I turned to sports for the second week in a row for the leadership message of the week.  This week I highlighted Andy Reid, the head coach of the Super Bowl Champion, Kansas City Chiefs.   I’m on a mission to find and highlight heart leaders that have been successful and coach Reid fits the bill.  Andy Reid has been a head coach in the NFL for twenty years and ranks sixth all time among head coaches with 222 wins.  Prior to this past Sunday he had the dubious title of the winningest coach to not win a Super Bowl.  His success has been attributed to his tireless work ethic (he’s been known to arrive at the office at 3am and not leave until 11pm) and his attention to detail (he once showed up to an interview with a six-inch binder on how he planned to coach the team).   But what has made him truly great is his willingness to serve the players and coaches he works with.

"Andy truly puts others before himself," says his former VP of player personnel in Philadelphia, Jason Licht, now the GM of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "He's been wanting to win this for everybody else before he wants to win it for himself, and he's an unbelievable leader because of that. He's one of those leaders that when things aren't going well he takes all the blame, and when things are going good he gives credit to all the great work everyone else did. And that's why everybody loves playing for him, and goes the extra mile for him."

After the win, there was an outpouring of support from former players and coaches genuinely happy for Coach Reid and current players spoke about their desire to win for their coach.  Even the team that previously fired him, congratulated him on the victory.  The impact he has had on others is incredible.  Ten of his assistants have gone on to become head coaches in the NFL and two have won the Super Bowl.  One of his assistant coaches, Dave Merrit, said; “The entire league wants Andy to win because of how he treats and leads his men.”

In a moment, where no one would have been upset if he were to bask in his own glory or take a shot at all the people who said his career wouldn’t be complete without a Super Bowl victory, Andy deflected praise during post game interviews, thanking and giving credit to everyone else.  Previously I talked about the difference between a finite game and an infinite game.  While Andy Reid won football’s ultimate finite game on Sunday, he has been crushing the infinite game of serving others long before that.

*Each week I share a leadership message with our team and we are honored to share it with you via MIBE Tribe.  MIBE (the acronym for Make It Better Everyday) Tribe delivers education on heart leadership and intentional culture building for the hospitality industry.