Fans of the National Football League are tired of the New England Patriots. They are sick of the winning, they are sick of the familiar faces of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, they are sick of the shots of falling fall leaves from Foxborough Center.
As a young fan of the Pats from their laughing-stock days of the late 1970s and 1980s, I have enjoyed their 20 years of domination. Yesterday, coach Bill Belichick won his 300th NFL game: https://www.patriots.com/video/inside-the-locker-room-300-wins-for-belichick.
One of the things people who have watched Belichick’s career have marveled at is his consistency: Consistency in dealing with the media, with players, and with other coaches. Rarely does he break character. Yesterday, as I was watching post-game interviews, reporters asked players the secret to Belichick’s success. Their answers are instructive for all managers, whether they lead an NFL team or a healthcare facility department. Their answers may help with employee retention issues.
The Player’s Speak
Tom Brady: “All the things I think he really preaches to us as a player is what we get out of him as a coach. His consistency, dependability, trust, confidence – all those things over a long period of time really add up. So, he’s just a very stable figure when he gets up and speaks to us. “
Devin McCourty: “Its consistency. You know, he comes to work every day the same way. His expectations don’t change. It doesn’t matter who the player is, it doesn’t matter what situation, he’s going to always remain consistent. And then I think his ability to give ownership to the players. There’s a lot of times for us as defenders, we go out there and he’ll tell us like, “Hey, you’ve got five different options right here. Whatever you see best, by formation, by personnel, make the call.” And he’s told, “Nine of out 10 times, I trust you’re going to make the right decision. So I don’t want to tell you what to do and ruin the game.”
Matt Slater: “Consistent, you know what you’re going to get from him and you know what is expected of you. There is no guesswork involved in that. You know what he expects from this football team and that consistency is something you appreciate as a professional.”
Earlier this year, we wrote about Coin flip managers https://gosselin-associates.com/coin-flip-managers-and-employee-retention/. Coin flip managers are not successful in the long term. Bill Belichick is not a coin flip manager. Don’t be a coin flip manager; be an employee retention manager. Be consistent.