What is behind the Patriots continued success? Three keys to football & business greatness.

Two weeks ago I wrote an article about 10 lessons that business could take from the NFL Championship games. Watching the post game interviews with New England Patriot players and coaches, three themes really stood out to me that apply to everyone personally as an individual, as a leader and to companies as a whole. The three themes are:

• Shared Team Vision, Mission and Game Plan
• Camaraderie/Teamwork/Belief & Trust in Team Above All
• Perseverance/Desire/Heart/Hard Work/Never Give Up Attitude

Shared Team Vision, Mission and Game Plan

Everyone on the Patriots knew exactly what they were trying to accomplish against the Rams, just as they have against every other opponent this season, or any Bellichik led season. The coaches put together a game plan, a vision of how they can beat their opponent, and they make sure every player understands it fully.

"We were locked in on what we had to do and that is where we were focusing," offensive lineman Joe Thuney said.

What Robert Kraft bought the Patriots 24 years ago his mission was to field a team that was competitive every season and his vision was get to the Superbowl. He instilled those beliefs into every employee in the organization and then let them do their job.

The business lesson: For maximum organization performance, every team member must believe in the organizations shared mission and vision, and must make every decision on what contributes to the mission or achieving the vision. Do you have a mission and vision? Does every employee share it?

Camaraderie/Teamwork/Belief & Trust in Team Above All

Casual fans may not recognize it as easily, but the various offensive and defensive units (i.e defensive line, linebackers, defensive backs) in football must work in harmony. Players must trust their other teammates to do their job.

If the offense has trouble scoring, then the defense needs to lock down the other team's offense. If the front seven are focused on stopping a team's formidable running game, they need to be able to trust that the defensive backfield will win their individual one on one battles with the receiving corps.

"Our defense? That was incredible,” Brady said. “It’s a team game. We needed everyone out there."

"It's a team effort; it wasn't just one guy. That's just relying on our technique, going out there and doing what we had to do, and I thought we battled our tails off all night," center  David Andrews said.

But the essence of teamwork on a sports team is focus on team goals and rewards versus personal goals and rewards. Tom Brady reworking his contract so the team could sign better players. Gronk and wide receivers taking pride on blocks they throw downfield. Players focused on team success - as measured by Super Bowl wins, over personal goals such as rushing yards or receptions.

The business lesson: Every employee needs to focus on the goals, the organization's mission and vision. Success of the organization is the most important thing and with organization success will come personal success.

Perseverance/Desire/Heart/Hard Work/Never Give Up Attitude

The Patriots started out 1 and 2. Their start receiver started out with a four game suspension. A star mid-season acquisition was suspended due to drug abuse issues. Rumors about the coach, quarterback and owner fighting circulated. The quarterback was too old. The receiver too slow. The Patriots lost 5 games, all to teams who failed to make the playoffs.

But the Patriots never gave up. They kept working, driving, making plays and never gave up. Gronk summed it up well.

"We stuck together, that was the biggest achievement I've ever been apart of. Throughout the whole season, just the way we stuck together," Gronk explained. "Defense sometimes wasn't playing great, offense sometimes wasn't playing great, special teams sometimes wasn't playing great. But we all knew if we stuck together, found our identity; we could pull it off and that's what we did. We stuck together as a family in the down times and we pulled it off as a team -- it was unbelievable."

There were lots of examples of heart and desire on the team this year. From individual defensive plays from Gilmore, Hightower and Van Noy, to the pass protection and run blocking the offensive line provided. But I don't think anyone displayed more hear than Julian Edleman, the college quarterback and 7th round pick turned stellar slot receiver who had to outwork others just to make the team, and then earn a role. Watching him get open and then fight for enough yardage for a first down was truly an emotional show of inspirational grit.

A team, an organization, a company in which all teammates share the same vision, mission and understand the game plan for the game, who believe in their fellow teammates, are willing to sacrifice personal goals and glory for the team and trust everyone of their teammates, and have the desire and heart and are dedicated and have a never give up attitude, can achieve greatness.

Ask the Patriots. Ask Robert Kraft. Ask the NFL. But most of all, ask yourself if your organization has a vision and mission that everyone shares. Ask if they believe in, support and trust each other. And ask if everyone, starting with yourself, has the desire and heart and never give up attitude to achieve success. Because those are three keys to organizational greatness.