Business Insights from NetFLix's 'Quarterback' Series

In the world of sports, NFL quarterbacks are often seen as the epitome of leadership, resilience, and strategic thinking. These qualities are not only essential on the football field but also in the realm of business. Here are ten lessons we can learn from these athletes.

Continuous learning is a cornerstone of success. NFL quarterbacks spend countless hours studying game films, analyzing their performance, and learning new strategies. Similarly, in business, we should always strive to learn and grow. Whether it's mastering a new skill, staying updated with industry trends, or understanding customer needs, learning should be an ongoing process.

Taking time to mentally reset is crucial. Just as quarterbacks take a day off to rest and rejuvenate, business leaders also need to take breaks. This time away from work allows our brains to process information, gain new perspectives, and come up with innovative solutions.

Small decisions can lead to big impacts. In a game, a single play can change the outcome. Similarly, in business, seemingly minor decisions can have a significant impact. Whether it's tweaking a marketing strategy or improving a process, small changes can lead to substantial improvements.

Losses and setbacks are inevitable. Not every game can be won, and not every business decision will lead to success. However, these setbacks provide valuable lessons and opportunities for growth. It's essential to learn from these experiences and use them to improve future performance.

Critics will always be there, but maintaining mental toughness is key. Regardless of how much progress you make, there will always be critics. The key is to stay focused, believe in your abilities, and persevere despite the criticism.

Having a long-term view while thinking short-term is vital. Quarterbacks aim for the Super Bowl but focus on each game. Similarly, while it's essential to have long-term business goals, it's equally important to focus on short-term objectives that lead to those goals.

Running your own race is important. Each quarterback has a unique style and strategy, just as each business is unique. It's essential to focus on your strengths, values, and vision, rather than comparing yourself to others.

Don't be afraid to learn from others. Quarterbacks often learn from their peers and coaches. Similarly, business leaders can gain valuable insights from mentors, industry leaders, and even competitors.

Leading with passion and conviction is crucial. As the team's leader, a quarterback sets the tone for the game. Similarly, as a business leader, your passion and conviction can inspire your team, drive performance, and shape the company culture.

Finally, stay humble and own your missteps. Everyone makes mistakes, but what sets great leaders apart is their ability to admit their errors, learn from them, and use these lessons to improve.

In conclusion, the world of NFL quarterbacks offers valuable lessons for business leaders. By adopting these principles, we can enhance our leadership skills, drive business growth, and achieve long-term success.

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Podcast Transcript:

Kiva Slade 0:01

Welcome to Collab with Kiva, where we let our inner nerd geek out on all the non sexy parts of your business. I'm talking data and operations. Neither as flashy or glamorous, but both are foundational to your business growth. I'm your host, Kiva Slade, your strategy and analytics guide here to break down what feels complicated, so it is understandable and executional. Let's dive in. Though. Hello, hello. Welcome to another episode of Collab with Kiva. I'm excited about today's topic over the weekend, I may or may not have indulged in some binge watching on Netflix. I watched quarterback. It's eight episodes, and it follows kirk cousins of the Minnesota Vikings, Patrick mahomes of Kansas City Chiefs. So the Super Bowl winners, and Marcus Mariota, who was with the Atlanta Falcons, I say was because he's now reasonably sign with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kiva Slade 1:12

But if you know anything about me, I love sports, you know, and I really love football. Ever since I was a three year old. I grew up watching football. My favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys not for many reasons that some people might think when I was growing up, Tom Landry reminded me of my grandfather, like on the sidelines in his fedora, I'm like, that's grandpa on TV. Wasn't grandpa. But in my mind, it was like there's grandpa on TV. So I like have loved football. And so watching, this is such a great documentary. It's very impressively 10. Shout out to you, Peyton Manning and Omaha productions in the NFL and all the other people who are involved. But really, I want to talk today about just some of what I felt were takeaways for life and really for business. Because at the end of the day, each of these quarterbacks, they're a brand, the NFL is a brand. The Atlanta Falcons, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings, all the brands like these are brands. And so that's why I feel like the lessons are applicable not only to life, but also to business in particular. So I'm gonna dive in, I don't think I'm giving away any spoilers for those of you who may decide to still watch the show. These are really just my takeaways of some lessons that I think are super important.

