Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions Reaction Video

That's an important lesson in leadership. That one leader stepping up and coming into the picture, being intentional, making that plan come to life, can change the destiny for everybody involved.

That is Dan Campbell.

Welcome to the Syndicate X Library of Leadership in Life. I'm Chris Collins, and I've been studying leadership for decades, and I've written the book on it called I Am Leader. And today I want to show you an example of somebody who is an incredible leader, and that is Dan Campbell from the Detroit Lions. Now, if you're not familiar with sports or the Detroit Lions.

The.

They have been a really bad football team for a long time. I think they probably won a decade, only winning three games.

And when they hired Dan Campbell, just proof of the fact that one person can make such an incredible difference in a business, a football team, country, that one leader stepping up and coming into the picture can change the destiny for everybody involved. That is Dan Campbell. Now, I'm a Seattle Seahawks fan, not a Detroit Lions fan, but a big fan of the turnaround and the culture and the performance that has been created with Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions in such a short period of time. I mean, it. It is insane. And I want to point out a couple things that he has done that are making the difference that are part of his recipe for. For success. Now, most people out there.

Are managers at best, in their. Reactive to what's going on, in a sense, so they're letting the story be written for them, right? They're just reacting to what happens in the marketplace, what happens in their business, what happens on their team. Dan Campbell is exactly the opposite.

That.

Opposite of that. He is intentionally creating an outcome from through the stories he's telling, the example he is setting, the work ethic that he has, and just who he is as a person, what he embodies as a human. But it's intentional. It's not passive. And that's. That's an important lesson in leadership, is being intentional in what you're trying to do, creating a plan and making that plan come to life and into existence. And one of the things that Dan does really, really well is he tells stories that get people to. To buy in or not buy in one of the two, but there's no way to be on the fence, right? And so this started at his very first press conference when he was announced as head coach of the Detroit Lions. It's 28 minutes into it. He. He gives a story and he does a great job also of bringing the city and the team together in what. What he's doing so here. Let's go and watch this together really quick.

And that's how you win games.

All right, so let me go back. Let me start here again. I wanted this job bad because I felt like I knew this community. I played here. All right, here's what I know. Just as an overall philosophy. You're going to say, well, what's this team going to be? What's it not going to be? Here's what I know, all right? I know that Detroit's made up of great people, some really good people, all right? This community is strong.

This place has been kicked, it's been battered, it's been bruised. And I can sit up here and give you coach speak all day long. I can give you, you know, hey, we're going to win this many games. I can't. None of that matters. And you guys don't want to hear it anyway. You've had enough of that shit. So excuse my language, all right? Here's what I do know, is that this team is going to take on the idea of this city, all right? And the city's been down, and it found a way to get up, all right? It's found a way to overcome adversity, all right? And so this team's going to be built on. We're going to kick you in the teeth, all right? And when you punch us back, we're going to smile at you. And when you knock us down, we're going to get up, and on the way up, we're going to bite a kneecap off, all right? And we're going to stand up, and then it's going to take two more shots to knock. Knock us down, all right? And on the way up, we're going to take your other kneecap and we're going to get up, and then it's going to take three shots to get us down. And when we do, we're going to take another hunk out of you before. Before long, we're going to be the last one standing, all right? That's going to be the mentality, all right? And we're going to learn that any loss that we take, we're going to make sure we feel the full pain of it and not go numb to it and learn from it and not to want to taste it again. We're going to be competitive every game. I can't sit up here and guarantee wins and losses, and I just can't do it. But I'll guarantee you this, man, these guys are going to fight and they're Going to scratch and claw, and they're going to be something this city's proud of because they're going to take on the identity of this city.

It's so great, like, for a football team that, you know, really the key to winning is being the one that hits the hardest, the one that's the most resilient, the one that gets back up.

You know, he's leaving out one important thing there is. People only have two kneecaps. He says in the third time, it's good. You're going to have to hit us three times to knock us down. There is no third time because the opponent can't stand up. They're out of kneecaps. You can't stand up without kneecaps. It is so great. Now he's creating a culture, he's creating an identity and that positive association of. Of the city of Detroit and that identity and the, you know, they're the underdogs there. There's nothing more powerful in uniting than an underdog story when people buy into it, because if you're the underdog, it implies that you have to try harder, you have to work more, that you're not going to be handed anything. You have to figure it out, you have to scrap, because you're the underdog. You have less resources, less privilege than everybody else. And that's an incredible way to unite people. I talk about this in the I Am Leader book, a little bit in manifestos and how, you know, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift and a lot of people tell this story in a sense of, I was misunderstood. I never fit in.

