For those of you who know me, I am sure you can appreciate my excitement when I learned there was an opportunity to attend a breakfast talk with the new Seattle Seahawks Coach, Pete Carroll. As a college football fan I have long been enamored with the strength of the USC football program, as well as Carroll’s impressive use of social media, which I blogged about last fall (well before I knew he was coming to Seattle).
So it was with a fair amount of enthusiasm that I headed to the Fairmont Hotel to hear Carroll’s advice to Seattle’s business community. Carroll is a very good communicator – he engaged the audience right from the get-go by using his humor, asking us questions and sharing his perspective in a straightforward approachable manner. He was interviewed by the Puget Sound Business Journal’s publisher Emory Thomas and then took questions from the audience.
Here is my take on his comments.
- Have a philosophy and make sure everyone understands it. For instance, your philosophy might be to do everything you do better than the competition. If so, then everyone on your team (or in your organization) needs to understand it. It needs to be instilled in your culture and ingrained in your DNA.
- Drive is essential. As Carroll looks for the right athletes and coaches on his team, he wants highly motivated, driven types of people. He spoke about recruiting players who “want to be something special.” He explained this is often so innate that they almost have a “chip on their shoulder.” Athletic prowess (height/strength) is important, but so is how an athlete uses those gifts.
- Help me help you. As a leader, Carroll wants his people to know he is there to help them achieve their dreams and maximize their potential. To help his players stay grounded, Carroll also believes it is important to “be a beacon” and be an example. (As an aside Carroll also shared that the Seahawks now have their own yoga coach).
- Act as a team. One person cannot carry the entire load. Great quarterbacking requires effort and support from many people – not one individual.
- Focus on what you can control. Don’t give your power away by focusing on things you have no control over. Stay on your side of the field and take your game to the competition – make them react to you. If you’re thinking about your opponent’s backhand, you are not going to achieve your maximum potential in that moment.
I found his presentation inspiring and extremely relevant to the business world and am eager to read his forthcoming book “Win Forever: Live, Work and Play Like a Champion.” I am going to see if I can get an advance copy to review it on our Web site. Stay tuned.