Recently, I had the privilege of being an MC at a business breakfast. Our guest speaker was Len Dawson, who is a member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame and was the quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl. Mr. Dawson spoke about three keys to success.
Before the meeting, I was able to spend a few minutes talking to Len. He is a wonderful man. He told me that he does not participate in many of these events, so I knew it was a real pleasure for him to speak. After a video presentation on his life, I took him to the lectern.
He spoke about his childhood before his professional soccer career, as well as his career in sports broadcasting afterward. (He still does the radio broadcast for the Chiefs.) He then went on to give us three keys to success: fundamentals, teamwork, and a winning attitude.
Fundamentals: Mr. Dawson talked about how import fundamentals are for success. He told us that he practiced his exercises faithfully for 20 years. He also talked about being prepared.
In the video presentation, there were actually footage of Len throwing an interception in Super Bowl I. Not many people would want to show that as an example to anyone! But he included it to make it clear that he was ready.
He told us that on that particular play, he wasn’t prepared for a blitz from the Green Bay Packers defense. So he tried to throw a pass when he shouldn’t have. He made his point right that he is preparing some of the fundamentals.
Teamwork: Mr. Dawson went on to talk about teamwork as another great key to success. “If everyone on the team does the best they can, then that’s teamwork,” Len said, “and you can be successful.”
He told us to be open to listening to other people’s opinions. In Super Bowl IV, Len was sitting on the bench next to his catcher, Otis Taylor. The Chief’s defense was doing a great job against the Minnesota Vikings offense. Otis told Len about a play that he knew would be effective against the Viking defense. “Back then,” Len said, “the quarterback called most of the plays.”
He went on to tell us that Otis proceeded to write the play on earth like children do. Otis told him that if he tried the play he knew he could beat the defender. A few minutes later it was time for the offense to take to the field. Otis asked Len if he was going to call that play. “No,” was Len’s reply. “Not until we’re in the group. Hell yeah, I’m going to call that game!”
The play worked very well, leading the Chiefs to a touchdown. Len Dawson and the Kansas City Chiefs later won Super Bowl IV. And while Len was named the game’s MVP, he emphasized that the Chiefs won because of their teamwork.
A winning attitude: The last point Len talked about was having a winning attitude. Len said that the difference between Super Bowl I and Super Bowl IV was a winning attitude. In Super Bowl IV, they knew they could beat the Vikings. Their fundamentals were in tune and they were prepared. They used teamwork and had a winning attitude.
A winning attitude is not only important, it is critical to success. And yet it is often overlooked.
Fundamentals, teamwork, and a winning attitude are three important keys to success. Having that determination, conviction, and absolute confidence that you are going to succeed will produce great results. It doesn’t matter if it’s soccer or sales or whatever, having a positive winning attitude will bring you success.