Which gets everybody to. To buy in, because at one point, all of us felt like we were misunderstood and we didn't fit in. I've never met anybody who, at some point, when you're an awkward teenager or a kid, that you felt like you didn't fit in or you were misunderstood. And so it's, you know, it's the easiest way to unite everybody. And it's the same thing here is we're the underdogs. We gotta try harder. We're, you know, we're not the privileged ones. That's a. That's a story that unites people and gets them to. Now, remember, we're talking about intentionally creating an outcome. That's what Dan is doing here is he's. He's telling a story. That is the identity. That also is his authenticity. That's who he is. That's what he brings to the table. He's going to work harder than everybody else. He's always on. He's always about winning and getting better and scrapping and, you know, grit, in a sense. Right. And so then let's go to. To the next clip. And this one is the one that I saw first, that I knew that Dan was special, and there was something different. And this is from the show Hard Knocks on hbo. And it's the. The. The setting is this is the beginning of his second season. It's training camp. And he's, you know, he's. He's starting to program his players. He's starting to get in their head and tell them a story and. And get them to believe in a narrative that is going to last through the whole season. Because a football season is long, and it's hard, and NFL players, you know, their bodies get a lot of abuse, and it. It's, you know, it's hard to get up and play on Sunday when you're, you know, in constant pain and you're worn out and you're fatigued. And as a leader, he's thinking, I got to get ahead of this. I already got to be in their head that when that time comes, when they feel fatigued, when they're injured and they hurt and they don't want to go another player, they don't want to get up and get into the game. I've. I've got to have a mechanism in there already to overcome that. I got to be four steps ahead of that with. With the story that I'm telling in the analogies and the images that I'm putting into to their head.

What are we? What makes us what we are?

And he's starting this off with a question.

Who are.

Who are we? Like, most people that aren't intentional don't know who they are. Right? You don't know who you are. Okay, I'm an NFL player. But no, the. I am like the I am of you. Who really are you?

Who are.

Who are we? Right? Who are we? It makes you stop and think and.

What we're going to be.

I think it's that right there. It's grits. What we started with last year, guys, all you.

Now he's telling them who they are. So he asks them. He. He makes them think. It opens up right in their mind. They're, like, searching for the answer, and now he gives them the answer. This is who we are. We are grit.

You guys that were in here, it's our core foundation, man. Grit. And what does it mean?

Core foundation is. It's our identity. It is who we are.

Billy, in a nutshell, I think it means this. We'll go a little bit longer, we'll push a little harder, and we'll think a little deeper and a little sharper. Like, to me, it means we'll play anywhere. We'll play on grass, we'll play in turf. Will go to a fucking landfill. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. If you have one ass cheek and three toes, I will beat your ass. It means that normally I'm 100%, 85%, man. That's all I need to beat you. I don't care. I will produce and win at 85%.

You guys already know you're not going.

To be 100% until next March. This is the best you're going to feel right now. It's the best you're going to feel. The quicker you accept that, man, the.

Better off we're all going to be.

All right, now, there's a number of teams, as it equates to Just bear.

With me, the ocean, right?

There's a number of teams.

They just barely get to the water. You got to get in the water to compete. The number of teams, that's all they get to. Then there's a number of teams. They are in the shallows and they.

Come in a hurry, man.

And they are all over your ass. They're all over your ass. And they strike and move. They strike and move. And they're dangerous, man.

You just got to get a hold of them, though. If you can just get a hold of them and you start dragging their ass out to the deep, dark abyss.

You can drown them.

And that's what we got to be. That's who we have to be. Because that's our domain. That is our domain. Because we'll tread water as long as it takes to fucking bury you. We'll go as long as it takes because we can and we choose to. That's who we are. That's who we have to be. Now, it goes without saying, the teams that are dangerous in the shallows and the abyss are probably the top four or five in this league. That's who they are, and that's what we're working to.

Last thing I'm going to say. I'm keeping this brief. The last thing I'm going to say is this. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

There is no light. There's a song. Metallica has no leaf clover.

And it says, man, when it comes.

To the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, it's just a Freight.

Train coming your way.

So if you're seeing a fucking light, it's a freight train.

So. Great. So, I mean, he's doing a couple things there, but the maybe most powerful thing is when he's telling that story about, you know, the teams in the shallow end.

Will fight you to death. They. They're the real deal, like, even the ones in the shallow end. But we're going to be the ones in the deep end, and we're going to drag them out. We're the predators. We're the ones in control. We're the ones in charge because we'll last longer, we'll work harder, we'll dig deeper than anybody else. That's, that's the identity that he's programming into their mind. And, you know, it. It's worked. That's how the Detroit Lions have been playing, is they're never out of a game. Nobody wants to play them. They are a nightmare. They fight, they hit, they play harder than, than anybody else. And they are one of the top four or five teams in the league that are. That are on that pedestal. And he's done it in a. In a very short period of time. And, you know, I, I would just point out that it's. It's the way that he's telling a story and the narrative that he's creating.

