I was at the Seahawks training camp last week with my friend Adonis McNeal and his wife, Monica. Monica bought four VIP tickets for a Seahawks training camp at an auction, and I was the lucky guy who was able to join them. It was a blast as you can tell by me standing next to the Lombardi Trophy from the Seahawks 2014 Super Bowl win.
As camp began I strategically positioned myself five feet away from the entrance to the practice field. I wanted to see up close each member of the team walk past on their way to practice. As several players walked past me I turned to Adonis and said, “these are enormous human beings.”
One person, in particular, dropped my jaw. Justin Britt, the center for the Seahawks, is listed at six foot six and 315 pounds. What I would never have fully appreciated by watching TV is the sheer size and musculature of an offensive lineman. With cleats, pads and a helmet, Justin looked enormous and ominous. In the 1970’s, offensive linemen were successful if they were 350 pounds and could push against another 350-pound lineman and protect the quarterback.
The nature of a lineman’s job today remains the same, but today a starting football player derives their income from playing football where players in the 1970’s were required to have a job that paid the bills. They didn’t have access to highly customized sports nutritionists as well as personal trainers that can create unprecedented muscle gains. In turn, the lineman of today is bigger, faster, more nimble and in peak physical condition.
Here’s how practice is structured. For one hour players drill the basics of their position group. They walk through the nuts and bolts of their position; where to put their hands, their feet and how to use their size and skill to their advantage. Coaches give feedback continually and even Justin who last year signed a three-year extension and is making $9,000,0000 per year receives continual feedback.
As someone who is passionate about helping leaders, teams and organizations become more successful, I watched Justin on the field during practice and I recognized that success as an NFL lineman requires size, skill, speed, and stamina. Every aspect of training camp cultivates building all four.
I want to share with you four essential insights of championship-level success I learned from training camp. They can be helpful for you as a leader, team member or individual contributor.
1. Building your skill never ends. Each day and week you must be growing greater skills. Frankly, if you’re not, you’re falling behind.
2. You cannot get better on your own. You must have an outside expert watch you and see what you are doing well and where you can improve. Without an outsiders perspective, you will never achieve your full potential.
3. Increased speed must be a part of your development. Without a disciplined approach for accelerating the speed with which you provide value to customers, employees and stakeholders you will soon be seen as out of touch and non-responsive. And, you must be able to do so for extended periods of time and not sporadically.
4. The competition is fierce. Your competition is working just as hard if not harder than you are. Champions have high levels of drive and pursue excellence partially because they love their sport, but also because they know their competition is working harder and for longer periods of time.
Sports analogies can be trite. I recognize that many of you may not enjoy football or sports for that matter. However, please don’t miss the message about success and championship level performance. As an employee/competitor in the competitive world or work today, you must have high levels of skill, an expert coach and the drive and tenacity to excel.
Which of the above four elements if embraced by you and your team will have you pictured next to your version of the Lombardi Trophy?
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