Kathie's Coaching Podcast

150.Corporate Grit | Lessons from the NFL Gridiron 🏈

February 13, 2024 Kathie Owen
Kathie's Coaching Podcast
150.Corporate Grit | Lessons from the NFL Gridiron 🏈
Show Notes Transcript

In today’s episode, we discuss:

Links mentioned:
Kathie's Links: https://www.kathieowen.com/links
Blog post with bonus content: https://www.kathieowen.com/superbowl-corporatewellness

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:50 The "losers" of the Super Bowl - there are 31 of them!
05:54 The concept of failing forward
08:05 A positive attitude toward failure
09:22 The role of leadership and how it benefits the culture

In this week's episode, we're diving deep into the world of corporate resilience, drawing inspiration from the grit and determination seen on the NFL gridiron. Join me as we explore how embracing challenges, learning from failures, and fostering a culture of growth can elevate both your team's performance and your organization's success.

From the highs of victory to the lows of defeat, the NFL offers invaluable lessons in resilience that are directly applicable to the corporate world. We'll discuss the concept of "embrace the suck," share real-life examples of teams bouncing back stronger after setbacks, and delve into the role of leadership in creating a positive, growth-oriented environment.

Whether you're a die-hard sports fan, a seasoned corporate leader, or someone simply seeking inspiration for overcoming obstacles in your life, this episode is packed with actionable insights and motivational tips.

So grab your playbook, hit that play button, and let's score some touchdowns of success together! Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more empowering content. 🌟

Keep embracing the suck and chasing those victories, champions! 💼🏆

#CorporateResilience #NFL #EmbraceTheSuck #Leadership #TeamBuilding #SuccessStrategies

Kathie:

