3 Lessons business leaders can learn from NFL team leadership failures

The second annual NFL Players Association Report Cards were released yesterday, February 28, 2024.

Our beloved hometown Kansas City Chiefs ranked 31st out of the 32 teams, which is down three from last year. (Link to the Chiefs Report Card)

The team won the Super Bowl last year and earlier this month, yet their scores are at the bottom of the League.

What’s up with that?!

Here are three lessons for leaders who want to outperform the Chiefs when it comes to leading their teams:

1) The Chiefs players were promised a renovated locker room after last year’s poor report and Super Bowl victory, and all they got were chairs at their lockers. The owners did not follow through on what they told the team, according to the Report.

Lesson for leaders:
Follow through on your commitments. No excuses, especially when the excuses would be lame anyway.

2) The Chiefs gave the players chairs in 2023. It’s mind boggling to think the team’s owners thought benches and stools were reasonable for grown men in the NFL for 65 years, isn’t it?! They won the Super Bowl and went from stools to chairs with backs. Additional examples of insufficient resources revealed in the Report include players sharing hotel rooms when traveling for games, average weight room facility, and poor access to rehab and training staff.

Lesson for leaders:
Take care of your people. Don’t make them ask for reasonable things that would help them perform their jobs better. YOU should be looking out for THEM! Anticipate their needs and reward them for cool accomplishments instead of thinking, “I hope they don’t ask for equipment that’s better than Planet Fitness!”

3) The Chiefs team owner received an F- grade. The Report said it is for not investing in the facilities. The Hunt family does not invest in its team, and they do the bare minimum for the community, unlike some of the players. For example, after one person was killed and more than twenty people were shot at the celebration of the recent Super Bowl victory, the Hunt family and Chiefs organization they own joined with the NFL to donate a total of $200,000. Total. Between the three. $200,000. According to Forbes, the Hunt family is worth nearly $25 billion.

Lesson for leaders:
Dance with the one who brung ya. Show loyalty to the people who support you, cheer for you, and help you succeed. Do not just take from them; help them succeed too. If all you do is gouge people to get the highest ticket prices, parking fees, and tax cuts, one of these days, they’ll realize you’re not worth it. Competition is fierce, so don’t take the ones who love you for granted.

When you’re 95 years old, you’re not going to care who won the Super Bowl in 2024. You are going to care if you matter to people.

You are not going to care if you have a billion dollars at 95yo either. You are going to care if you matter. You will care about how you will be remembered.

Be leaders who matter. Be leaders people want to work with and would want their kids to be like. Create your leadership legacy by keeping your word, taking care of your people, and being loyal to those who are loyal to you. Those three are a good start.

Whether you lead a company or project team, being cheap with the budget and focused on the short-term won’t pay off in the long-run. Focus on what really matters. Businesses of all kinds, even in the NFL, need leaders like that these days.

3 lessons for leaders from the toxic culture of The Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon finally gets it: culture matters.

On September 7, 2023, Rolling Stone issued this report about The Tonight Show, headed by Fallon:

Chaos, Comedy, and ‘Crying Rooms’: Inside Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’

The report referred to experiences like...
💥 Show staff joked about killing themselves because of how they are treated
💥 They cry in the guest dressing rooms so often, they refer to the rooms as "crying rooms"
💥 High turnover of showrunners (the production executive) because of Fallon's erratic behavior

On the show, in other media, and on SNL, Fallon is an affable guy. He has a positive public reputation and was surprised by the results of the report.

The day the report was published, Fallon and Chris Miller, current showrunner, had a call with all employees. Fallon apologized to staff for the show's unhealthy environment.

Fallon and Miller indicate they want an inclusive, fun environment. It sounds like they get it and will seek to improve.

Here's what stood out to me in the Rolling Stone article:

Rolling Stone contacted more than 80 The Tonight Show employees, past and present, for the study of The Tonight Show. Not one spoke on the record or said anything positive about working on The Tonight Show.

Not a single one.
Out of 80.

None of the nine showrunners since 2014 would comment on the record either. Not one of them said anything positive about Fallon.

