Mike McCarthy had a great leadership moment this week. The Green Bay Packers’ head coach often says that among his highest priorities is setting an optimal mind-set in the locker room. So on the heels of the team’s bitter and controversial loss to Seattle on Monday night, the coach’s charge when his players returned to work Wednesday was to rid them of any vestiges of victimhood.
Just a day earlier, the Packers were the biggest story not just in sports but arguably all news categories in the United States after the now infamous Hail Mary pass that a crew of replacement officials ruled a touchdown that gave Seattle a 14-12 win on the final play in a nationally televised game Monday night.
By Tuesday afternoon, many of the Packers’ players on their mandatory day off had turned to Twitter and radio interviews to blister the NFL because it has locked out its regular officials in a collective bargaining dispute.
But by late Wednesday morning, the Packers were back to work preparing to play the New Orleans Saints this week. In the team’s first meeting since after the game, McCarthy’s agenda was to prevent one of the most devastating regular-season defeats in recent team history from sabotaging the Packers’ collective psyche.
“I’m for any kind of emotion as long as it’s channeled properly,” McCarthy said in his Wednesday press conference. “So if you want to talk about chips on your shoulder, whatever — the only emotion I don’t care about is self-pity. We’re not the victim. Nothing is guaranteed to you. The game of football is not perfect. That’s why you play the whole game and at the end of the game one team walks off as the winner.”
Where have you fallen prey to the victim mentality? It’s time to slay that giant! Leaders don’t make excuses… they just keep getting back up… they keep learning… they keep improving… they keep fighting! The Packers are privileged to have a leader who refuses to let them sink into the mire of self-pity. Do you have a mentor like that in your life? If not, find one!!!
Check out my book on this subject: 13-Foot Coffins: Because Giants Were Meant to be Slain.