Favre Fumbles When It Comes to Leadership

I’m going to admit it upfront — I’m a huge Green Bay Packers fan. I grew up in Wisconsin and followed the Pack since I was a boy. I was in diapers when they won the first two Super Bowls and then suffered through some pretty lean years in the ’70s and ’80s. But the 1990s ushered in a new era with the arrival of Brett Favre. The three-time league MVP led them to a 1997 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots, and everything was right in Green Bay. The once storied franchise was returned to its previous glory, and the conquering hero was Brett Favre.

I always thought Favre played the game the way it was meant to be played. He was a ferocious competitor, but he looked like he was having fun every minute he played. All of us should be so lucky to have a job that we love so much that each day when we awake we can’t wait to get to work. That’s the way I saw Brett Favre, and I respected him immensely for it.

But my opinion of Favre has changed over the past few years and not because he has left the Packers. Favre’s actions have caused me to lose respect for him. He’s made mistakes that every manager can learn from.

Each of the last three years Favre was with the Packers, he contemplated retirement. Early last year, he finally decided to hang it up. His annual back and forth debate hurt the Packer organization and its people.  Here are four things we can learn as managers from Favre’s annual retirement debate:

1. Don’t put yourself before the team. Each year that Favre publicly debated retirement, he effectively held the organization hostage. Faced with possibly losing the cornerstone of the franchise, the Packers had to consider what personnel moves to make. Do we need to spend a draft pick on a quarterback or maybe sign a free agent to provide depth at the position? If Favre returns, we have strength at that position and will need to work on other needs. What to do? The organization was forced to sit and wait for one person to make a decision that would impact many. As a manager, you must do what is best for the company and for your team. If you act selfishly, it will negatively affect your ability to lead. You can’t put your personal needs above those of others.
2. Don’t speak until you’re ready to act. I understand that retirement is a big decision and is worthy of serious consideration. But Favre could have quietly considered his options and then made an announcement about whether he intended to continue playing. Instead, he very openly and publicly would contemplate retirement. Those who counted on him were left to wait for him to make a decision before they could act. There was no plan they could follow because their leader hadn’t made up his mind about what he was going to do. It’s hard to follow someone who can’t decide whether he wants to continue to lead.
3. Once you’ve relinquished your leadership position, it’s hard to get it back. After Favre finally retired and the organization had moved on, he decided that he’d made a mistake and wanted to rejoin the team in his old role as the starting quarterback and team leader. Problem is that the organization had moved on. It had anointed a new leader. And even if the Packers had relented and let him rejoin the team, I’m not sure he could have ever become the leader he once was. As a manager, if you relinquish the role of a leader in your organization, people will find others to follow. Once they have, it will be nearly impossible to convince them that you’re worthy of leading them again.
4. Leaders must be willing to do anything they ask of others. Brett Favre did “unretire” and played last season with the New York Jets, only to retire once again. And just recently, he unretired again and has signed to play for one of the Packers’ biggest rivals, the Minnesota Vikings. Now, Minnesota gave him $25 million reasons to unretire a second time, and I won’t begrudge anyone who changes his mind for that kind of money. But Favre’s comment that he waited to sign until after training camp was over really bothered me. He said he didn’t want to go through all the hassle of two practices per day, sleeping in a dorm room with a roommate, and going to endless meetings. Everyone else on the team went through that regimen, but the supposed new team leader couldn’t be bothered with it. How can he expect to assume a leadership position when in his first public statement after joining the team he lets it be known that’s he’s too good to be bothered with training camp?

Brett Favre is an incredible football talent and has made a positive impact on the game. But his actions over the past five years have looked selfish and have tarnished his image. It’s too bad that he wasn’t able to handle all of this better, but we can learn from his mistakes. As a manager, you must remember that respect is hard earned and easily lost. You must carefully consider how your actions will affect your ability to lead others. I think Favre lost sight of that somewhere along the line. As managers, we can’t make the same mistake.