So what does this have to do with business leaders?

Business leaders and owners, here are a few things to learn from this:

◼️ Fix problems early. Fallon’s and the show's have been going on for 14 years. It would have been more efficient to fix these issues before it took a humiliating report full of dirty laundry.

◼️ Set high standards for all and live them. It is confusing when the boss gets away with treating people differently than you would allow others. Or, when the best biz dev person gets to treat people poorly because they bring in revenue. The mental gymnastics required of staff to accommodate for the incongruent standards leads to distrust, bur out, and turnover.

◼️ Assess your culture now. Here is a quick way to learn what your employees think: a word cloud. Invite your employees to share the seven words they would use to describe your company. The words will give a glimpse into what is happening and whether it aligns with what you think and want.

Stay on top of your company's culture before high turnover, poor behavior, or rumors prompt an external investigation. How would it serve your company to be in Rolling Stone like Fallon's show?

Don't assume everything is fine unless you hear about it.

Culture matters, and it will damage your company and reputation if you take it for granted. The good news, however, is that it also contributes to company success.

If you need help, let us know. We can help you nourish your culture so it builds your revenue, retention, and reputation.

Who shapes culture: top-down or bottom up?

Who shapes culture: top-down or bottom up? That was the topic of discussion for February’s Culture Matters conversation held February 17, 2023.

Of course, we all agreed the answer is, "Both!" But, it goes deeper than that.

The "top" is responsible for…

• Setting policy

• Discerning and sharing the vision

• Behaving as role models for the culture it wants to create

• Holding itself and others accountable

The "bottom" needs to live the culture and hold each other accountable.

It's not really about the level so much as about the people.

It's more about the power structure than the job structure. Leaders at the top are often too out of touch or weak to model or enforce the culture. Yet, influencers in the middle and lower levels can be the real company leaders who make or break any big changes.

A few folks shared examples of when a coworker went out on leave, and the whole culture changed for the better in their absence. Several issues were exposed when that happened:

⬛ Inconsistent expectations. Why did that person get away with being so contradictory to the culture? One example was a business development person. He had contacts in a key area in which the company was trying to grow, so apparently, that meant he could belittle his coworkers. Letting people get away with behavior contrary to the culture because they might bring in revenue damaged trust in management.

⬛ Weak management. Trust was diminished by everyone who saw how the one coworker was able to treat people. Additionally, people had spoken to their immediate supervisor about the coworker, but all they were given was lame advice to “buck up.” The disruptive coworker was never given feedback or held accountable to behave in alignment with the culture.

⬛ Ineffective HR. People had complained to HR too. By the time people turn to HR, an issue has been going on a long time and solutions have been attempted. When HR does not talk with the manager or employee involved, they further support the disparate culture. Once that happens, culture confusion cuts across the organization.

On the other hand, there were examples of great role models shared too.

One example was a telecom company CEO who visited the call center to learn directly from the people about their issues. He did not go to listen to customer calls. He went to hear from the employees about their needs. The call center leaders encouraged the conversations, took notes, and helped expedite the solutions.

What a far cry to the days of when the CEO’s visit would include days of preparation of phoniness, like measuring to be sure the blinds were exactly one foot above the ledge.

Cultures will adapt and evolve based on how they are treated. Companies who treat their cultures like the strategic assets they are will be able to adapt, evolve, and innovate better and faster. Their people will be happier too. That’s why VCG does the work we do! If you need help in this area, check out our Culture Services and give us a call.

Demanding proof that the dog died signals serious leadership failures

If you’ve managed a restaurant, or retail outlet, customer service center, or nearly any company lately, you might be able to relate to an Olive Garden manager’s frustration with people calling off work.

Fed up with staffing challenges, a manager of an Olive Garden restaurant sent the email below to restaurant employees. The manager writes…

“If you’re sick, you need to come prove it to us. If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it to us. If it’s a “family emergency” and you can’t say, too bad. Go work somewhere else.”

“Do you know in my 11.5 years at Darden how many days I called off? ZERO. I came in sick. I got in a wreck literally on my to work one time, airbags went off and my car was totaled, but you know what, I made it to work, ON TIME!”

