Tag: NFL

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Siguenza on Sports

Fromm fumbles

For the second day in a row, an NFL quarterback was a major topic of discussion on social media for controversial comments. A quarterback who has yet to play a down in the league. Jake Fromm was drafted by the Buffalo Bills earlier this year from the University of Georgia, where he helped the Bulldogs to three SEC championship games as well as a spot in the national championship game, according to 24/7 Sports, who added that during his time there, Fromm sent texts to a female acquaintance about who should be able to buy guns. This morning, the acquaintance released those texts to the public.

https://twitter.com/ashleymp20/status/1268392579193876482
@ashleymp20 on Twitter

The logical first question here would be, How do we know it was Jake Fromm who sent those texts? Well, he confirmed it himself a few hours later when tweeting an apology.

Jake Fromm on Twitter

Now that we’ve established that, a host of other questions can come up, like What was he thinking? Why did this woman wait so long to come forward with this? That question has been asked.

There’s also a legal question of whether the acquaintance violated Fromm’s right to privacy by sharing the messages. It appears she has not, judging from the interpretation of U.S. law by Vinay Desai and Eloise Gratton of the law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Say Desai and Gratton, “once a transmission is sent and received by another person…that message is no longer protected” (2018, para. 11). As is said often on football telecasts when the quarterback is intercepted, that’s one throw Jake Fromm wishes he could have back. It’s also a reminder that everyone should watch what they text.

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Leadership Archive

Diversity at Amazon: Thinking Outside the Box

Amazon presents itself as a champion of diversity and inclusion. “We seek builders from all backgrounds to join our teams, and we encourage our employees to bring their authentic, original, and best selves to work,” writes the online retailer on its careers site.

In spite of this declaration, Amazon’s track record paints a different picture. The company balked a couple of years ago at a plan to require that consideration be given to women and minorities qualified for a leadership role, a policy similar to the NFL’s Rooney Rule in which teams must speak to minorities when filling vacancies at the head coach and general manager positions.

Just this week, the Seattle Times reported that two women have joined senior management, otherwise referred to as the “S team” internally, tripling the number of female leaders. Three is also the number of people on the 22-member S team who are not white, suggesting that Amazon has been slower to accept diversity at the top.

A lack of diversity can have consequences for both minority groups who may feel ostracized and the organization that loses talented employees, creating costs in the process. There should be a commitment to diversity on all levels at Amazon and other firms. However, they need to be more than empty gestures meant to satisfy public relations and government law (Lussier & Achua, 2016).

Amazon for its part did relent and agree to implement the Rooney Rule in its hiring practices. It also reports offering staff educational opportunities such as training, mentorships, and recognition of events such as Black History Month, which we happen to be in right now. But is it enough when the people at the top are still mostly white? My recommendation for Amazon would be that they include more women and minorities on their leadership team to help promote the message of inclusivity within the company in the hopes of delivering a positive work experience for employees.

Reference

Lussier, R.N., & Achua, C.F. (2016). Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

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Leadership Archive

Don’t Call it a Comeback

It looked as though the Ghost of Playoff Setbacks Past had once again haunted Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, where its tenant the Chiefs were staring down a 24-0 deficit to the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Playoff game. If the score held up, it would be another devastating end to a season filled with Super Bowl aspirations.

But that’s when Patrick Mahomes decided to take things over. The gunslinging Kansas City quarterback threw five touchdowns–four of those in the second quarter–and the Chiefs not only came from behind to book a trip to the AFC Championship Game, but they did so by a 20-point margin.

For Patrick Mahomes, charisma has led to an endorsement deal with Helzberg Diamonds among other businesses.
(Brian Siguenza photo)

I can’t stress enough how much I appreciate having Patrick Mahomes on the team that I’ve followed over the past 27 NFL seasons. The leadership that he possesses reflects his performance on the field, not to mention that of his teammates. If you’ve ever caught a Chiefs game, then you’ve seen the TV cameras get shots of him firing up the team on the sidelines or in the locker room, encouraging them to do what is necessary to accomplish their goal. When not in the game, he’s often seated on the bench next to his head coach Andy Reid, presumably to discuss strategy. In essence, Patrick Mahomes is proof that being an athlete at the professional level is about so much more than just throwing a ball or scoring points. It takes a great deal of development both physically and mentally to be successful in high-pressure situations such as Mahomes faced trailing big in a playoff game.

While an appearance in the Super Bowl isn’t generally on the line in day-to-day operations, the experience of dealing with adversity on the football field is transferable to any place of business. In fact, many of today’s CEOs had played an organized sport growing up. And while commentators carrying on about athlete’s “grit” or “tenacity” during any sports broadcast seems rather cliched, those are desirable traits for a leader to have in business and in sports. Charisma helps a great deal also, and Mahomes has used it to his advantage, developing a legion of fans in Kansas City plus endorsement deals.

So to summarize, the definition of leadership as observed through an NFL quarterback is displaying strength, confidence, and calmness through times of great uncertainty. That Patrick Mahomes has all these qualities gives the Chiefs their best chance in years to achieve greatness.