NFL “Deflate-Gate”

Can we learn anything from the NFL “Deflate-Gate”? I have heard so many opinions about the controversial issue. I have my own opinion as I am sure you do. So I will keep my opinion to myself - but I think there are some lessons we can apply from this incident to our lives - both personal and professional.

Whether athletes like it or not, they are role models. Role models have a special responsibility that comes along with their success. Kids love their athletes and want to emulate everything about them weather good or bad. So when the question is asked: did Brady and the Patriots cheat to win the AFC Championship? It immediately becomes a lesson opportunity for our kids and what we want to teach them about the importance of rules, laws, and being a good sport and citizen.

Whether we like it or not, if you lead a team of people, you are a role model. Everything you do is being watched, analyzed, critiqued, and placed in the memory bank of your employees. So if you bend the rules, the lesson is the rule is not important. Can you be trusted in other aspects of your role as leader?

A question that immediately came to me in the “Deflate-Gate” scandal was: did the NFL measure the pressure of the Colts footballs? I also wondered how often does the NFL audit the footballs throughout the season? How important was this rule before the accusations of cheating were leveled? Was this rule being ignored with a wink and a nod?

As a leader, do you ignore your team’s behavior instead of addressing them immediately? If one of your team is giving a customer borderline truthful information to a customer, and you hear it but ignore it, are you creating a culture of rule benders?

Tom Brady and the Patriots have not been given the benefit of the doubt in this latest scandal. The reason people are so willing to believe that the footballs were intentionally tampered with is because the Patriots have a reputation of cheating. If there were no past incidents of bad behavior, the public would have been more likely to dismiss this incident as sour grapes.

Your organization and team have a reputation as well. If there was an allegation of wrong doing perpetrated by your team, or someone on your team, would your reputation and daily business practices confirm or place doubt on those allegations?

NFL “Deflate-Gate” has shown us that rules need to be enforced to matter; everyone in leadership is a role model; our reputation both personal and professional is priceless.

What do you think?