Tom Brady on Leadership

I've written a lot in this blog about (1) how much I don't like the New England Patriots and (2) how impressed I've always been about their success over the years (see in particular "The Patriot Way", "The Patriot Way Redux", and "That makes it twice...").  They've certainly been helped by having a future Hall of Fame head coach (Bill Belichick) and probably the greatest quarterback of all-time (Tom Brady who won't be eligible for the NFL Hall of Fame until 2028 but will likely be a unanimous vote on the first ballot) overlap for a significant portion of the team's period of greatest success.  We will likely hear arguments about whether it was Tom Brady that made Bill Belichick so great or vice versa for a long time to come.  What's impressed me the most, though, is the team's culture, the so-called "Patriot Way".  As the old saying goes, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"  I think both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady had a lot to do with the team culture within the Patriots organization, so whenever I see an article, blog post, or interview about what either the coach or the player thinks about leadership, I always pay attention.

Tom Brady and former Dean and professor at Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria co-wrote a great article on leadership in Harvard Business Review entitled "Tom Brady on the Art of Leading Teammates".  It's certainly worthwhile to read the article in its entirety, so I will only provide a bulleted list of the highlights here.  First, they emphasize that "leaders don't accomplish anything by themselves.  In fact, nothing of significance in life is achieved alone.  To do great things, we rely on teammates."  Brady and Nohria also talk about a team-focused philosophy, which is built around mutual trust, common goals and objectives, and a belief that winning is about the team.  I think that is just as true for teams outside sports (and both Brady and Nohria agree).  They go on to list seven things that great team leaders do that lead to success:

1. Put the team first, always, even when facing personal adversity.

2. Show appreciation for unsung colleagues.

3. Set the standard and create a culture of 100% effort.

4. Recognize teammates' individual psychology and the best ways to motivate them.

5. Understand and complement the style of the formal leader.

6. Recognize and counteract the external forces that can cause selfish behavior.

7. Create opportunities to connect as people outside the office.

I believe that Brady and Nohria are using the term "leader" here to describe what individuals within teams, who may not necessarily carry a title, do differently to help a team achieve success.  As I read their article, I couldn't help but think of Sam Walker's superb book The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership, which I've mentioned a number of times in several previous blog posts.  The tagline to the book says it all - The secret to winning is not what you think it is. It’s not the coach.  It’s not the star.  It’s not money.  It’s not a strategy.  It’s something else entirely.  Walker found that the secret key to success is often the team captain, who was the one individual, other than the head coach, who had the most to do with building a winning culture.  As I stated in my post, "How 'bout them Cowboys?", "Sports teams with good talent and excellent culture will beat teams with excellent talent and poor culture."  The same is true for organizations.