The Road Less Traveled
I often talk about the importance of culture and character in building a team, whether it is in sports or in business. Despite overwhelming evidence that point to the importance of both of these factors in sustained success, very few teams and businesses pay little more than lip service to either of them. More often they fall into the trap of doing things the way everyone else in their industry does things.
Have you ever wondered why so many consensus All-American players who are selected at the top of the various sports drafts are washouts? I have seen professional sports teams make the same mistakes year in and year out. There are several reasons these mistakes occur repeatedly. Probably the most common one has to do with covering your ass. If you take the consensus top player at his position out of Michigan State University and he washes out, you can justify it by pointing out that everyone else was wrong about him too.
But what if you find a guy at Mississippi Valley State University at that same position who you think has the ability to dominate in the league and you take him with your top pick and he washes out? If you answered you lose your job, you are most likely correct. This creates an atmosphere/culture where very few are brave enough to trust their own evaluations. You are never going to reach your potential in whatever you do if you are more worried about not making a mistake, than you are about hitting a home run.
Another factor in these mistakes is the failure to account for, or more often, a willingness to overlook a player’s character. If a guy is 6’3” 220 lbs, runs like the wind, and catches everything that is thrown to him, it does you no good to take him if he has a horrible work ethic, is a “me” guy, or is always getting arrested. A top college coach (who won a national championship) once told me in regards to recruiting: “It’s not who you sign, it’s who you keep and develop.”
One other fairly common factor is the infatuation with physical prowess. Once you reach the highest level in sports, the difference in physical ability is small, but the difference in heart, mind and character can be huge. These are generally what separate the men from the boys, not their physical gifts. Not coincidentally, when you field a team filled with players who possess great heart, mind and character, you are likely to play with much more cohesiveness and consistently prove the “experts” wrong.
Professional and college football are both filled with teams who possess great physical talent but struggle on the field (e.g. the Philadelphia Eagles or California Bears). I find it far more impressive to follow teams that bring in players who fit their team’s culture and beat those physically gifted teams (e.g. New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers and Oregon Ducks).
The consensus top player at his position from Michigan State University that I referred to above is Charles Rogers a 6’3” 220 lbs wide receiver who caught everything and ran a 4.4 40-yard dash. He was the second player picked overall in the 2003 NFL draft and accumulated career stats of 36 receptions for 440-yards and four touchdowns. The guy from Mississippi Valley State’s name is Jerry Rice a 6’2” 210 lbs wide receiver who ran a (too slow for an NFL wide receiver) 4.71 40-yard dash and became arguably the greatest receiver in NFL history.
Not surprisingly after Rice’s slow 40 time was revealed, only a few teams remained in contact with him prior to the draft. But legendary coach Bill Walsh believed in his own evaluation of Rice, despite all the detractors, and traded up to pick him with the 16th pick in the first round. The rest is history.
I always tell my clients regardless of whether they are athletes, coaches or business leaders, that if you can’t trust yourself, how can you expect anyone else to put their trust in you? Sadly, very few coaches and general managers trust their own evaluations above those of the crowd, to their own detriment.
You can follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
