Bill Gives It Away

There is only one New England Patriots franchise.

Inevitably, and with good reason, businesses, sports organizations and families across the country will be looking to Bill, Tom and the Pats for the “tricks” to make their companies and teams stronger. Innumerable stories will be written featuring sound bytes like “culture over strategy” and quotes from guys like Bill who says, “just do your job.” People, and not just from New England, will suggest Bill as the next POTUS.

Unfortunately for all of us, it’s not as simple as pulling out the Pats’ publicly available playbook, applying some buzzwords and poof, we win championships, sell ad space and run our country optimally.

The Pats apply these well documented and evangelized philosophies, of course. And so do countless other organizations. The strong likelihood is that the Pats are more committed to them than the field. They live them 24 hours a day when the lights are off, the stands are empty and all the reporters have put their microphones away. They preach them internally and raise the bar for each other, cursing one another when somebody falls short of living the mantra and loving on one another when they succeed. They pour their hearts out, knowing sometimes they’ll fall just short. When the world is taking shots at them, challenging their integrity, and making fun of them relentlessly, they become more determined. The field vomits from fatigue. The Pats don’t spit venom back; they dig in and support each other with more committed guts and vigor. They do this over the course of days, months, years and, ultimately, decades.

That’s why “just do your job” can be stolen and Bill Belicheck doesn’t give a shit. He knows nobody can do it more consistently and effectively. If anybody else could, there wouldn’t be just one New England Patriots.