I live in Tampa Bay, and as a resident of Tampa for over twenty-five years my loyalty goes to the home team. I also like competition and seeing new teams rise to the top and compete at a high level. Because of this, I find it a little frustrating that the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl.

 

However, their continued success is both surprising and inspiring. Bill Belichick might not be the most charismatic leader but his results speak for themselves.

 

Here are three things you can learn from Bill Belichick and his New England Patriots.

 

1. Focus On One Game At A Time

 

So often I find myself thinking about the result and in my business, it is thoughts like:
  • “How did my speech go?”
  • “How will the presentation turn out?”
  • “What will my monthly sales be?”
It is incredible to hear how Belichick doesn’t focus on the past. Not on how many Super Bowls he has won or if his team won last week. Neither does he focus too heavily on the future. He doesn’t think about his team making the playoffs or who are the Patriots playing next month. He has an incredible ability to focus on the present. And to only on what he can control. You will often hear him at his press conferences saying phrases like, “Trust the process.” or “We are trying to make progress every day.”

 

How often do we find ourselves in frustrationville? Frustrationville: A fictional place that is the spot between where we are and where we want to be. We sometimes dwell so much on it that it leads us to make comparison after comparison. It can be the thief of our progress and happiness.

 

How would your performance at work improve if you focused on one day at a time?

 

2. It’s Not Where You Start That Matters

 

So often when we look at very successful people, our mind searches for a “reason” as to why they are successful and then that “reason” also becomes our excuse as to why it’s not possible for us.

 

One “reason” we often attribute Bill is that his father was a great football scout. He worked for many years at the Naval Academy and even wrote a book named Football Scouting Methods. His father’s experience by no means guaranteed him success in coaching. There have been many sons of NFL football coaches who have tried and have struck out.

 

Bill started in 1975 working as a twenty-three-year-old assistant for the Baltimore Colts. He didn’t become a head coach till he was thirty-eight. And when he did his record with the Cleveland Browns was 36-44, and he was eventually fired. Today, he is the head coach who has taken his team to nine Superbowls and has won six times.

 

 3. Strive For Constant Improvement And Have A Beginner’s Mind 

 

Sometimes experiencing success can inflate our ego and cloud our vision of the future. We conflate past success with our ability and then we don’t make the necessary improvements to ensure future success.

 

Bill Belichick doesn’t let this happen. He’s always improving, learning and evolving. For instance, in defense, his teams play in different formations adapting their style depending on their opponent.

 

Here is what one of his coaches says of him, “For a guy who is as experienced as he is, he’s always looking for new things, new ways to get better, to improve both the overall organization and every aspect of it. He’s always looking to get better.”
Brendan Daly, defensive line coach

 

Belichick is someone who has applied better thinking, constant improvement and has a growth mindset. Some of us may find the Patriots annoying but there is no doubt how effective they have become.
by Eric Papp

 

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