Kiva Slade 2:49

So the first one is, learning is ongoing. Learning is ongoing, when you watch this in start to understand and I will say like, all three quarterbacks and their teams gave really deep background footage and like access to their labs in the things that take place for their team. So this is like a really good behind the scenes like I love a good documentary and like this one is a good one. So learning is ongoing. When you're thinking about looking at it, for example, the quarterback position, there's game film that they're watching to prepare themselves for a game so whomever they're playing, there's postgame film that you watch to evaluate what you did what you didn't do and improve. They're watching. Like that same kind of footage. Also during the game when they come off the field. They're given. I believe their Microsoft surfaces I don't think their iPads I think Microsoft has the deal with the NFL anyway. They're given a tablet on this tablet, so you can rewatch what just took place to evaluate what they did, what they didn't do, what they should have done differently. Their plays Goodness gracious a life like the names of these things and what each of them means in terms of coverage and who's doing what and what the play is what the route is so many different things. You're just like, Okay, you have to remember that. Even if it's written down, you still got to know which one it is all the things, it's so much. It's just like a lot of information packed into that play, which can sound crazy and ridiculous in terms of the name of it, but totally a lot of learning. And the learning isn't only external but also internal, all of them do different things to grow themselves mentally. Kirk Cousins, like literally does this neurological thing that he puts to his head and you're like watching something and it starts to dim.

Kiva Slade 5:16

When your focus is on, and I'm like, wow, like, but that helps you realize, when you do start to lose focus, and I don't know who else but you know, you're like, in bed, or you're about to, you know, go to bed, you're like, Oh, you're gonna pray, you're gonna read a book, you're gonna do something. And next minute, you know, you're sleep, make it your focus went away. So, learning is ongoing. I think that's really something that's important for each of us. Because there's this thought sometimes that you know, either people will tell you, you know, enough, you do know enough to do whatever it is that you're doing. But you should not stop there. If you wound up with a new coach, for example, your new plays that are being designed, you're facing a team you haven't faced before, and they have a new defensive coordinator who's got tricks up their sleeves, and you need to be aware of these things, paying attention to what's going on, and how to assess things like it's just learning is ongoing. And if we want to be at the top of our own games, we have to actually acknowledge that learning is ongoing, we should always be approaching things with curiosity, with the desire in which to learn more and not feel that we're at a place of I know enough, I don't need to know anything else. Life is changing, technology is changing. So much is changing. We some the Amish, and the Mennonites still go around on horse and buggies. But Ford, we have cars. And now we have different cars, we have smart cars, we have all kinds of things. Learning is ongoing. And I feel like that was one of the key takeaways when you're watching that. Because that's there's some who say athletes to just shut up and play and do various things like they're not just athletes, these are quite smart individuals who happen to play a sport, but I think relegating them to this role of an athlete in in like, like a dumb jock. And far, far, far, far, far from it. And you will take that away, if you decide to watch this. So learning is ongoing is the first one.

Kiva Slade 7:39

The second one is take time to mentally reset, take time to mentally reset. And I've talked about this before, especially as business owners having what's called like a CEO day, you can call it owner day founder day, whatever. Because for many of us, we're not actually in a CEO seat. But the importance of taking time to mentally reset. Kirk Cousins takes Tuesdays off and has for like he said, I think for like the last eight years. And coaches at first were like, our quarterbacks not going to be like, you know, after Tuesday after a game, he's not going to be at the training facility. He takes that time off. Like he's taking kids to pre K, he's taken a walk with his wife and dog and she's looking forward to that Tuesday. But also he's at Barnes and Nobles getting books and looking at things read. But literally he takes that time away and does nothing related to football. Others like himself and others, they take time away to do things with their family, all of those breaks, or that time away from the thing, whatever it is that you do. So in many of our cases, our business that allows our brains time to put things in perspective to like your brain is always working if you study anything about the brain. And so you're giving your brain like time to sort it all out. Like if you imagine being a player and you had a game on a Saturday or Monday night, your brain needs time now to process all of those things like process what took place before what took place during what takes place after and put it all in the right little places.

Kiva Slade 9:31

Because the thing about our brains, and they're so powerful is that they're working to solve problems even when we're asleep, even when we're not thinking on some of those things in there working to solve those problems, but you got to give your brain time gotta give it space. And so taking time to mentally reset and whatever that looks like for you in your business. You may not have a whole day to do it and maybe it's a few hours where you're away from your desk, your office, your whatever, in order to just do something totally not related to that, and allow your brain to reset. And there's power, I believe in that, in that getting that perspective change, and allowing your brain to just really put things in order.

