I believe in you

Bill Belichick is an amazing decision maker.

I struggle over decisions all the time.

And I’ve never had to make a call with $100M on the line. Or where there are protests outside my office because they think I got it wrong.

Bill has.

I’ve got a video coming out probably next month on my leadership channel where I tell the whole story, but here’s the short version:

The Patriots had just signed QB Drew Bledsoe a franchise-record $100M contract. Then he got hurt.

To cover for him, Belichick put in a sixth-round pick, basically a benchwarmer, named Tom Brady. He played well.

By the end of the season, Bledsoe was ready to play again. The biggest star, the biggest contract, ready to come back to the game.

Instead, Belichick holds a press conference and tells the whole world, “Tom is our guy. No going back.”

There's something magical about a leader who publicly affirms their belief in someone on their team.

Of course, Brady had plenty of self-confidence, belief, and drive already. But imagine how it felt to hear Belichick make that commitment.

Expressing your belief in someone makes the person believe it themselves.

As leaders and company executives, we often forget how important it is to build up our people.

Remind them you believe in them. They’ll believe themselves even more.

There’s a book I go back to called It’s Your Ship. It’s written by a captain who took over one of the worst-performing ships in the Navy and turned it into one of the best.

His biggest tool was believing in his people out loud, and letting them rise to it.

Highly recommended read.

And even if you don’t read it: try praising someone publicly today. Let me know how it goes.

Thanks,
Michael

—