“If you don’t want to work here don’t.”

The email was posted to Reddit yesterday, December 7, 2022 and has nearly 9,000 replies.

Olive Garden saw the obvious leadership failure of the email and a spokesperson said, “We strive to provide a caring and respectful work environment for our team members. This message is not aligned with our company’s values. We can confirm we have parted ways with this manager.”

There is more to it than this one email, however. The email reveals leadership failures beyond the one manager or location.

Here are six additional issues the $4.1 billion company should dig into:

1)   What is causing so many employee call-offs? Olive Garden would benefit from deeper exploration of what employees need in today’s world. Life is different today than it was in 2010 when the fired manager joined the company. Has Olive Garden adapted enough? For example, some local restaurants offer shortened shifts that were not requested five years ago. They adapted. Olive Garden needs to as well.

2)   Do other managers take time off? Why would a manager feel it was brag-worthy to get in a serious car crash on the way to work and still show up on time? There is a mentality that even a car wreck does not earn a break. It is obvious that anyone would be impacted by a car wreck, right? Perhaps physically, but definitely mentally. Managers need breaks too or they will burnout, as evidenced by the email.

3)   How well does messaging from senior leadership align with the company’s core values? What kind of senior leadership messaging tells a store manager they cannot even take an hour to get themselves together after a car wreck?

4)   Why was the fired manager’s extreme attitude supported for 11.5 years? Darden liked this manager’s pushy ways because it helped make money during the good days when people were eager to work there. Now that the email got out publicly, the style is not accepted. I highly doubt that email was the first time someone in upper management ever heard about the manager’s style. Who let that go for 11.5 years? Olive Garden’s parent company, Darden, should be worried about how the people who tolerated that attitude treat other managers and employees.

5)   What kind of leadership training had the manager received over 11.5 years? What kind of mentoring had the person had this year? Everyone knows about the challenges restaurants face. Olive Garden needs to change the way it leads—as far as role modeling, mentoring, expectations, performance management, and more. A manager got so frustrated, they sent that email to everyone. The email sounds like the author is speaking for the location’s team. Perhaps other managers agreed with and supported the message, if not the actual email, before it was sent? Is Olive Garden doing something now for the other burned-out managers at that location? At all of their locations? The managers need help!

6)   The company cut loose a manager they let burnout. Olive Garden failed the employees, other managers, and the email author by allowing the manager to continue leading the restaurant. No doubt there were signs of burnout—why were the signs not acted upon? When the manager reached an unreasonable boiling point, Olive Garden cut them loose. The email was horrendous, but it was just an email to one location’s employees after all. No one died or went to prison because of the manager’s action. Was there no room for empathy and compassion for the burned out manager?

Number One on Olive Garden’s Five Principles is: Hold Each Other to High Standards and Treat Each Other with Respect. Their spokesperson said the manager’s message did not align with their core values. The company’s treatment of the manager did not align either—for years, not just this week.

I love Olive Garden as a customer. From my experience, they have that Principle (“The Guest Wins”) nailed down. Hopefully, the company works on the inward-facing Principles, learns from what happened this week, and does something about it for the sake of all employees.

Look at the list of leadership issues above. Those are not unique to Olive Garden. Are they? Every leader can learn from the tough lesson Olive Garden is learning this week. I hope you do and that you do better for all of your people—managers included.

If you need help, give us a call. The Voyage team can help you prevent the leadership failures Olive Garden is experiencing. We can help repair them too.

The hot buzzword that’s a strong indicator of leadership failure

Part 1: Why it’s a bigger problem than it might seem and what companies can do about it

When nearly half of 20,000 survey responses say the same thing, it gets my attention. When 85% have the same experience, it blows my mind.

A LinkedIn News poll with over 20,000 respondents last month revealed 48% said they had seen quiet firing in their workplaces. Plus, another 35% had experienced it personally. That’s a whopping 83% of people who have had experience with quiet firing!

Quiet firing is when a manager makes the job so miserable, the employee eventually quits.

