PALM DESERT, Calif.–A former NFL quarterback has four questions for credit union executives.
Answer them correctly, and you’ll understand the critical difference between management and leadership.
Tom Flick, who played in the National Football League from 1981-1987 after being drafted out of the University of Washington by the Washington Redskins, is now a corporate consultant and speaker, focusing on leadership.
“Leadership is the name of the game,” said Flick. “We don’t need more management, we need more leadership.”
Flick, who only shared football stories and experiences in the context of what it would mean to his credit union audience at PSCU’s Member Forum here, called being a back-up quarterback “one of the greatest jobs in the world.”
“We were losing 17-0 to Steelers, and the coach says grab your helmet and get us jump-started,” said Flick. “I ran onto the field and called the play. I’m standing behind the center in front of 74,000 people. And I was mesmerized. And a voice began to speak to me that I’ve heard since I was a little guy. The voice is saying, ‘Tom, it’s time to go wo work’.”
Quarterbacks, said Flick, are taught to do two things simultaneously before the ball is snapped; two things, Flick said, that apply to credit unions. The first is to look over the defense and identify any danger, such as a blitz. Spot it, and it creates a correlating opportunity, such as single-man coverage. The second thing is to communicate that to our team to execute the play. “So how well we communicate it allows us to take advantage of a blitz that could be a danger but also an opportunity,” he said.
Across the line of scrimmage from Flick in that first game was Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert, who shouted at him, “Hey, who are you?”
Four Questions
“As we’re flying back to Washington I can’t get the vision of Jack Lambert and his words, ‘Who are you?’ out of my brain,” said Flick. “Those words traveled 18 inches to my heart and I asked myself who am I, and where am I going, and where am I going to end up, and what is life all about?”
Flick said he had those same four questions for his audience of credit union executives.
“Your members, your own kids, are asking the same questions: Can you lead us there? And you need to respond, ‘Yes, I can lead you there. Come on, follow me. Leadership is the name of the game.”
Flick said the distinction between leadership and management is “increasingly important.”
“The default setting in the brain is management,” he said. “The problem with management is that it doesn’t lead anyone forward. Management is about managing complexity and keeping things simple. Leadership is wholly different: it’s vision and strategy. It’s motivating action, removing barriers, and creating an environment for opportunities and growth.”
Drawing a metaphor from football, he added, “Management is playing defense. Leadership is offense. Management is transactional. Leadership is transformational. Those are hugely different.”
The reasons corporate America is over-managed and under-led “by a factor of three” is complacency, according to Flick, who called that state the “sleepy contentment with the status quo. It’s based on past success. It’s a feeling in the heart of self-satisfaction, with danger looming around the corner. People think ‘We’ve been successful for some time; I’ll outlast this change.’”
The number-one asset in any organization, Flick suggested, is “true urgency.” He said that’s a situation where employees arrive at work “determined to seek out and seize real opportunities and avoid real hazards to win that one day.”
Flick said he often looks at the calendars of senior managers and finds them loaded with “nonsense” that keeps them from focusing on what is really important. Their myopic focus, instead, is on just clearing items off their calendars. “True urgency isn’t about more hours on your schedule, it’s about working smarter,” said Flick, reminding that “habits create reality.”
Flick urged credit unions to pursue three habits:
Push Frontiers: Seize the Big Opportunity
Flick urged his audience to think in terms of one month, six months, and one year. “What I want you to do is go out, get away from things, turn off our phones, grab a notepad and ponder where your credit union is one month, six months and one year out and write that down in descriptive words,” said Flick. “Most credit unions never paint a picture clear enough for their members to see where they are going so their members can join in the battle, join in the adventure. That’s your job to do that.”
The reason organizations don’t achieve desired outcomes, he said, is they fail to invite the entire organization into the journey. “We fail to do that as leaders. Put ‘leader’ next to people’s titles; it’s strangely empowering. Give them a skin in a game,” he recommended.
Exercise Your Ethics, Live Your Principles
“Trying to be the perfect leader is the death knell of leadership,” said Flick. “Being authentic, serving people, caring about people is what it’s all about.”
Unleash Energy: Lead the Way
“What differentiates you as credit unions from small banks?” asked Flick. “Whatever your title, go and inspire people. I don’t know how often you meet with your teams, in college and pro’s I met 65 times a day for 10 seconds, while 60,000 to 80,000 people talked during my meetings. It doesn’t take much to say, ‘Great job” and “Good thinking, yes, we can do that. Thanks for being on my team.”
“So, the question I want to ask is how do we make it easier for you to achieve your goals, develop talent, lead change, play to win and deliver results,” he continued. “So, go first and lead the way. Allowing other people to win is your job when you go back to your credit unions as leaders.”
For more information, Flick is making free resources available on leadership at www.tomflick.com/pscu.