What Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll has taught me about positive leadership
In an early November 2019 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers missed an extra point and two field goals. During the game, Twitter blew up calling for the Seahawks to release Myers even though the Hawks went on to win in Overtime with a score of 40–34. Hawks fans grew concerned that this team, destined for the playoffs would need a reliable kicker in games down the stretch. Post game, Head Coach Pete Carroll told the press, “our kicker, Jason Myers, he’s our kicker, it didn’t go right for him today but it’s going to.” Carroll continued, “he’s a magnificent talent and our team won today for him, all the guys in the locker room said that.”
The next week, in a game against the undefeated San Francisco 49ers, Myers was 3/3 on extra points and he nailed two field goals including a game winner in overtime.
Less than seven days before this performance, Seahawks fans and media were calling for the team and Coach Carroll to bench or cut the guy who would arguably become one of the most important players against San Francisco. So, what happened?
Coach Carroll is notorious for building and leading a culture in his locker room that centers around positivity. Coach Carroll had an option after the Tampa Bay game. He easily could have come out and said the team would try out new kickers this week or that they were concerned about Myers and his ability to help win games. As fans, we all wanted to hear this because we couldn’t separate our emotions from reality, but Carroll knew the solution; positive leadership.
This dose of positive leadership allowed Myers to come to work on Monday with his head held high to know that he was the kicker the Seahawks trusted. It caused his team mates to enforce this messaging and it instilled confidence in his ability. What would have happened if Carroll would have trashed him in the media? What level of confidence would Myers have going into the biggest game of the week? What would have happened if his team mates would have read those comments? They probably would have avoided him and gave up on him too thinking that he maybe wouldn’t be long for the locker room. By instilling a level of confidence in Myers, his team mates read those comments and supported him through one of the most important weeks of the season. His results against San Francisco proved that positive leadership works.
In the workplace we face this every day. Leaders are constantly given the opportunity to drive positive or negative leadership and build a culture that embraces failure and owns mistakes. As a leader, when you hear that an employee failed to deliver on a project, how do you handle the news? Do you slump in your seat and roll your eyes and showcase your body language that you no longer trust this employee? Do you publicly comment on the fact that you’re concerned with their ability to run lead on a project or achieve a specific sales target in the future? Or do you consult the employee one on one and reinforce your support for the work they’re doing, showing trust to them and their peers, that they are the right fit for the role?
Cultures within a team that operate with a level of forgiveness and positivity, run smoother and stronger than those that don’t. In the workplace, we have options as teams to support each other and trust that we have the right people in the right places at all times. Good leaders know how to separate positive leadership publicly with individual coaching conversations one on one. It’s one thing to publicly say or showcase that you support an individual but that often must be backed up by the ability to connect and discuss the opportunities for growth. The way in which this works is by continued reinforcement of the messaging and your support, with public messaging that says you trust your employee.
So what happens in the workplace when we don’t support our team members? Cultures that are driven by backroom conversations, whispers, and body language that says we hired the wrong person for the role are toxic. They create a spiral effect that will reduce efficiency and force employees to spend more time wondering if their peer is right for the role. These cultures tend to fail at reaching goals and hitting deadlines, as their culture of negativity and excuse making leads to that of employees who care less about the company mission.
You can spot a culture that feeds off negativity when a project deadline is missed or sales targets are not achieved. Everything works well when teams are winning, adversity hits the culture when they fail to achieve goals. Locker rooms and work places tend to have zero adversity when they’re winning, but what happens when they reach a losing streak? You can look at every team in the history of sports or business and point to the time when they started facing adversity; it usually coincides with the failure to achieve their goals.
Teams that run off a culture of positivity rebound quicker and there is typically less fall out with the employees as a result. Leaders that build a culture that embraces positivity can turn it around quicker due to the foundation they set. Negative leadership led cultures see a replacement of key stakeholders at multiple levels before they get right.
Positive leadership also allows teams to achieve goals at a higher rate. When employees believe they have the support of their leadership they feel they have the ability to run faster and play looser. They are unafraid of mistakes in their work as they know they will be propped up by leadership through the process. A Quarterback who plays with a coach that supports them isn’t afraid to throw an interception; an employee who works in a positive leadership environment isn’t afraid of missing goals one month. These individuals know they will learn from their mistakes and most likely come out hitting goals at 2x the next time around. Positive cultures stretch the talents of the best contributors as they believe in themselves as a result of the environment created.
When you work in an environment that trusts you and builds positive leadership around the team, you will work harder, faster, smarter and be unafraid of failure. There is a reason that NFL players voted Pete Carroll the coach they would most want to play for after the 2019 season. Coach Carroll has built an environment that brings out the best in everyone.
What kind of a culture have you built in the workplace?