Obviously, that is extremely passive-aggressive behavior. Why would so many workplaces let managers get away with it? What does that say about leadership? What should a company do about it?

Managers get away with it because managing people can be exhausting. Here are four reason giving feedback is so exhausting, managers give up and resort to quiet firing instead.

1. Some people get angry and defensive upon hearing any feedback, so managers give up. A highly skilled manager might give feedback once or twice, but if the employee gets angry and defensive, it’s exhausting and not worth it. The manager will shut down, not give feedback any more, and give up on these people. When the manager gives up, the employee’s work quality diminishes further, which eliminates raises, recognition, promotion, or growth.  

2.  Other people may become paranoid of mistakes, lose all confidence, and need constant reinforcement after hearing their quality of work needs a boost. They become “extra,” which is exhausting too. Managers do not have time for hand-holding and doling out trophies for every little task, so they give up on these people too. It’s just easier.

3.  A third reaction to feedback is over-correction. Some people will hear the slightest suggestion for improvement and take it to the extreme and change too much, thus negatively impacting the work. It’s tough for a manager to tell the employee they took it the wrong way, so managers give up on these teammates and let the chips fall where they may.

4. The fourth reaction to feedback is when the employee shuts down. The employee might change the bare minimum but feel so hurt by feedback, they disengage. They may even become quiet quitters. Managers notice and just let them be. They don’t want to hurt the person again, so they just stop engaging too.

Managers may give up on these folks, but they don’t want to let the employee linger too long. They still have budgets and goals to hit this year, so something needs to happen.

To speed up the exit, managers might increase their passive-aggressive behavior.

When a first-level supervisor, Virginia (names have been changed in all stories shared), was not included in the celebratory luncheon for a big project her team completed, she knew she was being quietly fired. The division director had left her and a colleague off the list for the celebration and, when others notified him the day of the luncheon, he offered the two the leftovers in the breakroom.

The director deliberately demoralized two people. What kind of leader grown adult does that? Imagine what he thinks when he looks himself in the mirror at the end of the day.

Be a better leader than him.

When you reach the director level and up, have the courage and skills to have tough conversations. Even when you do not want to. That is part of leadership. You suck it up and do it anyway.

If you do not want to accept the responsibility, then step aside and let someone else step in.

Not only is quiet firing mean, but it is also a significant company problem in five other ways…

1. Others will treat the ostracized employee the way the manager does, and the person will be bullied, ignored, and excluded by friends who see what’s happening but need to keep their jobs.

2. Bullying, shunning, and ignoring takes a toll on the person and the perpetrators. There are mental health and physical health implications when it goes on for months.

3. People will treat each other poorly too. If it’s okay to treat one person that way, it’s okay to treat everyone that way. Trust implodes.

4. Managers will think passive-aggressive is a fine way to handle other issues too. For example, if you happen to see the invoices over-billing a client, drop a hint to your boss, then move on. It’s not your business.

5. Most leaders who act this way are not living in alignment with their core values. The stress and self-loathing that comes with living out of alignment will take their toll on the leaders eventually.

The time, energy, and emotion that goes into quiet firing reveals colossal leadership failures and will lead to company failures too.

Isaac’s story illustrates such failures. He recognized he was being quietly fired when he saw his job posted with a different title on the internal career board. It caused him to take the blinders off to other things he had overlooked in the $11B asset management company where he worked. Isaac updated his resume, landed a new job outside the company, and negotiated a severance package. A year later, the company shut its doors following allegations of mis-charging customers.

When leaders are too weak, burned out, or disconnected to have tough conversations about performance, you can bet your bottom dollar they are too weak, burned out, or disconnected to have them about anything else that matters to the business either. They will certainly not speak up about mis-charging customers if that’s the practice chosen to meet the financial goals of the company.

There is no future in a company with weak, burned out, and disconnected leaders at the helm. Leaders without integrity will bring down the company, and quiet firing may be a glimpse into the unraveling.

Take care of yourself and your leaders to ensure living and leading in alignment with core values is the norm, even when it’s tough.

Next week: Part 2: How to be a leader with courage, integrity, and honor without being a pushover