Beyond the Scoreboard: 5 Business Lessons from Super Bowl LIX
As a Kansas City native and Chiefs fan, I heard it all before yesterday’s Super Bowl—'The refs are paid off! The Chiefs are just lucky! The NFL is making sure the three-peat is a done deal.' Well, turns out, it wasn’t a done deal. At all.
The Philadelphia Eagles dominated from start to finish and secured a decisive 40-22 victory.
It was a tough night for Kansas City, but the game revealed leadership lessons that extend far beyond the field. Here are five takeaways for business leaders.
1) Avoiding Complacency Amid Success: The Chiefs were the Super Bowl champions for 728 days.
Takeaway: Beware the danger of complacency. Past achievements do not guarantee future success. In business, it's crucial to continually innovate and not rest on laurels.
2) The Perils of Overlooking Warning Signs: Throughout the season, the Chiefs won several games by less than 10 points and a few on the last play.
Takeaway: The close calls may have indicated underlying vulnerabilities. Businesses must heed early indicators of potential issues, such as customer churn, and address them proactively.
3) The Importance of Continuous Preparation: The Eagles lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. Two years later, they dominated.
Takeaway: Relentless preparation makes resilience possible. In business, continuous learning and discipline are key to preparation and are vital to success.
4) The Role of Mental Fortitude: It’s hard to get to the Super Bowl—a grind, as they say. When talent and skills are equal, mental strength and agility determines the victor.
Takeaway: In business, just like in sports, mental strength wins. When leaders panic, everyone sees it—on the sidelines or in the boardroom.
5) Effective Crisis Management: Did you know a protester briefly disrupted the halftime show? It wasn’t shown during the broadcast, and the person was swiftly taken away without derailing the event. It was not the biggest issue of the game—but it could have been had the safety organizations been unprepared.
Takeaway: This underscores the importance of robust crisis management to address unexpected disruptions efficiently. Intentional anticipation enables useful preparation.
The same leadership lessons that played out on the field have echoed in boardrooms.
Peloton, a once-dominant brand, ignored them all—and paid the price.
Peloton thrived during COVID-19 as home fitness demand soared. But instead of recognizing that demand was temporary, they ramped up production and refused to offer on-demand classes. When gyms reopened and demand fell, sales plummeted, and they were stuck with excess inventory. Their stock crashed, and they had to lay off thousands of employees.
Whether you're celebrating like Eagles fans, shaking your head like Chiefs fans, or eyeing your dust-covered Peloton, there's a lesson in this. Great teams—and great leaders—learn, adjust, and come back stronger. That’s how you win in business and in life.