Blueprint for success

HERE we are once again heading to Carnival Monday and Tuesday with invaluable lessons on collaboration, creativity and pride, which we could carry through the year to tackle our problems – including crime. What would it take for us not to dance around our problems for the rest of the year?

As Carnival marches on evoking our history and influencing our presence, it’s up to us to recognise the importance of culture in celebrating our strengths and creating new directions.

Examples of leadership and collaboration pop up in the most unexpected, powerful and exciting ways outside of Carnival too, and we need to learn from them.

This Carnival my thoughts have been far north with the Detroit Lions, an American football team demonstrating invaluable lessons on leadership. It had been 32 years since the Lions won their divisional round. Under their new head coach, Dan Campbell, their win/losses/ties registered 3-13-1 in 2021; 9-8 in 2022 and 12-5 in 2023.

Arguably, their turnaround strategy is a blueprint for any place struggling to redefine itself. Here’s what the Lions did to tackle its problems.

When the principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp took over the leadership role of the Lions from her mother, she decided the team had to undergo fundamental changes to combat a history of losing.

Hamp, who attended Yale University, has teaching degrees and is part of the famous Detroit-based Ford and Firestone families, consulted successful businessmen about how they achieved success. Their advice was to create a culture of success. She listened to their advice.

Hamp began the process of achieving this goal by understanding her fan base, who are mostly struggling, lower-middle-class blue-collar factory workers of the midwestern, industrial city of Detroit in the US state of Michigan.

She examined the strengths of her fan base and found tenacity and loyalty topping the list.

She hired head coach Dan Campbell, a former NFL football player, and general manager Brad Holmes because Campbell had played with Detroit and knew who he represented. She wanted a coach who understood football from the ground up and a passionate, supportive GM. Both men bought into her vision of change, which included strong, supportive leadership and a commitment to team-building where everyone is equal.

Leadership decided the team would not dwell on its history. It would learn from past mistakes, promote positive reinforcement in its players and create a culture of support and collaboration. The team would be upbeat and inspirational rather than negative and fault-finding.

Together, the trio of leaders settled on a one-word theme to define the team’s culture and mindset: grit. The dictionary definition of grit is “courage of resolve and character.” They used the college draft and the wisdom of their scouts to acquire young players who embodied grit.

The team took chances. Criticised initially for the choices they made high up in the draft, coach Campbell said, “I want players with a strong work ethic. We draft good people, good football players – not positions. They’ll find their place in the hierarchy.” Campbell refused to put labels put on players.

The Lions’ choices often depended on intangibles. These are the observations about players that can’t be measured with statistics and include fearlessness, loyalty, resilience and grit.

YouTube videos never show Lions’ coaches criticising or demoralising players – even when they do something wrong. On the playing field, assistant coaches praise plays that get better over time. “That was better execution. Maybe I taught it better that time,” the coaches say.

Campbell has said his players “have their own unique style. They’re not cut out of a box. We’re going to get guys who fit in with what we’re about.”

He describes his team as “a gritty group of guys that love ball. Our foundation is all about grit.”

The Lions have turned around a franchise with simple, sound practices we can all learn from. They studied and tackled their issues and created a culture of success from top to bottom. The team and administration respect the past, but refuse to be defined by failure. They took action. This new culture is built on listening to good advice, taking chances, appreciating individuals, building collaboration and embodying one overall defining theme: grit.

When the music stops on Ash Wednesday, can we look around us for models of success and try something new to solve this nation’s problems? Can we listen more to our successful businessmen, appreciate every individual, put faith in our youth and try positive reinforcement instead of criticism?

What could be this country’s one-word defining theme?