Winning the Big One

by Dr. Ted Fish / January 01st 2020

On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. The biggest storyline for leaders was not the team’s ability to rally – yet again – from a double-digit deficit. Nor was it the rocket-armed young quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who established himself as the most brilliant Quarterback in the League.

No, the biggest storyline was the 61-year-old head coach who had finally won the big one. Read anything about Coach Andy Reid, and you will hear about a kind, heartfelt, humble man. Players and coaches call him a teddy bear. He diverts praise after a win and owns the burden of failure after a loss. He cultivates creativity, light-heartedness and fun at practices - in a league that is known for seriousness, severity and military discipline. Reid has apparently always been this way.

Throughout the National Football League, he has been respected for his legendary work ethic and his tactical brilliance. But people always wondered if he was too soft with his players, if he – and they – lacked the requisite toughness to climb to the top. The biggest storyline from the Super Bowl is that Andy Reid mastered his own puzzle. You see, every leader, and every person, has an essential nature: 1 or 2 qualities that define who they are. For some it is kindness. For others, it is courage or intelligence. These qualities are not liberally sprinkled. We only have 1 or 2 at our core. Our biggest challenge as leaders is to discover these, and – usually through failure – to learn the complementary skills that will allow us to shine.

If we had access to Coach Reid we would hear the inside story. More important is to reflect on ourselves - and provide the feedback to the ones we are mentoring - so they can solve their own puzzles. What's your profound, inherent strength? And what adaptations do you need to learn, so the brilliance you have within can shine?

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