Super Bowl LV Prediction: Success Defeats Ego
Whether I had a reporter’s pad in my hand and stadium credentials around my neck, or whether I had a Diet Coke in my hand and cheese fries at a watch party, the annual spectacle known as Super Bowl Week never fails to excite me. The two teams on this week’s championship stage in Tampa have brought with them a slew of remarkable storylines, but there’s one in particular at which I marvel. No, it’s not 43-year-old Tom Brady seeking to become the only quarterback ever to win seven Vince Lombardi trophies… As ridiculously impressive as that is, the Kansas City Chiefs are on the verge of doing something that makes me dig deeper into my leadership library.
A win for the defending Super Bowl Champs would make them the first NFL franchise to capture back-to-back titles in more than 15 years. Simply put, winning is hard; winning it again is so rare that we should all attempt to learn from those who crack the code to sustained success.
“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends,” that quote attributed to the late great business leader Walt Disney seems tailormade for what reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are attempting.
They are explosively entertaining and have won 26 games over the last two seasons. They also enter Super Bowl LV averaging the most passing yards in the league and are slight favorites to edge Brady and the Bucs in Sunday’s big game. None of that happened by chance—KC has successfully managed to avoid common pitfalls of success that have doomed so many past winners.
Why is repeating so difficult? In the NFL you must go back to Brady’s second and third Super Bowl rings in the 2003 and 2004 seasons with the New England Patriots to find back-to-back champs. Since 2000, the NBA has only had three franchises win at least two consecutive titles—Lakers twice, Miami Heat, and Golden State. In that same 20-year span only the Pittsburgh Penguins have won two Stanley Cup titles in-a-row, and no Major League Baseball franchise has been able to repeat since the New York Yankees did so in a three-peat from 1998-2000. The 2001 and 2002 LA Sparks were the last WNBA repeat champions, and in college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide were the last to do it—and that was 9 years ago. The Chiefs are one victory away from completing the feat.
From a leadership standpoint, head coach Andy Reid managed to steer his team through the significant pitfall of complacency. Sure, they celebrated with their oversized, diamond-encrusted championship rings for the first game of the season, but they now find themselves on the Super Bowl stage because of the way they moved on from that championship moment and shifted focus to what it was going to take to add more hardware to the trophy case.
They also kept their egos in check. How often do we see an employee over-indulge in the perks of being a top salesman, or rest on their laurels in the weeks after closing a big account? Before long, the spoils of victory inflate the ego and deflate the work ethic. Yet the Kansas City Chiefs have confidently remained in touch with the strategy that took them to championship heights just one season ago. By all accounts from those who watch the team closely, studying the playbook, attacking the weight room, and seeking improvement has put KC in position for rare air.
This drive to repeat success is an absolute topic of discussion for many of the nation’s business leaders, including several who have engaged with me in executive coaching opportunities. One CEO, Stan Moss from Polen Capital—an investment and financial advising firm in South Florida that managed to produce a successful year in the craziness of 2020. That’s more than enough reason to celebrate and coast through the first month of the new fiscal calendar, but Moss immediately focused his attention on how to motivate his team to resist complacency and enhance their winning ways by checking their collective egos. He even added a new book to each employee’s bookshelf: Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday.
The exercise helped his team discuss why people find such difficulty in repeating after a “championship” year. The number one reason is that they let their ego get in the way—ultimately compromising their values and determination in favor of past accolades and the distractions that accompany praise and adulation. The ones who find success year after year do so by defying human nature—resisting complacency.
The consistent thirst for improvement is so critical to avoiding the pitfalls and sustaining success. It’s also an important lesson whether you’re trying to build momentum after an impactful business meeting, a flawless product launch, a record-breaking sales quarter.
Or a Super Bowl title.