Kiva Slade 10:21

So number three small decisions can have big impacts. Small decisions can have big impacts. And I think when we're looking at this, especially in this particular context, whether in the game or like, even in their physical condition in preparation, like decisions to change a play, can affect not only the trajectory of that game, but in some teams, the entire season. This reminds me of like, my kids used to do piano recitals, and their, their teacher, he never wanted them in the room when a piano or not like he didn't even want them to be able to hear when someone else was going through their recital. Because over the years, what he had found is that when you heard someone else make mistake, typically the next kid would go in there and also make a mistake, and then the next kid, and it was like this snowball effect. And that same thing happens with the small decisions, like you change a play in a game, and it doesn't work out and your team loses. And now you go into the next week feeling dejected and down on yourself and you lose again. And what now it's a two loss streak becomes a three loss or four loss streak. And it's like, Whoa, where did how did we wind up here? Those small decisions really all came together and had big impacts. So no matter what it is that you're doing, even in your business, really thinking about? What kind of decisions are you making? What kind of impact can they have? And a lot of times, and this is true when I really look at things from an operations perspective.

Kiva Slade 12:18

I'll talk to business owners and they're like, I don't have time to operationalize systematize 100% of my business. And most cases, you systematizing 20% of your business 20% 20% will actually revolutionize 80% of your business. And one thing like Kirk Cousins works with a chiropractor and they were like, it's like if you can just get me 3% Better 3% Better 3% is small. Okay, 20% of your operations small. But the impact that those small decisions in tweaks can have really can use not have a boundary. And How amazing would that be knowing that the revolutionising of 20% of your SOPs, heck start with 10% You know, in that you're able to impact the rest of your business and how things are being done in that same time and mental capacity bandwidth that's freed up from just fat and how your team is now executing better because of the SOPs that are in place. So small decisions can have big impacts. But we also have to be brave enough to make the small decisions. And sometimes you roll no dice, you roll the dice and say, Hey, we're gonna do this play. Play goes off. Well, however, one of your offensive linemen, he had a false start. So what was fourtheen inches is now fourth and five, fourth and sixth. And that's a little harder to convert, then fourtheen inches.

Kiva Slade 14:02

So, number four, losses and setbacks are inevitable. When two teams come to play, one is going to come out a winner one is gonna come out a loser. Yeah, you can have a tie and then some would argue they're both winners and would argue they're both losers. We're not going to have that conversation. The reality is though, 32 NFL teams start the season one is walking away a Super Bowl champion at the end of the day, well, the end of several months. That's the reality of the situation. Basketball is the same baseball hockey, soccer league. It does not matter. A NASCAR race. We have over 37 drivers who get started in only one it's crossing that finish line first. And if we need to have a slow down camera view to see who got across the line by a nose, we will do that because there's one winner. So understanding that losses and setbacks. They're a part of life, they're a part of business. They're going to happen. It's what you do with that. It's what you do after it. It's what you do when you, you go back to step one. And remember, learning is ongoing. That's what makes the difference between these quarterbacks and teams and others. It's understanding that you're not going to win every game you'd like to. Yes, you would. But you're not it. Very few teams have gone through the entire NFL season with a perfect record. And then if you take those who had a perfect record, I don't remember who it was a few years ago who did but they didn't even go to Super Bowl. So perfect, regular non regular season perfect record doing playoff season, two different things. losses and setbacks are inevitable. We need to factor that into your art, our understanding of what it is to live life as well as to run our businesses, things are going to happen. It's what you do after that, that matters.

Kiva Slade 16:07

So number five, no matter your progress, critics will critique. It's your job to stay mentally tough. Like Haters gonna hate, like, that's obvious in you can shake it off, like, you know, Taylor Swift or her you just realize like, no matter what you do, there's always going to be someone. In some cases, many someone's who have something to say. And so it's your job to stay mentally tough. Whether or kirk cousins have felt like sometimes I'm like, they just had the biggest comeback, and it NFL history. And it's still like crickets, can he perform? Is he able to do? It's like, can we celebrate what we did? No. So whether that's therapy, and the mental training that you do, keeping a folder of your wins, you know, reminding yourself on a weekly or daily whatever's needed for you basis of what you have done, what have those accomplishments been. So that you can re again, change that perspective, reorient yourself, to know you have made progress, you are not the same person, as you were yesterday, you have grown, you are different. And you just have to find that for yourself. And whether it's as a therapist, or a sports psychologist, whomever else that might be journaling, whatever it is, coaching, whatever it is, you need to make sure you grab hold of that resource for yourself. Because no matter what, no matter how much progress has been made, there are going to be those who have something to say that's not positive, in it's up to you to find the positive and hold on to it.

