Adventures in Leadership - Bill Belichick

Love him or hate him, you have to admire the many years of success that Bill Belichick has achieved as a coach in the National Football League. His New England Patriots have won 5 Super Bowl championships. On top of that, they have made it to the American Football Conference Championship for 7 consecutive seasons. This coming weekend Bill, and the New England Patriots, will compete for a record-tying 6th Super Bowl Championship. Bill Belichick is without question a master of building, leading, and driving teams to meet near-impossible objectives.

At Hitachi we invest deeply in grassroots leadership training. Several times per year we assemble our rising-star leaders and review the fundamentals of leadership. One of the stories that we tell during these leadership sessions is the story of Malcom Butler. Many people know Malcolm Butler as the defensive back that intercepted Russell Wilson's goal-line pass with 20-seconds remaining in Super Bowl XLIX. His play clinched the championship for the New England Patriots, in their 28 - 24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. But, not everyone is familiar with the Malcolm Butler backstory.

Malcolm Butler was an undrafted rookie free agent from the University of West Virginia, a Division II team. All 32 NFL teams passed on Malcolm during the 2014 draft. Roughly 256 college players were selected to join the NFL. Malcolm did not make the cut. The Patriots were the only team in the NFL to even offer him a tryout. Malcolm Butler made the most of that tryout and landed himself on the 53-man roster, basically filling the final spot on what would ultimately become a championship roster.

During that 2014 regular season Malcolm Butler played a total of 176 defensive snaps. In the Super Bowl Malcolm did not enter the game until the 3rd quarter. This underscores that Malcolm Butler was not part of the New England Patriots' championship game plan. However, during practice that week the Patriots repeatedly practiced their goal line defense, and more specifically had Malcolm repeatedly practice the exact play that Russell Wilson called with 20-seconds remaining in the game. And, although Malcolm was not a big component of the game plan, he was 100% ready for that specific play. After the game Malcolm said "Goal line, preparation, the formation they were in with the two-receiver stack, I just knew they were throwing a pick route." And, it was this preparation that lead to Malcolm's very first career interception, and the New England Patriots' 5th Super Bowl title.

The learning here is that Bill Belichick and his coaching staff invest deeply in every single player on the team; including the world famous quarterback, the rising-star defensive lineman, and the last player on the roster - the undrafted rookie free agent. You never know who you will need to step-up and make a play when there are only 20-seconds left in the game and the world championship is on the line. You need to leverage the superpowers of all 53 players on your roster in order to accomplish the near-impossible.

At Hitachi, we ask our engineering leaders: who is that undrafted rookie free agent on your team? Are you making the necessary investments in him or her every single day, positioning them for future success? Who will surface that important defect before we push into production? Who will resolve the critical customer issue in the middle of the night? Who will step-up to fill the gap when your rock-star engineer is on maternity leave? Our best leaders invest deeply in every single player on their team, identifying each person's unique superpower and giving them the opportunity to sharpen it every day. As Bill Belichick has proven, it is these investments in the "Undrafted Rookie Free Agents" that ultimately win championships and create dynasties.