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By: Kathy Kent Toney, CEO & Founder of Kent Business Solutions  Image by Royharryman on Pixabay If you’ve been reading my blogs or newsletters for a while, you probably know I’m a huge Kansas City Chief’s fan. One thing I love to do is to bring to light leadership lessons from this amazing team! One person I’d like to highlight this week is defensive back Jaylen Watson. His story is so inspirational, and his knack last year for game-changing plays was instrumental in the Chiefs run to the Super Bowl. Here’s an example of that. In the first game in the 2022 season with the Los Angeles Chargers, he intercepted the ball near the Chargers end zone and ran it back for a 99-yeard touchdown. That’s pretty amazing in itself, one of the longest “Pick 6s” in Chiefs history and the longest go-ahead fourth-quarter Pick 6 by a rookie in NFL history. Here are some leadership tips from his life that I believe we can embrace to become more effective leaders: 1. Never Give Up and Never Give in When the cards are stacked against you, rearrange the cards! Jaylen did that after he flunked out of USC. He realized the necessity to turn things around. So, when he landed at Washington State, he worked hard and got straight A’s while beginning to make a name for himself on the football field. Leadership Tip: stay determined to achieve your goals, no matter what obstacles or challenges stand in your way. 2. When Your Name is Called, Be Ready Jaylen wasn't even supposed to be playing in this game. Trent McDuffie, a fellow rookie, was injured in the season opener. Jaylen was the next man up. In his own words, he said, "I've just been working my butt off, and if the time came where someone went down, I was going to be ready and prepared, and that's what happened.” Leadership Tip: stay proactive in your day-to-day professional life. Sharpen your saw through learning opportunities. Make the most of mentoring relationships. Stay on top of your obligations, and don't forget to pass your wisdom on to others. 3. Anticipate Great Things to Happen In a post-game interview, Jaylen said he woke up knowing he would get a Pick-6. Since he was a rookie and a seventh-round NFL draft pick (the bottom-of-the-barrel talent, in NFL speak), he knew the tests would come early from the Chargers quarterback. And when it happened, he was ready. Leadership Tip: envision your success, knowing you'll succeed in whatever comes your way. Be confident that great opportunities are on the horizon. # # # As business leaders, we would all do well to embrace these qualities: through never giving up, preparing ourselves to serve well, and envisioning our success, we will become better equipped to lead with excellence. Speaking of leading with excellence, Michael Cantu and I discuss how to do this in our best-selling book, No-Nonsense Digital Transformation. We cover quite a few topics on leading well: transforming culture and mindset, effective project planning, and building productive teams, to name a few. This book would still be an excellent read, even if you're not interested in digital transformation! If you want to learn more, click the button below!
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