Kiva Slade 18:08

So number six, have a long term view. But think short term. So have a long term view. But think short term, long term view is, you know, you want to win the sort of Super Bowl, short term is you've got hitting the ribs several times during this game, and your team needs you to win. So you're going to need to get it out. Long term view, you want to stay in Kansas City for a long time. So you purchase land when you sign your contract. Short term view that land doesn't get on does has nothing done to it for the first couple of years that you've owned it, because other things are happening. But the long term view is related to that. And I think that even in business, like our long term views are, you know, have this successful business, blah, blah, blah, you have to realize though there are short term goals that we have to do on in some cases, a daily basis to get us to that long term goal. And so having the long term view is super helpful. And also realizing that we need actionable steps to get us there is also a reminder.

Kiva Slade 19:27

So number seven, run your own race. run your own race. And this one, man is not always easy. Because we have social media and you're looking at everyone and they're perfect. Everything's so wonderful in their life, their business their whatever. And you don't see what's outside of that camera frame. Marcus Mariota he had great college success at Oregon. He was a Heisman Trophy winner He's lost two starting positions. And he recently as I said at the beginning, he's a backup now to Jalen Hertz. Philadelphia Eagles like you're the backup to a young phenom like unless he gets injured. Yeah, your chances of playing are probably slim. Or it but guess what Kirk Cousins was back up to RG three, RG three got hurt Kirk. So there's a level of run your own race and also stay ready. Because you just don't know what's going to happen. mahomes He has freaky unnatural athleticism. Like really, really weird. But that in no way diminishes how hard this boy trains like this kid his training. Honestly, like he puts his body through a lot. Despite the fact that he's naturally gifted in that athletic area. Kirk Cousins, great stats last season, he's consistent. He's reliable, like he is Mr. dependable. But that also means that he's not flashy. And he's often overlooked. Each of them had to run their own race, each of us have to run our own race. It doesn't matter that all three are quarterbacks, it doesn't matter that all of you know all of us are business owners, our race is going to look different, it's going to look different, because each of us is different, it's going to look different because each of us comes to this with with differences. We have different experiences, different exposures, different everything that we bring to the table. Yet we find ourselves sitting at the same table. So it's important to run our own race. Sometimes that might be your your the horse and you're putting the blinders on. So that you you run your race and you're not worrying about what the horse is to the right and the left or you are doing running your own race. Totally important.

Kiva Slade 22:08

Number eight, don't be afraid to learn from others. I often see where we're like, people don't want to share something because someone else might take it or this might happen or this might happen. Again, if we go back to number seven, and we're running our own race, but also realizing what our uniqueness is that we bring to the table. It doesn't matter. Like we can learn from one another. We can do things. We can share things, because it doesn't mean again that they're going to show up with the exact same way. One of the things that Kirk Cousins mentions is he played with Santana moss on the commander's and Santana was 13 years or so in the league. And he just saw how he did things like with trainers and chiropractors and stuff to work on preserving his body. So that in his 13th year he felt as healthy if not healthier than his first year in the NFL. Which let's do the math on that. If you came out of school at 2122 13 years in you're about 3536. And guess what? The body if your body to feel that 3536 like it did when you were 2122? Yes, sign us all up for that. So, you know, homes. I mean, my homes, he mentioned some, you know, paying attention to Aaron Rodgers and you know, his dad and in so many different things. It's like, it's okay to learn from others, and figure out what is it that they're doing, that you can adopt, and adapt for what you are doing, that doesn't say doesn't negate running your own race, you're not going out to copy what they're doing. You're figuring out is there something in that that you can take on for you, that works for you. Kirk Cousins had chiropractor team come in Back to the 3% wanting to get him 3% different, but also really working on his body. So ice baths, different things that he was doing, to also make sure that he had longevity in his career through being able to take care of his physical self. Like when you're a quarterback like your body. That's your tool. That's your thing that your your people are paying for. Okay, the team is paying for that, okay for that arm to be able to throw with accuracy. And so whatever our thing is, in many of our cases, for service providers, it's our brain and with the knowledge that we're gonna be doing, like don't be afraid to learn from what others are doing and figure out if there's something in there for yourself. And what does that look like for you? It doesn't mean that it looks the same, it just means that there's might be something there for you to take away and add to your own tool kit. And that's a good thing.

