What secret leadership formula does Peyton Manning know that you wish your boss knew?
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has the highest career passer rating of any quarterback in history. This past week he was voted as the most respected player in the NFL, and of course, he’s headed to the Super Bowl. Proving yet again he’s the most efficient, respected, and successful leader in sports.
In the workplace, 3 out of every 4 employees are not satisfied with the quality of leadership in their company, according to Development Dimensions International (more on this topic: More Employees Would Rather Have a Hangover Than Talk to Their Boss).
What secret leadership formula does Peyton Manning know that you wish your boss knew?
Peyton Manning epitomizes competitive greatness by improving everyone around him. He models industriousness, enthusiasm, and high integrity to really LEAD on the field. Any leader can learn a lot by modeling Manning; but there are a few things he does that you simply can’t do in any other arena.
3 Habits only Peyton Manning is allowed to do:
1. Only Play Half the Game –
Peyton is a quarterback, which means more than half the game he isn’t even on the field. This is the equivalent of your boss being in less than half of your team’s meetings, or your CEO giving only half of the companywide earnings reports, or your teacher only being at the chalkboard for half of the class. Now, of course, Peyton is on the sidelines going over strategy, talking to coaches, mentoring younger players, holding his guys accountable, and modeling poise. And of course, there are obvious benefits of being a hands-off trusting leader at work; but hey, this is a silly comparison between your boss and the greatest QB in history. Some of my passes are gonna get intercepted here.
2. Be the only person with the mic upstairs
Right before the huddle, Peyton receives the play in his helmet from the offensive playcaller, where he relays it to the team. This is effectively a management relationship where the CEO tells the Vice President who tells your Director who tells your boss to tell your team to do something. Of course, we all know that good organizations are generally flat and transparent (unless you’re the military). Peyton can have this much control… your boss shouldn’t.
“A leader simply operates at their best when they understand their ability to influence is much more fruitful than their ability to control. Here’s the thing – the purpose of leadership is not to shine the spotlight on yourself, but to unlock the potential of others so they can in turn shine the spotlight on countless more. Control is about power – not leadership.” (Forbes)
3. Change the whole plan at the last minute
Right before the snap, everyone’s tense and ready to act… Peyton reads the defense and changes the play to take advantage of the moment. This is what makes Peyton so great. He’s active and reactive. He is yin and yang. But what would happen if your boss came to work everyday and told your team that a story on NPR has convinced them to drastically change the focus of the big project? Nimble? Yes. But efficient? Probably not. Yes, it’s good to be reactive as a leader to the needs of a team, and it’s good to be reactive to the market environment, but change the play as much as Peyton and you’ll likely be overreactive. Again, Peyton is allowed to do this… you are not.
…The 1 Habit You should
1. Spread the ball around
The one thing Peyton does that you should do everyday… spread the ball around. Peyton is famous for hitting all of his receivers at least once during a game. He will make two or three receivers into pro-bowlers, and he’s well known to pass around the credit when his team wins. Every postgame interview he’s asked about his performance in the win… and every time he says something like, “This was a team victory, the guys fought hard on the line, the defense made big plays, and I’m really proud of how we held together on that final drive.” As a leader, you should also give your team members opportunities to shine, and then be openly proud of them for shining. Peyton operates like he knows he has the responsibility (notice, he takes a lot of the blame in losses) of a leader, but he doesn’t need to be recognized for it.
I feel like there should be an ending to this post, so I decided to show this:
This is spooky. I am the London based author of the DDI report (thank you!) you mention in the first part of the blog and happened to be in staying in Pittsburgh last night, so of course watched the game – and then read your post this morning. I should say that I am an enthusiastic if somewhat naive football supporter; I do have tickets for each of the NFL games in Wembley this year to prove my enthusiasm however. I was in the hotel gym this morning watching an interview with an obviously disappointed Peyton Manning. What struck me… Read more »
Peyton, not Payton of course!