FROM THE PRESIDENT
Greg Adamson
Have you ever read an article that made you stop multitasking and just lock in on what’s in front of you? It typically means something noteworthy is happening.
On a recent August evening, I had the Kansas City Royals vs. Los Angeles Angels game on in the background as I was casually reading and skimming through the September-October edition of Harvard Business Review. I eagerly anticipate the arrival of the journal every other month, but I was a little listless on this issue’s topics.
Then came the article that captivated me: The Art of Leading Teammates by football legend Tom Brady and Nitin Nohria, a former Harvard Business School dean. After a couple paragraphs, I turned off the Royals game, sat up straight in my chair and focused on the article because the material was extremely applicable to my work life.
While I live in metro Boston, I am not a Patriots fan, nor am I a bandwagon Brady fan. Instead, I’m a loyal Kansas City Chiefs fan.
I can see past all that partisanship though, and Brady wasn’t spewing the usual former NFL player nonsense. He was instead delivering riveting advice on being great at your job and leading others (teammates) without being their supervisor.
The highlight for me was the description of a group of former Patriots who named themselves “The Edgers.” These were players who did not wait for the coaches to tell them to watch film, arrive early to the facility, lift weights or get in extra practice reps. What these players were looking for was an edge – any little thing that could ensure playing time and better performance.
That ultimately led their team to a Super Bowl win. For Brady it worked at New England with six Super Bowl victories and one more with Tampa Bay.
Brady was the original edger; others watched him and then followed his example. And the culture changed.
A few days later, I covered the article at a staff meeting. As always, I tried to quickly get past sports (I’ve learned that somehow not everyone likes sports like I do) and tied this to our medical sales training team at Olympus.
I asked them, “Right now, when you look at our team, what are examples of edgers?” The floodgates were opened.
Team members started bringing up examples of colleagues who have been excelling and shared how proud they are of them. I then took it up a notch and asked them to think about topics or areas where we could start gaining an edge. Even the little things will make a difference over time and lead us to accomplish our goals and score a win for our organizations.
As we head toward the holidays and training schedules sometimes lighten just a bit, I recommend trying the concept of edging. If you are a function leader at your company, publicly recognize the edgers to inspire others.
It just might lead you and your team to victory.
Greg Adamson is president of the LTEN Board of Directors and executive director, sales training, for Olympus Americas. You can reach out to Greg via email at greg.adamson@olympus.com or through www.linkedin.com/in/greg-adamson-9b85ba7/.