By: Kathy Kent Toney, President of Kent Business Solutions
With the start of the Kansas City Chiefs’ season around the corner, anticipation is building in my hometown, Kansas City. To help fuel the excitement, I’d like to share a back story of a key individual that the Chiefs would have never won the 2020 Super Bowl without him.
And it’s not superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes!
That man is Brett Veach, the General Manager for the Chiefs. He is an excellent case study of effective leadership.
So, here are four leadership principles we can all live by that Andy Reid, Chiefs Head Coach, used to describe Veach:
1. Let’s Explore
Brett has a fantastic track record for putting in the work to find good players. He knows what he wants, searches to find the players that meet his criteria, and he goes after them.
Lessons learned: Dig deep to understand everything you need to know about your situation or problem. By doing in-depth research before you make important decisions, you’ll lay a good foundation for your next steps.
2. Let’s Not Be Afraid to Go There
Veach is “fearless,” according to Andy Reid. He’s not afraid to make wrong decisions. For example, Brett was instrumental in discovering and insisting that Chiefs select Patrick Mahomes in the draft. So, if it weren’t for Brett, Patrick most likely wouldn’t be a Chief! Many other teams thought he was too much of a gamble to pursue.
Lessons Learned: Once you’ve done your homework and your pathway forward is more straightforward, be bold in your decision-making. Go after your goals with a single-mindedness to achieve success.
3. Let’s Not Say It Can’t Be Done
“Impossible” is not a word in Veach’s vocabulary.
Many industry experts said it would never be possible to keep the Super Bowl-winning team together. But Veach set his mind on the goal and has worked relentlessly towards keeping the 2019 team together.
Lessons Learned: Refuse to believe something can’t happen. Just make up your mind to get ‘er done and tenaciously work towards that.
And this leads to the last point:
4. Let’s Find a Way To Get It Done
Veach proved all the naysayers wrong by bringing back all but two of the team’s starters before the start of the season.
He accomplished this through a foundation of trust built with his players, which paid off during contract negotiations with star players Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones.
Lessons Learned: Work towards building trusted relationships with your team. When they see your willingness to go the extra mile for them, they’ll be more willing to do the same for you. This base of trust will help you more quickly iron out conflicting objectives with them so that the whole organization will be more empowered to reach its goals.
Likewise, business leaders can build strong business teams. Still, many of their organizations may not have the capacity to even think about implementing new ideas or initiatives to address their challenges.
If that’s you, I’d love to hop on a quick 15-minute call to find out your challenges to see if I could help, either through connections or otherwise.