Recently Brett Favre, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, broke the all-time NFL touchdown record. As a fan of football and Green Bay (I grew up in Wisconsin) I’ve had the opportunity to watch Favre over the years, and I also realized how his career provides some valuable business-building lessons.
How? Because success is success, whether you’ve built a multi-billion dollar company, written a dozen best-selling novels or are a famous quarterback. Many of the same mindset and principles are the same no matter how the success manifests itself. What’s nice about sports is first, it’s public (the games are televised and the players are forever being interviewed so you can get to know them a little) and second, you can see things unfold in a short amount of a time. An entire game is completed in 3 hours, compared to business where you don’t always see success or failure that fast (although sometimes it feels like it!)
That said, this is where I’ll share the first 3 of a total of 6 principles (both good and bad) you can learn from Favre to become a more successful business owner.
1. Favre is willing to take chances.
Watch Favre any given Sunday and you’ll see him throw into double coverage, triple coverage, or just in the general direction of a player wearing green and gold. And, more times then it should, it works. The receiver makes this spectacular catch and the rest of us all wonder how on earth he pulled it off.
That’s what successful people do. They take chances. They see an opportunity and they seize it. And they do it fast. They make a decision and it’s done. They see an opening between the defenders and they whip the ball in there for an amazing play.
2. Favre’s greatest strength is also his greatest weakness.
As a Green Bay fan, you end up holding your breath as you watch Favre throw. Because it’s a toss up whether you’ll be cheering a spectacular throw or groaning because he just threw an interception.
It’s really no surprise that 2 weeks after he broke the touchdown record, he also broke the record for most NFL interceptions. And, I’m sure he’s not done piling up either the touchdown throws or the interceptions. (In fact, his very first throw in the NFL was an interception that was run back for a touchdown.)
Why does he throw so many interceptions? Because of that willingness to take chances. He makes throws he has no business making, and sometimes it bites him.
Now, there are two lessons here to learn. One is, keep an eye on your greatest strengths because if you overuse them, they’re also your greatest weaknesses. I’m not saying don’t capitalize on your strengths, I’m saying keep your eyes open and be willing to admit when your strength has led you down the wrong path (and be willing to do something about it.)
The other lesson is of perseverance. Would Favre had broken the NFL record for touchdown passes if he allowed all those interceptions to get him down? No. And not only that, it never even stopped him from taking chances. He’ll throw an interception, get right back into the game and take the same chance.
Not all the chances or opportunities you take in your business are going to work out. You’ll have losses and set backs and heartaches and everything else. And what you have to learn to do is not allow it to stop you. Sure, maybe the chance you seized yesterday was a total disaster, but that doesn’t mean the chance you seize tomorrow will be the best thing that ever happened in your business. And if you let yesterday’s failure prevent you from tomorrow’s success, you’ll never break that touchdown record.
3. Favre plays to win, not to not lose.
Favre wants to win. Period. That’s why he takes chances. That’s why he makes throws he has no business making. Because he’s out there to win. He’s not out there to not lose the game.
This may sound like a subtle difference, but it’s actually huge. When you play to not lose, what happens? You suddenly get very conservative on the chances you take, the opportunities you go after, and even all the choices you make. If you’re playing to win, now it’s a whole different ball game. Even just saying it, playing to win, has a whole different energy level. It feels more alive, more passionate.
Now you’re making entirely different choices because you want to win — not to not lose.