Kiva Slade 25:11

Number nine, lead with passion and conviction. As a business owner, you are a leader, whether you have a team, don't have a team have a small team, you know, it doesn't matter. You're the leader, you work with clients, you need to lead them. And there are so many times that you have to lead but with passion, but also conviction, and maybe be a more vocal leader in how you show up. This same for all three of these quarterbacks, like the quarterback, everyone on the team is looking to you for guidance to set the tone. So if you own a business, and you do have a team, independent contractors or employees, they're looking to you to set the tone, set it, set the tone, don't be shy about this, and then kind of shrink like a violet, you need to set the tone, you need to lead with passion and conviction. And that means again, really paying attention to the other eight things I've already shared. But really understanding what that looks like for you as a leader. If the leadership is an area you need to grow in, get yourself some help and grow in that deck on area. Because bad leaders bad things happen. And bad leaders, you lead people in effectively and you lead people in ways that is not healthy or growing them as well. It is just bad, just bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. The same with a quarterback. Like if they don't lead well. They're gonna lose in most cases, unless of course, the defense is able to do something incredibly amazing. They're going to lose bad bad things happen when you don't lead with passion and conviction.

Kiva Slade 27:09

And number 10, which I feel is related to all of the above. Stay humble and own your missteps. Stay humble and own your missteps. I love watching it and you can hear them because they're miked up and around his brand and the quarterback is like throws the ball before like, you know to head of the player or behind the player or directly at him but not where he was going to be in terms of the route and it's like that was that one's on me that was on me. My bet that's on me own those missteps stay humble. As the leader as the quarterback, like you're not always right, you're not always the one who is not at fault. There are times that you do things that you should have done them better. But if you stay humble, and you own those missteps, you can grow from those, you can have growth from what was a bad mistake. What was a bad route that was ran what was a bad pass that was made. And so staying humble, as you lead with passion and conviction, as you understand that losses and setbacks are inevitable, as you all are things. And it just it will make you not only a better leader, but a better person. Because if you're a parent, you're gonna need to own those missteps with your kids, I have had my fair share of or owning those. And especially as you parent young adults, you know, most of us we're trying to do the best that we can the way we were raised, but we have to evolve, we have to know are there other parenting mechanisms, methods that you need to learn in order to be a better parent than your parents were? That doesn't mean your parents were bad parents, they were working with what they had. So what does that look like staying humble means that you will always go back to number one, and you will always know that learning is ongoing.

Kiva Slade 29:11

So those are my takeaways from quarterback on athletics and what I feel they relate to life and business and particular business and lessons we can learn as entrepreneurs. Again, this is so not a promo for Netflix. I did not get any money from them. They get money from me on a monthly basis. But it was a really good series. I feel like it was well done. I would be intrigued to see if there will be a part two and who they follow for this next upcoming season. It's just I think some kid watching whether or not you're a football fan. I think you can find things to take away and to relate to in this particular series. So quick recap. Number one learning is ongoing Number two, take time to mentally reset. Number three small decisions can have big impacts. Number four, losses and setbacks are inevitable. Number five, no matter the progress critics will critique, you have to stay mentally tough. Number six, have a long term view but think short term. Number seven, run your race. Number eight, don't be afraid to learn from others. Number nine lead with passion and conviction. And lastly, number 10. Stay humble in own your missteps. So I hope that that was helpful for you, and that you get some takeaways from that. And this episode is a little bit longer because there was a lot to pack in there. But I thank you for listening. I thank you for joining, please make sure to subscribe and leave a review on Apple because those are always greatly appreciated. And I will see you next time. Bye. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Collab with Kiva. I'm wildly cheering you on as you go forth and execute data and operational efficiencies in your business. If you need additional support, connect with me via my website, the516collaborative.com your reviews on Apple are appreciated. See you next week.

Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.

Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.