Culture as the “Bedrock of Success”: More Lessons Learned from Netflix’s “Quarterback”

There is no one at this level that got there by themself.

Each of the QBs featured in Netflix’s new series had people that invested, mentored, challenged, and supported them on their journey. It was so awesome to see the Kansas City Chiefs training room staff celebrate the Super Bowl win with the same level of enthusiasm that the players had. Why? Because the Chiefs realize that no one in that locker room could have won the Super Bowl without the front office, training staff, travel team, scouts, coaches, owners, etc. It took every gift in that organization to reach the desired outcome.

One of the most powerful quotes occurred in the last episode where a player yelled, “Everything we’ve worked for is starting to happen.” How true is that! Sometimes the practice, grind, frustration, etc. can mask the progress until it actually starts to click!

In our world, running a successful IT organization takes everyone from the interns to the service desk and the cloud team to the analysts to make the machine run. No one role is more important than the other and when they work in concert, incredible things begin to manifest.

“I ain’t ever seen nothing like you.”

This made me choke up. This was the closing quote that Patrick Mahomes’ father said to him as they embraced after the Super Bowl win. What a powerful statement. Speaking words of life to one another has such a profound impact; you don’t need to have just won the Superbowl to benefit from words of encouragement.

How are each of us being intentional about recognizing the gifts in others and then taking the extra step to tell them about it? When we are bold enough to move from ‘interesting to actionable,’ true culture change begins to transpire.

I believe that gratitude unlocks freedom, culture and unleashes potential. It’s clear that Mahomes’ dad feels the same way. Words matter.

Work Family, Family & Blurred Lines

I was struck when Kirk Cousins purposely brought his young son into the locker room to experience the celebration, camaraderie and joy associated after a milestone win. Why? He wanted his son to feel what it was like and wanted to make a memory with his boy!

Exposing others to new experiences, key moments and growth opportunities is also part of developing a powerful culture. I have the opportunity to engage with a ton of other organizations both inside and outside of healthcare and it doesn’t take long to determine what a healthy culture looks like… you can feel it. A flourishing team environment is the bedrock of success and the best leaders I know are ruthless protectors of culture.

Yet, how many of us are giving more time to our organizations than we are to our family? In a time where mental health challenges are rampant, your organization will take as much time as you give it as we slowly move from work/life balance to work/life integration. How is this impacting your team’s culture and expectations of one another?

Each year on our anniversary, my wife and I sit down and walk through our ‘Trello board’ of goals, organized by personal, professional, physical, financial, spiritual, and communal objectives. Over the last 23 years, these have obviously morphed as our lives have changed, but the buckets and themes have stayed consistent. One of my goals this year was to be more present at home — i.e., no phone in my hand, not sneaking a look at my watch in the middle of a conversation with my daughter, and intentionally breaking the habit of being ‘always on.’

The beauty of objectivity is that you often need someone else to tell you the truth because we are typically not able to identify our own blind spots. That’s where my amazing wife comes in, providing feedback and challenging my own assessment of my ‘progress.’ While it is never malicious, the truth mirror doesn’t lie, and the question actually becomes about your willingness willing to hold it up and look in it to become a better version of yourself.

Players Make Plays

Think about the expectations you have for yourself and your team: how are we letting our playmakers make plays? Are we overcoaching? Are we celebrating when amazing work happens? How are we assessing the talent and gifts for each of our teammates? Is this happening in a silo with a designated leader or as a team?

Within my IT department, we are incredibly intentional about assessing the performance of one another and each other’s direct reports, calibrating on both the ‘what’ and the ‘how.’

• Assessing ‘what’ someone does is most easily determined by analyzing how good they are at core competencies.
• Determining the ‘how’ requires a different lens, as you look to determine what it’s like to work with someone, how they show up, and whether they demonstrate the values we expect from one another.

In football parlance, a team could have the most amazing QB in the world, but if that person is a culture killer, a locker room cancer, or a PR nightmare, is that the type of teammate you want?

I’m on a personal mission in 2023 to level up our IT leadership across MultiCare to ensure we have a mix of people that are equally awesome at ‘what’ they do and ‘how’ they do it.

Thank you for humoring me as I’ve attempted to share the parallels between the QBs featured on the series with my own philosophy and learnings. In all of our roles, there is so much hard work that people don’t see. When each of us look back on our careers, we all want to reflect and realize that we had as much success as possible and that we had a positive impact on the lives of those we’ve worked with.

Make it a great week (and go Seattle Seahawks)!

Originally published on LinkedIn, this piece is the second in a two-part series written by Bradd Busick, SVP and CIO at MultiCare Health System, a large organization providing care in the Pacific Northwest. To view part 1, click here.