaders don’t accomplish anything by themselves. “In fact,” he says, “nothing of significance in life is achieved alone. To do great things, we rely on teammates.” Here are his suggestions for leading any successful team:

??????????? ? Put the team first, even when facing personal adversity. Playing for the University of Michigan football team, Brady was twice beaten for the starting position by another quarterback and spent a lot of time on the bench. “But I refused to sulk or complain – which I had done my share of when I was younger – because I wanted to be focused on the team’s success,” he says. “This fundamental change in attitude set the tone for the rest of my athletic career.”

??????????? ? Show appreciation for unsung colleagues. One of the Michigan quarterbacks who was chosen over Brady made a point of recognizing the contributions of players who weren’t scoring touchdowns and getting publicity; he commended them for doing the blocking and tackling needed to win games. “That made a huge impression on me,” says Brady. “I began making a habit of giving credit to players in those underappreciated roles – not just because they deserved it but also to point out to others that no player should go unrecognized.” In the NFL, he reached out to other members of the organization, including trainers and those who prepared meals and cleaned the locker room. “To be a great team, everyone needs to feel valued,” he says, “and it’s up to the leaders of the team to make sure that happens.”

??????????? ? Set the standard and create a culture of 100 percent effort. Brady says that on many football teams, there are players who are giving only 70 or 80 percent of what they’re capable of. “They may not realize it,” he says, “but they’ve been conditioned to do that” – especially on teams that aren’t winning a lot of games. The only way to break that cycle is for someone on the team to push other players to do better, and he frequently took on that role, challenging teammates to lift more weights, watch more game film, run more wind sprints.

??????????? Brady also developed a habit of giving blunt feedback. “Hey, do you want me to lie to you and tell you what you want to hear?” he’d say. “Or do you want me to tell you the truth? You were not prepared today, so you weren’t at your best. You need to do better.” In football and other areas, he says, too many leaders shy away from having frank conversations. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to recognize that when people give me tough love and tell me the truth, it’s often the best sign that they really care about me.”

??????????? ? Recognize teammates’ individual psychology and find the best ways to motivate them. What brings out the best in each player is different, says Brady. It might be money, making the All-Pro team, media attention, winning championships, or simply not getting cut from the team. Effective leaders tap into what makes each person tick. Some need compliments, some do best with a provocative challenge. And those who have had difficult lives especially need well-chosen motivation, lest their underperformance and negative attitude drag down the rest of the team.

? Recognize and counteract external forces that can cause selfish behavior. In the NFL, players can get pressure from agents and family members to focus on their own playing time and stellar moments versus the team’s performance. Leaders need to be aware of these pressures, says Brady, “and continually reinforce the team-first message.”

??????????? ? Create opportunities to connect as people away from work. As a professional athlete, Brady loved offsite retreats and other ways to be together with teammates – bowling, texting, FaceTiming, or hanging out at each other’s homes. “The more we were interested in and concerned about one another as teammates and didn’t want to let one another down,” he says, “the more motivated we were to do our absolute best, every day.”

??????????? ? Understand and complement the style of the formal leader. Brady talks frankly about how difficult it was for players to work with Bill Belichick’s super-critical, fear-based, aloof leadership style. “So as a team leader,” says Brady, “I tried to complement that approach by being a bit more upbeat… I tried to get to know my teammates deeply and show that I cared about them personally. I asked about their families and the things going on in their lives off the field. I made it clear that if we connected as teammates, they’d be my teammates for life, and I’ve tried to live up to that.”

??????????? Brady says he played a small part in “the Patriot Way” – a decades-long ethos of super-competitiveness, intense practice, learning from mistakes, continuous improvement, and really taking time off between seasons (without getting out of shape). “We blocked out the noise that constantly surrounded us,” he says, “and focused on getting better to win the next game.”

Brady believes we need to start as early as kindergarten with these principles. “The core behaviors that make any of us a good teammate – unselfishness, discipline, humility – are wired into us when we’re very young,” he says. “If your childhood experiences taught you that people aren’t trustworthy or don’t follow through on promises, it can be tough to convince you otherwise when you become a pro athlete in your twenties.”

?“The Art of Leading Teammates” by Tom Brady and Nitin Nohria in Harvard Business Review, September/October 2024 (Vol. 102, #5, pp. 62-69), summarized in Marshall Memo 1051