My Draft Picks: Building winning teams!

When it comes to the NFL, there are fans and there are fanatics. My friend Todd is in the fanatic category. Last week when the NFL conducted its annual draft, it was must-see TV for Todd—hours and hours of coverage spanning all seven rounds and 262 picks over the course of three days.

While my cup of tea is college football (go Gators) and I like to spend my down time differently (outdoors), there is something interesting about the draft, especially after listening to Todd go on (and on) about it.

How we find, evaluate, hire and ultimately put together a cohesive team IS something that is very important to me and it's a focus area at work.  Building high-performance leadership teams has been part and parcel of what I’ve done throughout my career.  I’ve also just initiated a search for a newly created position Chief Information Officer (CIO), which I’ll get to in a bit.

When evaluating players (draft prospects and free agents), football general managers and their legions of scouts look at many different things—the tangibles and intangibles.

For example, there is fit which has a least two layers.  If a team likes to pound the run or air it out on offense, they’re looking for a player that excels at one or the other and lines up with how they like to play.  The other dimension to fit is less about the technical player (what they can do skill-wise) and more about the whole person (who they are)—in the locker, weight, and film rooms as well as in the community.  Things like passion for the game, being team-first, and having shared values fills that dimension when I think of the whole person.

For businesses, fit is important, especially in the day-to-day dynamics of working collaboratively with others.  It’s vital for organizations that have strong cultures.  Fit is typically the first thing I look for, assuming the candidate has the basic skills we’re looking for per the position.

Talent evaluators in sports also consider growth potential with ceilings and floors.  The prospect has the tangibles—big, strong, and fast.  But those physical attributes (and metrics) don’t always translate into making clutch plays on Sunday when it counts.  

The same applies to business.  The potential hire looks great on paper.  But when things get tough and everyone needs to step up, do they run to the solve the issue or head for the showers (or worse, deflect and blame others).

Other considerations are need, depth, versatility, vision, leadership, and passion. 

Need:  The flashy pick is the star college quarterback. But your team has an all-pro signal caller in his prime who just signed a big, long-term contract.  The pick doesn’t address your teams need so you draft someone else who does.

In business, we come up against this often.  Someone comes to the attention of the organization who is terrific.  But we just don’t have a spot or need for that person at this particular time.

Depth:  You have a great player on the roster, but they may be looking to move on, explore free agency or hang up the cleats (retirement).  You draft for depth, someone who will backup the starter for a season or two, learn and grow into the bigger role. 

In business, this is appropriately known as building the bench and thinking longer-term (succession planning). It also means having a good blend of employees who’ve been with the team (institutional knowledge) and new players who can bring new ideas to the table.

Versatility:  The prospect may not be a starter, but their value comes from being able to play multiple positions, including on special teams.

In business, we often see two types of candidates.  Those who spent their careers in one defined role, or function.  They know their position cold and have deep domain expertise.  But if you try to move them out of their comfort zone, they struggle.  The others have broader experience that isn’t as nearly as deep in a particular area.  But you can slot them in just about anywhere. They’ll figure it out and succeed, which is vitally important given how dynamic and fluid business can be.

Vision:  The player sees the entire field, intuitively gets the game (and game plan) and has the innate ability to anticipate how things are going to shake out before the ball is snapped.  They can adjust accordingly, putting them one step ahead of others who are reacting to the ball.

In business, this goes to people who get strategy, see the big picture, and understand how all the pieces work together under numerous scenarios while mitigating the risks along the way.

Leadership:  Scouts will look for players who are leaders—team captains who know everyone’s assignment, not just their own.  They’re the ones making the players around them better. They are the ones that understand that it is their duty to develop the overall team. They’re the ones firing up others in the huddle.  They’re the ones giving it their all on every play. 

The same applies in business.  Some employees are content to sit on the sidelines, wait for a decision to be made and their number to be called.  Then there are selfless leaders who take the initiative and take time to mentor others.

Passion: In football parlance, does the player have a great motor?  Importantly, they must play hard on every down, regardless of the score.  They’re also the ones firing up others in the huddle and on the sideline.

In business, employees who truly love what they do and inspire others with their upbeat attitude and infectious energy are force multipliers.  

For talent evaluators and managers of people, we must weigh different considerations when putting together our teams.  And like draft rooms, where organizations spend millions gathering and analyzing all sorts of information, it is as much art (gut) as it is science (data).   

For me, what often matters most, especially in senior leadership roles, are the intangibles.  They are also the hardest to put your finger on.  Take my current CIO search.  I’m looking for a CIO who is a true business partner to myself and others and to lead our IT efforts, from putting together the game plan (strategy) to getting everyone onside (communications) and driving the ball down the field (implementation) and into the endzone (business goals/competitive differentiation).

Other lessons: Teams that draft well tend to win.  And sometimes despite the time and effort we invest in putting together great teams, we don’t always get it right. When that happens, I make adjustments, unlike Todd who has to wait until next year's draft for adjusting his team. 

What about you?  When you’re putting together your team, what is most important and why?  And if you have someone in mind that we should talk to in our CIO search or someone who wants to be part of something that is exciting, transformative, and thrives in high-performance cultures focused on growth, drop me a line.