A bank CEO approached me after a recent presentation to share that one of the topics I touched on struck a nerve with him. He told me that he played collegiate football in his younger days and laughed that his colleagues have heard more than their fair share of football references in their time.
He smiled and told me, "I've always had a football player's mindset. We run a successful play and move the ball. Great! Now we have 40 seconds to huddle, get the next play called and get the ball snapped."
As I smiled at his animated delivery, he referenced one of the quotes I shared and had joked was among my favorite motivational sayings. On the surface, it might not seem especially uplifting and it's from a person not known for inspirational words.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's succinct statement is, "Do your job." It's been a mantra around his organization throughout his long, successful tenure.
I tell groups that I really like it because it is as succinct and action-oriented as you can get.
It was on my mind the week of that speech after seeing a postgame interview with the Patriots' current quarterback. The quarterback of any team tends to get too much of the credit and too much of the blame from week to week.
When talking about that week's win, he deflected the reporter's attempts to make it about his individual performance and referenced everyone "doing their jobs." He stressed that all areas of the team had taken care of their responsibilities that day.
While I have long said that leading business teams is not always analogous to sports, there are aspects that make for relevant, instructive comparisons.
In the case of Belichick's mantra, he reminds members of the team that no one is responsible for everything, but everyone is responsible for something. Some jobs may entail more than others and have more public scrutiny placed on them. But everyone and every job matters.
Everyone on a high-functioning team relies on the other members of that team to do their jobs and do them well. The more reliable team members are in performing their own jobs, the greater the opportunity for others to thrive.
My new friend then shared that he was going to commit to giving more positive feedback in the moment than had been his practice. He is also going to make sure various departments regularly acknowledge others that they rely on each day, with particular focus on behind-the-scenes folks who aren't in many of their leadership meetings.
Beyond that, he said that they needed to revisit certain key job functions in their organization. He wondered if a few issues they've had in some areas may have root causes elsewhere.
Busy leaders can often take for granted that some of their more talented and/or experienced personnel "pick up the slack" as necessary. To a point, that's part of any successful team. Problems arise, however, when "as necessary" morphs into standard operating procedure.
Over time, even talented and engaged team members will not be as productive as they can be if they are having to continually compensate for weak performance or lack of support in areas not under their control.
To be clear, that doesn't mean underperforming areas are simply not capable of or interested in performing their jobs. When areas begin to underperform, it is as common to find a lack of experience, training and/or coaching as it is to find personnel not skilled enough for their jobs.
In football, if the offensive line isn't doing its job well, the quarterback, running backs and receivers are in for a frustrating day.
When that happens, their defense ends up on the field longer than they'd like. Tired defenses give up points. An uninformed observer (or misguided coach) might lay blame on the defense when an ineffective offensive line is the root cause of their struggles.
The same cascading effect often plays out in business. Effective coaches recognize this reality and ensure that attention, time, and available resources go to improving individual and subunit performance.
Contrary to what some may think, leaders who create a healthy environment of accountability do not create hostile settings. If anything, good people are motivated knowing what they do is noticed and matters.
Cultures of accountability remind teams that different areas of a business are not in competition with each other.
No one is responsible for everything, but everyone is responsible for something.
They are one team, accountable to each other, and win or lose together.
