A painful loss. Outstanding season. There are five things the Green Bay Packers can teach us about leadership.
Advice for future executives: Packers fostered a culture of accountability, selflessness, and constant improvement that quickly improved performance.
After the Packers’ season-ending playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the defeat still hurts for us Cheeseheads. But the Packers’ season was truly remarkable: they defeated the second-seeded Cowboys, almost defeated the top-seeded 49ers, and advanced to the playoffs as the league’s youngest team.
The leadership of the Packers’ coaches, player leaders, and administration was a significant contributing factor. They established a culture of accountability, altruism, and constant development, which quickly improved performance.
I’d want to provide the following advice to create a successful team, based on what the Packers accomplished this season, for those of us who don’t work under Lambeau and instead lead, assist lead, or hope to lead businesses or other organizations someday:
1. Select staff members with good confidence rather than those with large egos.
This year’s Packers were, for the most part, an exceptionally modest and selfless team—a difficult task for highly compensated professional athletes.
“One of the things you love about this [team] is that all these individuals have their own goals and aspirations and their own personal needs and desires, but can you still put the team first?” head coach Matt LaFleur said in his postseason press conference. And doing it isn’t always simple.
It’s a compliment to, well, their parents, that they have high-character athletes in their locker room. Credit, however, must also go to general manager Brian Gutekunst, who selected and signed gifted players who prioritized the team over the individual.
She called 911 and then froze to death. They never even ventured outside to search for her.
As a result, the squad became unusually close, with players supporting one another throughout the season’s low points and enjoying each other’s victories “like a family, to borrow running back Aaron Jones’ expression.
For the rest of us, the leadership lesson is this: When recruiting, give consideration to character and humility. This entails choosing workers who, among other traits, have the maturity to put their egos aside for the good of the group.
2. Set an example of personal accountability, particularly when things go wrong.
When I wrote about the Packers two years ago, I pointed out that Coach LaFleur assigns credit to others while putting his own responsibility first. “You’re always going to look at yourself first and be tough on yourself,” he stated last week.
This season, the players’ culture reflected LaFleur’s emphasis on taking personal responsibility for oneself. For instance, quarterback Jordan Love admitted his error right away when questioned about the poorly timed, intercepted throw into triple coverage during the 49ers game: “[I] forced it across the middle, late, which is a terrible sin, and it cost us.”
Leaders should take note of this lesson: Set an example of personal accountability. Consider yourself first if someone in your line of command is performing poorly, for example. Did you give them sufficient instruction and unambiguous guidance? How can you improve your work in a way that benefits them?
3. Make investments in the training of young workers
Love was a first-year starter for the Packers this year, and LaFleur and the other coaches had the task of helping them grow as a bunch of excellent rookies. Their efforts were fruitful.
How can leaders outside of athletics invest in employee development? One way to start would be to make sure your team gets the “coaches” it needs to succeed, which may be employee coaches or more casual kinds of personal assistance.
4. Stress steady, gradual advancement toward objectives
How does your business accomplish its lofty objectives? LaFleur always had the same motto: you put in your best effort, arrive at work with a positive attitude, and find a way to improve every day.
Effective leaders assist their team members in taking small, realistic steps toward achievement by setting clear expectations so that everyone knows what success looks like.
5. Honor tenacity. There will be setbacks and disappointments.
LaFleur never ceased to highlight and appreciate the importance of resilience for each member of the squad as well as for the team as a whole. He said, “Going through some suffering sometimes makes you better, whether it’s in football or in life.”
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Supervisors have the ability to assist their staff in learning from mistakes and losses, getting over them, and moving on.
In addition to being exciting and motivating, this Packers season was a veritable gold mine for leadership insights. By taking inspiration from the Packers and using it to hone your leadership abilities, you’ll be assimilating the team’s guiding principle: every day presents a chance for growth and learning.
