When you watch the Super Bowl what will you see?

This is the week of the big game, the Super Bowl. Over 100 million people will be glued to the television watching the game. For two teams, what began the first week of August will culminate on Sunday as they compete for the Lombardi Trophy. Yes, I will be one of the 100 million people watching the game. For me, I have a different take on the sporting event.?

Some people may think I am committing heresy to discuss or look at the Super Bowl as a business lesson when most of the others watching the game are being entertained. I thought I would take a moment and discuss three of the many similarities between football and business that you can take back to your profession or business and compete to be the best.?

·??????? Play Calling – Have you ever thought about what a football play is? It is a strategic plan designed for the incremental success of gaining yards to obtain a first down or score a touchdown, knowing 11 obstacles are in the way.?

Recognizing and addressing obstacles is not being negative, as some people would have you believe; acknowledging and taking action on obstacles is actually being proactive. On Sunday, the team that can circumvent the obstacles the best will be holding the trophy at the end of the game.?

How effective are you at recognizing and addressing obstacles as quickly as possible? Obstacles and challenges will never fade away, and how you acknowledge and address them will be critical for your success.?

·??????? A Fumble – I will be hard-pressed to think there will not be at least one fumble during Sunday’s game. We see them during almost every game. What happens when a player fumbles the ball? All twenty-two players scramble to recover the loose football. For the offense, it is to minimize the damage; for the defense, it is to capitalize and recover the football. The question is, what happens within your business when there is a fumble or mistake??

Does the first person who sees the business fumble address the challenge by saying,” Not my problem, not my department”, ?and ignoring it, or is the culture within your company such that the first person who sees the challenge does their part to minimize the problem until a proper solution can be found? The offensive player who recovers the ball does not address the reason for the fumble; they are preventing the problem from getting worse. The same mindset should be the same within your company. No one within a business should ever ignore an issue.?

How long would a player stay on a team if they stood around and watched the ball roll around on the field and say "not my problem"??

·??????? Small Actions – Large Gains – The highlights from most football games are the most exciting plays, such as a play designed to obtain 3 yards and ends up gaining ?50 yards, an interception that results in a touchdown, or a quarterback that could not find an open receiver and takes it upon themselves to run the ball to score a touchdown. These are all plays that will have the crowd on their feet cheering.?

What about the small insignificant actions within a game that changes everything: The receiver who had the where with all to keep his feet 1” or less inside the playing field to catch a pass or the full-back that muscles through the defensive line for a yard or two to put a team in field goal range or, an offensive block that no one was paying attention to that gave the quarterback some extra time to find a receiver. How important are these actions?

Very important because, “Success is found in the non-descript subtleties of the actions people take and is often in the small accomplishments achieved along the way.”

The same can be said for business as well: ?How important are the small actions people take towards their co-workers or clients? It may seem insignificant at the time, but in the end, it meant everything to the recipient of the action. Or the value of what appears to be a small dollar volume client to your business??

Many years ago, when I was in business with my father in a construction related business, we valued the small clients as much as the large ones because when a recession hit, the small ones furnished enough business to keep the doors open.?

The question remains: when you watch the game on Sunday, or any game for that matter, and you cheer for the success and accomplishments of your team, How much of their actions can you take back to your career, profession, or business to become a champion as well??

Todd Smith, author of “First and Ten on The Twenty…Is it Football, Business, or Life?”

[email protected]. www.toddsmithconsulting.com/author