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Take Tom Brady's leadership secrets on your own career journey

Are you ready to do the drill and take a few lessons from Tom Brady?

Of all the great sports clichés—and there are some corkers (“I’d play for free!”)—none is more worthy of study than “quarterback as leader.” Yes, the business world is crowded with CEO-cum-QBs who spout off about gaining market share (yardage), beating estimates (double coverage), and crushing the competition (touchdown!). And yes, many modern quarterbacks take their signals from the sideline. But in the long history of the game, there have emerged at rare times certain players who actually can teach us something about that most crucial trait in business, sports, or any group endeavor: leadership.

Consider Tom Brady. Picked 199th by the New England Patriots in the 2000 draft. Backup to golden boy Drew Bledsoe, and then thrust into the starting role in 2001 when Bledsoe got hurt. Since then? NFL history. Three Super Bowl rings and, at one point, a 21-game winning streak over two seasons, the longest ever. He’s not only a leader now, but also a man people come from far and wide to play with (see Randy Moss and Donte’ Stallworth). Brady has learned plenty since he became coach Bill Belichick’s go-to guy. But the funny thing is that it turns out he knew a few key things before he even got the job.

“I was never the best player on any team,” says Brady. “That taught me how to work harder. I learned all about mental toughness on the practice field. If things weren’t working out for me in high school, in college, early in my pro career, my solution was always to work harder and internalize. That way, whenever I got an opportunity, I was always prepared. See, there are a lot of guys who are all talk. They say they want to work harder and be the best, but they never pay the price. I love paying the price.”

All right then. Are you ready to do the drill and take a few lessons from Tom Brady? Bring these five tips to work and watch your management skills sharpen before your eyes…and your boss’s too.

Be the Leader, Not the Boss
“You choose to be quarterback, you take on a lot of other things. You can’t ask people to do things or set expectations for them without doing things or setting even higher expectations for yourself. If you’re the one screwing up or screwing off, it becomes just a lot of talk. I’ve always tried to be the guy who expects the most out of himself, so when I do ask those other guys to do the same, they’ll look at me and say, ‘Well, maybe this guy isn’t so full of crap.’ ”

Get Comfortable With Control
If your priorities are about the team and its success, then other guys won’t be so hesitant to let you take over. “I like to have my hands in a little bit of everything,” says Brady. “There were a lot of things I didn’t feel comfortable having my hands in, but with the leadership challenges that I face now, I’m very comfortable with the demands of it. That definitely has become easier over the years. You gain credibility with the past performance, and that’s what you use.”

Be Part of the Team
“The only thing ‘individual’ about a team sport is what I control: my actions and my attitude. If you want an individual sport, play tennis or golf. Then you’re Tiger Woods and everything’s great; you only have yourself to blame. When you’re playing a team sport, you really understand that it takes every player on the team to achieve your goals, even if it’s a rookie sixth-round draft pick.”