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Storytelling: The New HR Competency - "Tom Brady and the Blitz" (A Lesson in Employee Development)
My favorite story and the one my clients and employees seem to remember with the most enthusiasm has to do with Brady's ability to deal with the "blitz." This isn't a true story (as far as I know). It is a story of my own imagination but it just as well could be true . . . Brady is widely recognized by football experts and fans as one of the best, if not the best quarterback in the game today. He is especially known for staying cool under pressure when so-called "unplanned contingencies" are thrust upon him. He has a unique ability to react in a split second and make a good choice when most of us just see chaos. He responds exceptionally well and is unusually successful under the pressure of what has come to be called, both in sports and in other domains as "game conditions". In my view there is no better metaphor for an unplanned contingency than the football term known as "the blitz." For those who aren't football followers, the players who constitute the defense of the opposing team have the job of stopping the progress of the offensive team (led by Brady). Out of the eleven players on each side, normally just three or four on the defensive side are called "linemen." They are the first line of the defense and they "rush" the quarterback when he calls a "pass play" (throwing versus running the ball). If they are successful they will either tackle Brady before he can pass the ball or force him to pass prematurely or erratically (and miss his target) due to their pressure. Occasionally the defense will "rush" more than the usual number of defensive lineman in an attempt to rattle Brady, making it harder for him to execute the play that has been called. In football terminology that is a "blitz." It could be any one of the additional eight players who typically start the play behind the lineman (and who are further away from Brady). Sometimes just one player will "blitz". Sometimes it will be multiple players. Sometimes the "blitz" will come from the left, sometimes from the right and sometimes right up the middle. It you think of all the different "blitz" permutations then imagine what Brady encounters when he doesn't know which variation it will be, on what play it will occur, or if it will occur at all. This is what makes him so special. He routinely shows an ability to recognize if he's being "blitzed," how many players are involved, where they are coming from, and how to adjust to this "unplanned contingency" the very moment it occurs. So what does this have to do with coaching a leader or helping an employee with a development plan? A few years ago I was working with a very smart team leader (this part of my story is true). He was a technical expert which earned him his role in leading a cross functional product development team. The problem was that he didn't know much about leading without having direct authority and he was resistant to ideas that weren't his own (since he usually was "right"). His team was struggling as a result. There was a fair amount of unresolved conflict in the team and a lot of organizational "noise" started to leak out about his leadership. One team member in particular seemed to press a hot button at every team meeting, not because this team member was deliberately difficult but simply because he was direct with his questions which were then personalized as an attack by the team leader. You didn't know exactly when in the meeting this would occur and couldn't know what the issue might be but the event was entirely predictable. When it occurred you could see the physical reaction in the team leader. His face would start to turn red, his voice would rise and he would push back aggressively in a self-destructive pattern that closed down discussion and created a negative reputation for him. He literally became what I call "hijacked" by this event, time and time again. Then one day it came to me. The "blitz" faced by Brady was a perfect metaphor for the hijacking that he was experiencing at team meetings. The difference was how Brady reacted to it under the pressure of "game conditions." So I offered the team leader this insight and as smart as he was, he instantly saw the parallel but couldn't understand how he could change the hijack into a manageable response. That led us to a discussion about another football term, the "audible." Again for those of you who don't follow football, the quarterback huddles with the team and tells them what "play" has been chose for their next attempt to progress down the field. Sometimes it is a passing play where the quarterback throws the ball and sometimes it is a running play where the quarterback hands the ball to another player who will run with it. There are numerous variations and it isn't unusual for a team to have upwards of 100 different plays that they can use. An "audible" occurs when the quarterback, Brady, brings his team to the line of scrimmage to start the chosen play but then decides to change it. Often he does this because he sees something in the way the defense is lined up to suggest that they are about to "blitz" and he knows that a different play would work better. So he calls an "audible." It is a predetermined "code" such as "blue-24" which everyone else on his team instantly recognizes. So again, what does this have to do with coaching a leader or helping an employee with a development plan? As I explained to the team leader, Brady appears to be the best quarterback in the league in reacting to the "blitz" when he calls an "audible" (to change the chosen play at the last moment in response to what is happening). While some of this is due to Brady's unique talents, it is also the result of how he and the team have practiced and prepared for the "blitz" during the week leading up to the game. Brady doesn't know on which play the "blitz" will occur. He doesn't know which player on the defense will be "blitzing". He doesn't know whether it will be coming from the left or the right or up the middle. All he knows for sure is that during the game it is going to occur numerous times. And when it does he is ready for it because he has an "audible" or two memorized and which he has practiced with his team so they are prepared to respond as it occurs. So when Brady looks like the best quarterback in the game in responding under pressure to an unplanned contingency (the "blitz"), it is because he has practiced his response to it time and time again. He may not be able to predict when it will occur but he certainly can predict that it will happen. And when it does he is ready for it because he has anticipated it and knows what he is going to do in the moment, "under game conditions." The metaphor for the team leader was compelling. When he became hijacked in team meetings he was being "blitzed." If Brady could anticipate it and have a ready response why couldn't he do the same? That led to a discussion about the events that tended to trigger his hijacking. He realized that it was almost always the same team member who challenged him. That awareness enabled him to identify and practice an alternate response, effectively calling his own "audible" after recognizing the "blitz". With some coaching he decided to start by thanking the team member for the question and then repeating it back to ensure that he understood it. This also bought him some time to slow his breathing and appreciate the momentary change in how he was responding. His second level response involved posing the question back to the entire team to solicit their views and inputs. This story subsequently became a key component of a training program I created on employee development. Recently I ran into one of the employees from the inaugural offering of this program. We hadn't seen each other for more than five years. As we reminisced about the impact the training had for him he spontaneously brought up "Tom Brady and the blitz." A good story has staying power. About the author: |
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