I was doing a video interview for our leadership retreat and Heather Zempel, our Discipleship Pastor, asked me if there were any leadership lessons to be learned from Brett Favre. Seriously? How much time do we have? I could have gone all day long. Just thought I'd share seven of them.
1) Slap your teammates on the butt.
No one does it better than Favre. Great leaders are great encouragers! They go around slapping people on the butt, figuratively speaking of course! Love the way he head butts his lineman too. Again, I would practice this one figuratively!
2) Call an audible.
On this one I'd say that the only quarterback who is better at it than Favre is Peyton Manning. Great leaders recognize when there are eight men in the box and they need to audible to a quick slant or screen pass. Leadership is not static. It takes all factors into consideration. It is the ability to process a ton of information in a short amount of time and make a good quick decision!
3) Throw a block downfield
One of the things I love about Favre is that he's not afraid to throw a block for his teammates. Quarterbacks don't do that. Favre does. Great leaders are great servants. They set the example they want others to follow.
4) Laugh in the locker room.
No one has more fun than Favre. Plays the game like a kid. Anybody see his rendition of Pants on the Ground after the game? Gotta love it. I think laughter is so critical to leadership longevity, especially in ministry! There's lots of crying so you need to counterbalance it with lots of laughing!
5) Huddle Up
Favre exudes confidence when he's in the game. You're never out of it with the old gunslinger in your huddle. I think great leaders build the confidence of those around them. Love the way Drew Brees does this in New Orleans too! Amazing pre-game chants!
6) Keep Watching Game Film
Favre has played the game for eighteen seasons, but he puts in the time watching game films. After every series you can see him coaching his young receivers and looking at pictures from the coaches booth. Leaders keep learning and keep teaching!
7) Don't be afraid of throwing interceptions.
Favre had his career-best when it came to interceptions this season, but he holds the all-time interception record. Lesson? If you want to hold the record for most touchdown passes you're probably going to throw some interceptions along the way! Great leaders aren't afraid of making mistakes. They're afraid of missing opportunities! Win or lose, they leave it all on the field.
1) Slap your teammates on the butt.
No one does it better than Favre. Great leaders are great encouragers! They go around slapping people on the butt, figuratively speaking of course! Love the way he head butts his lineman too. Again, I would practice this one figuratively!
2) Call an audible.
On this one I'd say that the only quarterback who is better at it than Favre is Peyton Manning. Great leaders recognize when there are eight men in the box and they need to audible to a quick slant or screen pass. Leadership is not static. It takes all factors into consideration. It is the ability to process a ton of information in a short amount of time and make a good quick decision!
3) Throw a block downfield
One of the things I love about Favre is that he's not afraid to throw a block for his teammates. Quarterbacks don't do that. Favre does. Great leaders are great servants. They set the example they want others to follow.
4) Laugh in the locker room.
No one has more fun than Favre. Plays the game like a kid. Anybody see his rendition of Pants on the Ground after the game? Gotta love it. I think laughter is so critical to leadership longevity, especially in ministry! There's lots of crying so you need to counterbalance it with lots of laughing!
5) Huddle Up
Favre exudes confidence when he's in the game. You're never out of it with the old gunslinger in your huddle. I think great leaders build the confidence of those around them. Love the way Drew Brees does this in New Orleans too! Amazing pre-game chants!
6) Keep Watching Game Film
Favre has played the game for eighteen seasons, but he puts in the time watching game films. After every series you can see him coaching his young receivers and looking at pictures from the coaches booth. Leaders keep learning and keep teaching!
7) Don't be afraid of throwing interceptions.
Favre had his career-best when it came to interceptions this season, but he holds the all-time interception record. Lesson? If you want to hold the record for most touchdown passes you're probably going to throw some interceptions along the way! Great leaders aren't afraid of making mistakes. They're afraid of missing opportunities! Win or lose, they leave it all on the field.
13 Comments:
Great insights! As I life-long Packer fan, I have had to call an audible and am rooting for Favre and the Vikings this year.
Didn't Favre almost end someone's career with a downfield block this year…?
:-)
That's just plain awesome. I'll be ripping that off for the pre-service leader meeting at Wave Church Richmond!
Great, great post!
I didn't realize that Favre was all time leader in TD's AND interceptions.
Great stuff to think about!
Jeremy,
I believe that when he threw an illegal block, it was not downfield; that block was in the backfield, and it did not endanger any one's career. It was a strange block that puzzled many, including the guy blocked.
At least one other time, Favre ran 30 yards downfield to block (legally) a linebacker who was closing in on his recevier.
Love it man, awesome post.
But don't run up the score for no reason (as much as you may dislike the cowboys)
regarding the downfield block, let me add this little footnote so Jeremy can sleep soundly tonight (no cornerbacks were injured in the writing of this blog post and I don't advocate illegal chop blocks). Oh wait, you don't sleep at night anyways do you Jeremy :)
Ha Ha Ha Favre? Okay, Let's say... Go Vikings and Go Jets. Then that will become Kingdom of Favre Packer! Hard to admit coming from being die hard Chicago Bears Fan!
Cowboys shouldn't cry about the score. Believers are not only conquerors.... but MORE than conquerors!!!! Romans 8:37
Love it! Well thought out! Countdown to Sunday night begins!
Go Saints!
How about this one. When everyone says to quit and give it up... Come back anyway!!!
Awesome! I think constantly in athletic metaphors.
Interesting, apparently Paul seemed to think they would help his readers too!
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