Super Bowl LI was something special to watch - unless you are a Falcons fan and then it was a disaster. You could see it happen right before your eyes. The Patriots struggled in the first quarter while the Falcons had complete control of every aspect of the game. And then… it happened.
Depending on what expert you listen to, there are a variety of plays in the game that you could point to and declare, “That was the turning point!” Even though I played a lot of football (13 years), coached a lot of football (6 years) and watched a lot of football (50+ years), I’m no expert – but I believe the play below was the turning point in the game. (Click to view on Youtube.)
In my opinion, it happened in the third quarter. As you can see in the upper left hand corner of the picture, it’s 3rd and 8 with 4:49 left in the quarter and the Patriots are down 28-3. So far in the game, they hadn’t had much success at all. In their five possessions in the first half, they had punted 3 times and had 2 turnovers. On this play, with no one open to throw to, Brady did something he rarely does – he ran with the ball.
|
2016 |
12 |
28 |
2.3 |
64 |
2.3 |
5.3 |
0 |
15 |
10 |
35.7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Brady’s record shows that he had only run with the ball 28 times in 12 games. That’s a mere 2.3 rushes per game with a total of only 5.3 yards per game. His longest run in 15 years accounted for nearly 25% of the total yards he gained the entire season… and he fumbled once. If you were going to run the ball to gain 8 yards for a critical 1st down, the last guy you would call on to do that would be Tom Brady. If, however, the game is on the line and you needed to call on someone that wants the ball when the game is on the line - and you want a guy that will get the job done again as he has in the past - then you would call on Tom Brady.
Why Tom Brady? Well, in the words of Beth Mooney, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Key Bank, it boils down to this – The Shadow of the Leader.
The jobs of sales management (video) are many, but when it comes down to it, the primary roles fall into three categories:
- Lead for Results
- Manage Activities
- Coach Behaviors
These roles make up the cornerstone, so to speak, in our Sales Managed Environment® Certification program. Everything that you do or need to be doing day in and day out as a manager should be an activity that supports one of these three contributing factors to sales growth.
- Lead for Results – This requires that your vision for your team supports the overall vision of the organization, but it is also a vison that your people support and are motivated by. Yes, we know by using the Objective Management Group Sales Force Evaluation that close to 70% of all sales people are motivated internally, but that internal motivation is often tied to the place where they work. They want to feel like the work they do is meaningful. They want to be recognized for their accomplishments. They want to feel that they are making progress personally and professionally. They rely on work to make their personal dreams come true. They need someone – you – to lead them to places they don’t think are possible and to lead them when the odds seem to be against them. (Down 25 points with 20 minutes left in the game. No team in the Super Bowl Championship has ever overcome even a 10-point deficit!)
- Manage Activities – These activities get the results you want. Everything starts with belief and belief controls your activities. At half time, according to Tom, the discussion was not about “What do we do now?” The discussion was about “This is what we’ve done.”:
- We’ve moved the ball.
- We’ve controlled the clock.
- We’ve allowed them to move the ball the full length of the field for a touchdown.
We’ve been doing a lot of things right. And we’ve made a couple of mistakes, but it isn’t like they are stopping us or completely running over us. Let’s stay the course, do what we do best, control what we can control and - when the time comes - we’ll make the plays we need to win.
- Coach Behaviors – There wasn’t a whole lot of “in-the-moment” coaching going on during the game. Yes, there were a couple of situations where Tom made a motion for a receiver to break his route and run deep and then Tom delivered the ball for a long gain. Yes, there were adjustments made to blocking schemes and defensive fronts, but those adjustments were easy to execute because of all the practice prior to the game. Recently, I was listening to a talk radio show where they were discussing how the Patriots go about practicing pass patterns for when Brady has to scramble out of the pocket. These aren’t plays that just happen by accident. They are due to hours of specific practice where the offensive team run through scenarios they might encounter in a game. And they have to learn those plays on the practice field so that, in a real game when the lights are on and everyone is watching, they can execute them and make them look “easy”. That's what Tom Brady and Bill Belichick demand and that is why the team performed so well under pressure to overcome a historic deficit and win Super Bowl LI.
Additional Resources:
Are You Wasting Sales Training Dollars?
Do Your Sales Growth Strategies Exceed The Limits of Your Sales Team?
Are You Drafting The Right People For The Right Roles?