Intentionally creating an identity for his team where there's. There's no way you could be on the fence. You could not play for the Detroit Lions and, and be on the fence. And I, I would. I would point out an example of that is Jared Goff, their, their quarterback.

Being a Seattle Seahawks fan, I'm very familiar with Jared Goff because he played for the Los Angeles Rams. And when he was traded to the Detroit Lions, I thought that they would draft somebody else and he would kind of be a backup because I saw him literally mentally give up in games, and I, I saw Sean McVay's frustration, who, you know, who was his head coach with Jared, and just his ability at the time to elevate under Dan Campbell. Jared Goff has completely reinvented himself. He's taken on the identity of this team. He is tough, he plays hard, and he's gone from the person that you could flip a coin on how they're going to. To play in a game to somebody who is the hero. Like, he is the one that everybody's looking to. To lead them. He's the one that everybody's looking to. To make the play. And he has done that like, he is playing at a really, really high level. But it's Dan Campbell that is his manufactured that outcome. It's not by chance whatsoever. And I just give you a little example here that I noticed in this press conference that Dan gave after their game with the Green Bay packers the other day. Now, I think a lot of people had the Green Bay packers winning this game on national tv. It was a big game. The Detroit Lions are injured. Their top defensive player is out for the season. They, they, they're banged up. They really are banged up. And the, you know, their, their plan to win this game was the offense was going to step up and provide the win in the game because the defense was hurt. The defense is going to do enough to keep them in the game, but the offense had to perform. And so before the game, Dan Campbell.

Puts this story in Jared Goff's head that makes him the hero of this game. And it's a little thing, but spoiler. They won the game and Jared Goff was the hero. They, they were tied going into the last couple minutes of the game, and they went for it on fourth down. Jared is falling down and he ends up still being able to hand off the ball. And they get the first down and they win the game because the Green Bay packers were out of timeouts and they couldn't stop the clock anymore. But it's, it's because of this story that he put in his head before the game.

Listen to this. I told the team, this will be.

One of those, you never forget stolen golf pregame. I said, man, you've played all these games, you had this long career.

You know, and I'm sure there's some. He's probably. You don't remember everything when you've played as long as he. And I said, you will never forget this one. You will never forget this game.

And I think a lot of it.

Is just that what we've had to overcome, the hand we were dealt, and I just love the fact our guys don't make excuses, man. They.

Before the game, he pulls genocide and he says, you've played in a lot of games and I'm sure there's a lot of them that you forgot, but this one you're not going to forget. And why wouldn't you forget a game? Well, you wouldn't forget it because it's one that you performed at a, at a high level and you made the impossible possible. And that's, that's the identity of this team. And I, I, you know, will point out that in leadership, whether it's Sports, whether it's business, whether it's politics, it takes a unique person that can create a manifesto and intentionally design an outcome that isn't passive, that accomplishes something bigger than the whole, bigger than the individual, something that's really, really special and makes a difference in a lot of lives and unites people.

And the catalyst to that is. Is being able to create.

Stories. You know, having the creativity to tell stories that, you know, psychologically affect people's unconscious mind as well as their conscious mind. And it. It creates a culture and an identity that, you know, can't be deterred. Like, it isn't easily.

Beaten. Like, you win with that. With that sort of leader. And. And so here. Here's after that game in the locker room when they beat the Green Bay packers, going for it on fourth down.

I told you, you never forget this game. You will never forget this game. We don't have to talk about how tough we are. You have to talk about how resilient we are. We live it, man. We've been living it. Where's our defense at?

Offense? That's the way to step up, man. That's the way to step up. There you go, Skip. Keep throwing up. Whatever you're talking about, you're gonna freaking land on the line, guys. I'm so freaking proud of you, man. That's the way to show up. You talk about pressure. We live in pressure. That's where we freaking thrive. You did it again. You did it again. All right. It doesn't matter who's playing for us. No matter what's going on, you always find a way to win. That's what champions do. This is not happenstance, man. This doesn't just. This has been in the making, man.

This has been.

He intentionally created that outcome through his leadership, through the stories he's telling, and maybe most importantly, just who he authentically is as a person and a leader. Because he's working harder than everybody else, he's telling a better story, and he believes more than anybody else. And a tribute to you, Dan Campbell. You are an amazing human being and an inspiration to all of us. And I would encourage you guys to watch his press conferences, watch his games, and just, you know, whether you're. Whether you're a fan of football or the Detroit Lions is irrelevant to the fact that something very special is happening there. And that turnaround is not an accident. It is manufactured 100%. There is a recipe to what he's doing, and we can learn a lot from it.