Today, we're going to talk about corporate wellness, team building, and having a focus on the concept of embrace the suck. And I want to relate it to the Super Bowl, as the Super Bowl just passed over this past weekend. But this can relate to so many different things, and I'm super excited to talk about it. So, in the NFL, there are 32 teams, and only one of those teams will reach The winning of the Super Bowl, which is the pinnacle of achievement in the National Football League. However, we're talking about hundreds of professional athletes and how they deal with the disappointment of losing, because there's more losers than there are winners. And I want to highlight that reality, and I want to take it over to your team, perhaps something in your life, and realize that winning sometimes Isn't everything. Have you ever heard of the concept embrace the suck? I have a speech on that, that I talk about to teams often, and it's a military phrase adopted by sports teams and sports psychology. And I also use it in the corporate environment and we use it to acknowledge and find value in the challenges and hardships that we have in life. Embrace the Suck. It's relevant in high pressure situations like the NFL where the stakes are high and the challenges are intense. And I want to relate this concept to corporate wellness and team building and emphasize resilience and growth through adversity. You're listening to Kathie's Coaching Podcast. I'm your host, Kathie Owen. So I want to reflect on the journey of the Super Bowl losing team this year was the San Francisco 49ers. I want to acknowledge the disappointment, yet highlight the resilience needed to even reach that level. I mean, they have to go through so many different struggles, so many wins, so many losses. And in fact, my favorite team, the Houston Texans, did really well this season and they look promising in the future. And I am from Texas, so there's so many Cowboy fans here too, as well, and their team was really disappointing. But that doesn't define them. That doesn't define the person. And these athletes have to know how to analyze their performance, learn from their experiences, and then plan for the next season. And understand that there's going to be 31 losers, so called. And only one winner. And I want to draw parallels to corporate environments where projects may not always yield the desired outcomes and yet We as teams can learn and grow. The Super Bowl, you know, think about it. It's so competitive in nature of the league where success is elusive and the majority of teams end their seasons without even. The ultimate victory, supposedly, but it's important to set realistic goals and understand that it's all about continuous improvement. So an unrealistic goal would be going, yes, I'm going to the Super Bowl this year. Well, only one team is that's just it. And then there's going to be 31 losers. And it's more about seeking your realistic goals and then having continuous improvement and valuing incremental successes in both sports and corporate settings. And embrace failure as a stepping stone. As I mentioned, I'm a Texans fan and they had a really good season and They faced significant setbacks and actually one of the games that was a turning point for me as a fan was when we played the Tennessee Titans and the Tennessee Titans used to be the Houston Oilers when I was growing up, when I was a kid. That's who I rooted for. On this day, we played in Tennessee and they wore their so called throwback uniforms. They wore the Oilers uniforms. Now, when I talk to people who are younger, they didn't seem to really care. They're like, so what? But I have a loyalty thing going on and I'm like, oh my goodness. I, I, at first I couldn't realize who I was rooting for, who was doing good, who was not doing good because it's just in my, in my psychology and that's how I was watching the game. So. Towards the end of that game, we, we won, we actually won that game and we beat them and I think we were the underdogs. I'm not a hundred percent sure. Cause I don't follow football as much as I do baseball, but that game meant a lot to me. So that is a small thing on the path towards success that wasn't even setting us into the playoffs that game. It was like a couple of games later that we actually realized we were going to the playoffs for the first time in about eight years, I think it was, but it was just so exciting. But we went into the playoffs and we lost, I think in the first round again, I'm not as football affluent as I am baseball, but You could say that we were failing forward. We were failing forward. What does that mean? Well, we use the lessons learned from failure to make positive changes and to make positive aspects of it. Because again, let's remember there's only 31 losers as opposed to one winner. What happened was that built the team to another level. Next year, they'll come back with those lessons that they learned and they'll make positive changes. Even in the offseason, think about the team that lost yesterday. The San Francisco 49ers lost. That football game was really exciting and it was really a good game. It was super close the whole time. But the 49ers lost. And I always feel for the losing team and I've been that way for a long, long time, so my son played little league baseball and he was really, really good. His team almost made it to the little league world series and they played him. It played great, and everything was fun, but when some of those kids in Little League would make a mistake, the other team would cheer. And I'm thinking to myself, that boy has a mama who's also feeling the pain of that mistake as well. I just couldn't cheer for that. That's just not the way that I operate, and the way that I roll. But, you also have to look at it as A mistake is just an opportunity in disguise, and I talk about that a lot on my channel. And I want to relate this back to, to corporate wellness and corporate teams and the importance of resilience and adaptability and a positive attitude towards challenges, a positive attitude towards a loss. It just amazes me how sometimes The losing team stays out there and watches the winning team celebrate. I don't know how they do that. I, I think that's admirable. But at the same time, it's like adding salt to the wound, I guess. But maybe they do have that resilience. Maybe they do have that adaptability. And they take a positive attitude towards that failure. That really wasn't a failure. It was just an opportunity in disguise. So, when it comes to corporate teams and fostering an environment where challenges are embraced, it's important to encourage open communication and feedback and build trust from that and build trust from the team and understand that building on that so called failure as an opportunity. Recognize and celebrate small victories instead of just the Super Bowl, you celebrate small victories and learn from failures so that we can move forward because a failure is just an opportunity in disguise. And then also provide support and resources for skill development and well being. What do I mean by this? Well, providing feedback on this type of topic right here. How to embrace the suck. Because it's just, it's not if, it's when it's going to happen. And how are you going to embrace that so called suck and find your way to success. So, I also want to emphasize the role of leadership and coaching and creating a culture where embracing the suck is seen as a path to growth and improvement. So let's summarize the key points today. You know, the inevitability of challenges in high stake environments like the NFL and even the corporate world. The value of embracing adversity and the importance of resilience and teamwork. And I want to encourage you to adopt a mindset of growth and resilience. And I talk about that all the time on this channel and draw inspiration from the world of sports. I love sports psychology. I talk about it often and I want to enhance corporate wellness and team dynamics. So I invite you today to. Apply these principles on your own teams and your own organizations in your own families and embrace the suck for sustained development and success. For remember, there are 31 losers in the NFL and there's only one winner. Most likely. With those kind of odds, you're probably rooting for a losing team. But how do you embrace that? All right, that's my episode for today. I trust that you found it helpful. If you know someone who could benefit from this, please share it with them. And until next time, I will see you next time. Peace out and Namaste. Peow!